
LAST DAYS AT SEA
a film by Venice Atienza
Documentary | 75′ | The Philippines, Taiwan
World Sales: Syndicado Film Sales
Reyboy, an adolescent boy, and I, a grown up woman, recognise in each other an affection for the world that unites us. Before he leaves home to study in the city, we spend the last days of summer together, recording the things we hope to remember, before the precious moments of childhood become only memories.
SYNOPSIS
12-year-old Reyboy lives in Karihatag, an isolated fishing village where people share their catch to each other and have managed to build a safe home for fish. Here, every boy grows up to become a fisher. However, at the end of the summer, when the first raindrop falls, Reyboy has to leave to study in the city. This film is a record of his last summer at home which I spent with him. It is an attempt to freeze time, to hold the fleeting moments of childhood before it turns into memory.
Nothing really happens at the surface. We spend days watching the clouds change shape, and nights looking up at the stars imagining life in the planet Saturn. But slowly, we begin to see the cracks in Reyboy’s paradise. His Uncles reveal that life in the sea becomes more dangerous every year. As Reyboy says goodbye to his home, we recognise change in stillness. Through the patient encounter between I and Reyboy, we see how the inevitable process of growing up can be faced with both courage and tenderness.
CARTE BLANCHE
INTERVIEWS
SCREENINGS
- 71st Berlinale – Internationale Filmfestpiele Berlin
- Visions du Reél – Festival de Cinéma Nyon
- 2021 Hot Docs Film Festival
- IDFA – International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam
- Camden International Film Festival
- DMZ Docs 2021
- Doc Edge New Zealand
- Shanghai International Film Festival
- Taipei Film Festival 2021
- Край света. Запад. Калининградский международный кинофестиваль / Kaliningrad International Film Festival (Closing Film)
- Docpoint Helsinki
- Olympia International Film Festival for Children and Young People
- FACETS 38th Annual Chicago International Children’s Film Festival
- Montreal International Documentary Festival
- IFF Message to Man
- UNICEF Innocenti Film Festival
- BIFF – Bogota International Film Festival
- Vilnius Documentary Film Festival
AWARDS
Best Documentary – Pinoy Rebyu Awards, Society of Filipino Film Reviewers
CREW
produced by SVEMIRKO FILM PRODUCTIONS, NINJADOG STUDIOS INC. & SVEMIRKO AUDIOVISUAL ART PRODUCTIONS
world sales SYNDICADO FILM SALES
producers FAN WU & VENICE ATIENZA
co-producers KATRIN MARIA ESCAY & MOSHE LADANGA
edited by ANNA MAGDALENA SILVA SCHLENKER & KATRIN MARIA ESCAY
cinematography VENICE ATIENZA & MOSHE LADANGA
associate producer CLARIZ LABADLABAD
production manager JENNIFER LAGMAN
sound design YANNICK DAUBY
re-recording mixer CHOU CHENG
sound recordist FAN WU
colorist MAHAK GUPTA
post-production BRIDGE POSTWORKS
re-recording studio SEISMIC SOUND LAB LTD.
recording studio ISLAND CITY STUDIOS