ON THE SURFACE
A young black woman swims in the Icelandic sea and reflects on raising her child in a country that is nothing like her home. As she enters the icy water, she relives her traumatic pregnancy. Being in nature and facing her fears helps her heal.
DIRECTION Fan Sissoko SCRIPT Fan Sissoko ANIMATION Fan Sissoko EDITING Fan Sissoko NARRATED BY Enid Mbabazi SOUND Arnar Guðjonsson MUSIC Tariqh Akoni (Red Wagon Music): Composer / Hafdís Bjarnadóttir: Field Recordings PRODUCTION Fan Sissoko (Iceland), Art With Impact (USA)
FESTIVALS AND AWARDS
Special International Jury Mention Clermont-Ferrand 2022
Heartwired Award Our Heritage, Our Planet Film Festival, USA 2021
Encounters (UK)
Ottawa International Animation Festival (CA)
Margate Film Festival (UK)
Rex Animation Festival (SWE)
Fan Sissoko
Franco-Malian artist and filmmaker based in Reykjavik. Her work explores themes such as migration, motherhood, otherness and neurodiversity. Her animated short film “On the Surface” received an Art With Impact grant and was screened at festivals around the world. Her co-directed documentary, “We The People” (2019), has won the Film Futures Awards as part of the Little Wing Film Festival 2020.
