Ada goes swimming in the Icelandic sea and reflects on raising a child in a country that feels nothing like home. As she enters the freezing water, she relives her traumatic pregnancy. Soon her swimming eases. Facing her fears is helping her heal.

Interview with Director Fan Sissoko

Congratulations! Why did you make your film?

Thanks! Making this film was about trying to turn painful and confusing experiences into something beautiful. This film is fictional but builds heavily on my own experience as a Black mixed-race person and an immigrant. I was born in France, to a Malian father and a French mother. I now live in Iceland and this film is about raising a child in a country that feels nothing like home and trying to pass down a sense of belonging when you yourself don’t feel like you belong anywhere. It is also inspired by conversations I have had with other immigrants about how they relate to the beautiful but harsh Icelandic landscape. One conversation with a woman who has taken up cold water swimming as a way to face her fears stuck out. Swimming felt like a powerful metaphor to convey the character’s emotional journey. I wanted to show her confront the landscape by literally diving into it, even though it’s unfamiliar and hostile. Also, it’s simply about the fact that nature is healing.

Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?

Quite a few people have told me it has made them cry. So if you are up for being in your feelings, watch it!

How do personal and universal themes work in your film?

It's a very personal film, in that I wrote it primarily as a letter to my daughter, as well as to my own inner child. But it also resonates with universal experiences, such as being a parent, feeling like you don't belong, and our ambivalent relationship with nature.

How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?

I wrote the script very quickly, after having struggled with the script of another short film for a while. The vision for this one felt really clear from the start. The more challenging part was to figure out the animation technique, as I am not a trained animator. I mostly composed each scene as a still image and then animated each of the elements frame-by-frame. It was a huge learning curve, but I found the process quite meditative. For the more complex movements, I used video references that I shot myself. I’m lucky to live by the ocean, so going for walks to film the movements of the sea became part of my process. The beauty of doing it all on my own was that I was able to improvise a lot more than if I had to pre-plan each shot for a team. A few of the most successful visuals of the films were not planned and found their way into the film while I was animating.

What type of feedback have you received so far?

Some people tell me it's visually beautiful. A few have told me it's made them cry. The nicest feedback I've received was that it felt like a hug.

Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?

I mostly made this film for myself, for my own healing. So anytime someone tells me it resonated with them, I am surprised, especially when the feedback comes from people who are neither mothers nor immigrants.

What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?

The film has had a good festival round, so I'm mostly hoping to reach new audiences that are not festivals goers but who might connect with the subject.

Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?

Festival directors and journalists mostly.

What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?

I'd love this film to be seen by other children of immigrants, and by immigrants who are raising their children in strange lands. I want them to feel embraced by the film. I also want people to gain a bit more insight into how unsettling it can be when you are constantly receiving messages that tell you you don't belong in a place. Finally, I want people to feel hopeful - it is possible to heal, and nature doesn't discriminate.

What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?

How can we find a sense of belonging when we feel we don't belong anywhere?

What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?

I'm working on a new film called Hold It Together. It explores similar themes. On her weekly trips to the swimming pool, Neema, a young immigrant to Iceland, experiences a series of unexpected transformations that get in the way of her connecting with people around her.

Interview: January 2023

We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela

On The Surface

Length: 3:56

Director: Fan Sissoko

Producer: Fan Sissoko / Art With Impact

Writer: Fan Sissoko

About the writer, director and producer:

FAN SISSOKO is a French-Malian artist and filmmaker based in Reykjavik. Her work explores themes of migration, motherhood, otherhood and neurodiversity. Her first animated short film On The Surface was awarded a grant from Art With Impact, and screened at festivals around the world, including Clermont Ferrand ISFF (France 2022) where it received a Special Mention, PalmSprings ShortFest (US 2022), Seattle International Film Festival SIFF (US 2022) and Encounters (UK 2021).

Key cast: Enid Mbabazi (Ada)

Instagram: @whatfandoes

Hashtags used: #onthesurface

Other: IMDb

Funders: Art With Impact

Where can I watch it next and in the coming month?

Currently screening on Arte: https://www.arte.tv/fr/videos/109412-000-A/on-the-surface/