Alamar (To the Sea)

Banco Chinchorro, on the Yucatán peninsula, is one of the richest coral reefs in Mexico. The native people, descendents of the Mayas, live on the water, in huts propped up on stilts—the reef is a nature reserve, and no building is allowed on the islands. One day a fisherman who lives in one of these huts receives some visitors: his son, Jorge, and his five-year-old grandson, Natan, who is on a visit from Rome, where he lives with his Italian mother.

Alamar quietly observes these three characters as they spend their days fishing, swimming and tending to their boat, their existence in harmonious rhythm with their surroundings. At the film’s poetic heart is the subtly delineated relationship between Jorge and Natan. Enveloped by sea, sand and sky, father and son grow ever closer, and a bond is formed that not even the fact of Natan’s looming departure can break.