On The Surface

Response to 'On The Surface' by Cathy Brennan
https://www.encounters.film/on-the-surface

"There’s an excellent shot of the water washing over toes on the shore. Such tactility reinforces the theme of the body’s relationship to the land it inhabits. A Black woman swimming in the lake is a part of this land, even though she may simultaneously see herself as apart from it, reflecting one of the potential peculiarities of the immigrant experience."

Response to 'On The Surface' by Xandra Robinson-Burns
https://www.fringeofcolour.co.uk/responses/to-be-rooted-in-nature-and-held-by-the-sea-fan-sissoko

"This film is my breakthrough in understanding that perhaps what matters most is not where we come from, but where we choose to be. Sometimes, I get angry, overwhelmed even, by the complexity of belonging, for myself and for other marginalised people. The thing is, I can’t be angry while watching On The Surface. It’s too beautiful: the colours, the landscape, and the sounds of the sea are all too calming. Even as difficult topics of trauma, medical racism, and postnatal depression arise, the film’s setting feels like a safe space for our narrator to explore them. Her memories grow more challenging, and the waves around her do too. She reminds us that the mountains are scary, and the water is cold. Her body disappears and reappears as it navigates her swim. Nature appears to absorb her struggles, which ring out to the depths of the ocean and the peaks of the mountains."