Iceberg

Teresa is a fisherwoman in her sixties, leading an isolated life on a small, unnamed island. Rain or shine, most of her days are spent on the water, fishing on a rickety, self-made raft together with her dog Diana. The light of her otherwise lonely life is her granddaughter Maria, whose mother left her with Teresa on the island. But Maria is only home sporadically – with pain in her heart, Teresa accompanies her granddaughter to the boat that takes her to the private school across the water. In an attempt to relieve her loneliness once Maria has gone again, she visits the grave of her recently deceased mother, which is also on the other side of the water. Weeping, she asks her mother to be sure to watch over Maria. But the best medicine turns out to be singing and dancing together with other island dwellers – pouring out her soul in emotional folksongs. Together, the careful framing, elliptical storytelling style and gorgeous use of light yield a lyrical, intimate portrait that dwells in that ambiguous realm between documentary and fiction.