“Bears in Hot Tubs”, by Claire Musser and Maddie Bear (United States, 2025)

A suburb in Los Angeles, California. In the backyard of a house, a mother bear approaches the edge of a hot tub. She sniffs the water, places her paws carefully on the rim and, little by little, lowers herself in. Beside her, a cub watches. This tender moment opens Bears in Hot Tubs, a short film directed by American filmmaker Claire Musser and co created with Maddie, the bear herself. Why is the animal credited as co creator? Because the camera waits. It never chases. It follows the bear’s movements with a humility that allows each gesture to unfold on its own terms. The film happens as Maddie allows it to happen.

This is the first striking quality of the work. From its opening seconds, Musser transforms the camera into a patient presence, and us into discreet witnesses of the unexpected. We watch the bears wander among flowerpots, explore domestic pathways, rest beneath fruit trees. Solitary cameras record them moving through gardens, crossing fences, slipping into swimming pools. The approach feels intimate and observational, as if the viewer had been invited to sit at a distance and relearn how to look. Soon the film interweaves these images with fluid, colorful animations.

Within this seemingly unusual coexistence emerges a deeper question about boundaries. Who decides where the forest ends and the neighborhood begins? The bears appear as intelligent inhabitants of a space reshaped by human expansion. Their dark bodies against the pale tiles of patios trace a shared cartography. The film proposes an ethics of recognition, urging us to consider that the needs of these animals are part of the same urban equation. Planning, conservation and daily life acquire new weight once we acknowledge that the city is also territory for others.

The film invites reflection on the language used to name animals, encouraging us to dismantle the logic that reduces them to pests or threats. The suburb becomes a territory under negotiation. In times marked by fires, drought and displacement, the presence of Maddie and her family suggests the possibility of coexistence grounded in attention and respect. Perhaps living together begins with a small gesture: making space, waiting, and accepting that wildlife, too, has the right to immerse itself in the warmth of our world without asking permission.

Website: https://bearsinhottubs.com/

Specifications

Title: Bears in Hot Tubs

Directors: Claire Musser, Maddie Bear

Country: Estados Unidos

Year: 2025

Running: 17:00 min