Directed by
Fan Sissoko
Country of Origin
Iceland
Runtime
3:56
Category
4mn animation about a young Black woman who goes swimming in the Icelandic sea and reflects on her experience of raising a child in a country that feels nothing like home. As she enters the freezing water, she relives her traumatic pregnancy and postnatal depression. Soon her swimming eases. Being in the wild and facing her fears is helping her heal.
Director Biography – Fan Sissoko
Fan Sissoko is a French-Malian artist and filmmaker based in Reykjavik, with a background in design for social change. Her work explores themes of migration, motherhood, otherhood and neurodiversity. Notable commissions include work for the Migration Museum, the Museum of London, the Science Gallery Dublin and the National Trust. Her animated short film ‘On the Surface’ was awarded a grant from Art With Impact, and screened at festivals around the world, including Clermont Ferrand ISFF (France), Encounters (UK), Ottawa International Animation Festival (CA), Margate Film Festival (UK), Rex Animation Festival (SWE). It won the Heartwired Award at Our Heritage, Our Planet Film Festival (US). Her co-directed documentary, ‘We The People’ (2019), has won the Film Futures Awards as part of Little Wing Film Festival 2020.