Julia Schellekens

The Last Observers

Lennart and Karin are dedicated observers at their manual weather station in Sweden. They reflect on their life’s work as the station faces automation.

Madre Mar

The local people have worked the waters of the Sado Estuary Natural Reserve in Portugal for hundreds of years, coexisting with the dolphins, fish and shellfish, supported by the region’s rich seagrass meadows. The practice of bottom trawling, which bulldozes the ocean floor, has wiped out nearly one-third of the world's seagrass meadows. Raquel Gaspar, marine biologist, mother and cofounder of the Portuguese NGO Ocean Alive, is on a journey to protect and re-meadow Sado’s seagrass habitat. In Patagonia Films’ Madre Mar, Raquel partners with a group of local fisherwomen to restore this crucial piece of the ocean’s ecosystem–one that provides habitats for sea life and 10 percent of the carbon captured in the ocean. Learn more at patagonia.com/oceans.

The Custodians

Over the last 40 years, commercial overfishing and bottom trawling have turned Scotland’s once-thriving west coast waters into sparse, lifeless deserts. Patagonia Films’ The Custodians follows the work of four locals from the West Coast of Scotland who are reclaiming their natural coastlines. They’re restoring wildlife, creating sustainable industries and showing us how we can work with, not against, our ocean.

Anahit

When Imaani enters the swimming pool, she is confronted with the memory of the sexual assault she experience here. In an attempt to leave behind the past, Imaani will have to face her trauma. Anahit, the goddess of fertility and healing, wisdom and water, empowers her to confront her trauma through dance and movement. The swimming pool, the dressing room and the showers constitute the stage for this expressive dance tale that deeply affects the viewer.

I Was Only 14

Filmmaker Froukje van Wengerden’s 86-year-old grandmother shares a powerful memory from 1944, when she was just 14. As her story unfolds, we see a group of contemporary 14-year-old girls. Their procession of portraits permits the spectator to see simultaneously forward and back, into the future and towards the past. A miraculous testimonial that uses eye contact to focus the viewer inward and evoke unexpected emotions.

Our Own

In our society, where self-fulfillment seems to have become an obligation, identical twin sisters enter a retreat. Encouraged by their spiritual coach, Vera and Josefien are searching for their own selves. When Vera finds out that she wants to free herself from her sister, their relationship and identity as twins are put to the test.