Feature Film • 1999

Watershed

A film by Ricardo Scipio

“A landmark of early digital cinema: Watershed was the first independent feature film in North America to be shot in digital high-definition.”

Writer/director Ricardo Scipio shot Watershed in digital high-definition (HD-CAM) in New York, completing principal photography on November 30, 1998 — years before the major film industry adopted digital cinema. In 2002, the Black International Cinema Berlin independently catalogued Watershed as “the first North American independent feature film to be shot in Digital High-Definition.”

As catalogued by the Black International Cinema, Berlin, 2002

The Original Trailer

Original Theatrical Trailer • 3:16 • Native 4:3 Aspect Ratio

Documentary Teaser

Teaser • 4:55

Behind the Scenes

On Location • 3:30 • silent

The Making of the Trailer

Production Reel • 1:22

The Story

“A New York Gen-X dysfunctional love story about two completely incompatible people who have a remarkable one-night stand and who are forced together by an unexpected pregnancy — and who grow to understand and love each other in spite of themselves and the rocky, absurd turns their relationship takes.”

— Black International Cinema 2002 Official Film Selections, Berlin–Düsseldorf

“A slow, meditative film about Richard Petrovic — a pretty-boy slacker who must confront his own immaturity and lack of responsibility when his mother dies and he gets one of his recent conquests pregnant — all within the same month.”

— Black International Cinema 2002 Official Film Selections, Berlin–Düsseldorf

Principal Cast & Credits

Principal Cast

Rudolf Martin Richard Petrovic

Kim Page Lead

Philippe Brenninkmeyer Principal Cast

Darla Hill Principal Cast

Principal cast as catalogued on IMDb and festival records

Production Details

Writer / Director: Ricardo Scipio
Format: Digital High-Definition (HD-CAM)
Principal Photography: Completed November 30, 1998 • Release: 1999

Festival Screenings & History

DigiDance Film Festival: Screened at DigiDance, the pioneering digital-film festival that ran alongside the Sundance Film Festival — at a time when Sundance would not programme digital films.
XVIIth Black International Cinema, Berlin–Düsseldorf (2002): Screened in the official selections.
All three feature films by Ricardo Scipio played at the Black International Film Festival in Germany.

Production Stills Gallery

Archival Production Stills • Full Frame

A filmmaker in a leather jacket deep in thought at a blue-lit bar — production archival image, Watershed (1999)

Ricardo Scipio Directing

A camera operator framing a shot in a bright studio during the Watershed production (1998)

Digital HD Camera Rig

Four cast and crew members posing together at a restaurant table — Watershed (1999)

New York Location Crew

Rudolf Martin as Richard Petrovic in Watershed (1999)

Rudolf Martin (Richard)

Kim Page

A woman gazing upward in soft light in a domestic room — Watershed (1999)

Scene Still

A man in a leather jacket with a tuxedo collar standing at a bar — Watershed (1999)

Character Still