As the River Flows (SonicHeat Over the DMZ) was filmed near the demilitarized zone (DMZ) honouring the Hantan River that flows from Pyongyang, North Korea across the 38th parallel into South Korea as a tributary of the Imjin River that joins the Han before uniting with the Mother Sea/Yellow Sea. Dislodged landmines can make this river and its surroundings dangerous, one of the constant everyday reminders of the two Koreas remaining technically at war. The women residents of Yangji-ri, one of the earliest “propaganda villages” set up in the early 1970s near the DMZ to be surveyed by North Korea, perform simple gestures near the river as well as in the village bomb shelter. Today the region serves as a touristic site, most notably for migrating cranes, as the DMZ is the most biodiverse area on the Korean peninsula. Cinematic imagery intercut with montage sequences filmed with a thermal camera – also ubiquitous along the DMZ – suggest the possibilities of transforming daily rituals towards affirming life rather than performed in the service of war.