On The Surface

A woman goes for a swim in the Icelandic sea and reflects on her experience of raising a child in a country that feels nothing like home.

Awards and mentions

• International Special Mention - Clermont Ferrand ISFF 

• Nominated Best Animation African Movie Academy Awards

• Best animation - Scottish Mental Health Film Festival

• Special Mention - Tirafuorilalingua

• Special Mention - Elba Film Festival

• Heartwired Award - Our Heritage, Our Planet Film Festival

• Best Icelandic Production - Close:Up Reykjavik Film Festival

• Prix "Élie" - Festival Court Derrière

CREDITS

• Written and Directed by Fan Sissoko

• Voice acting - Enid Mbabazi

• Music - Tariqh Akoni / Red Wagon Music

• Sound recording - Arnar Guðjonsson

• Field recordings - Hafdis Bjarnadóttir

• Funded by Art with Impact

REVIEWS / responses

• Response to 'On The Surface' by Cathy Brennan
  https://www.encounters.film/on-the-surface

• Response to 'On The Surface' by Xandra Robinson-Burns
  https://www.fringeofcolour.co.uk/responses/to-be-rooted-in-nature-and-held-by-the-sea-fan-sissoko

Selections and screeningS

2021

• Art With Impact (US online - Jun)  | Screening

• Fringe of Colour (UK online - Aug)  | Screening

• Mom Film Festival (US online - Aug)  | Official Competition

• Encounters Film Festival (UK online - Sep) | Official Competition

• Ottawa International Animation Festival (Canada online - Sep) | World Panorama

• Festival of Animation Berlin (Germany - Oct)  | Official Competition

• Our Heritage, Our Planet Film Festival (US online - Oct) | Official Competition

• Lyth Arts Center Northern Lights Festival ( UK Scotland - Oct) | Screening

• Margate Film Festival (UK - Oct) | Screening

• Rex Animation Festival (Sweden - Oct)  | Official Competition

• TIAF - Tbilisi International Animation Festival (Georgia - Oct) | Official Competition

• Animae Caribe International Animation Festival (Trinidad & Tobago - Oct) | Official Selection

• Tirafuorilalingua (Italy - Nov)  | Official Competition

• London Migration Film Festival (UK - Nov)  | Screening

• Cine-Sister Gateway Film Festival (UK - Nov)  | Screening

• AfryKamera African Film Festival in Warsaw (Poland - Dec) | Official Selection

2023

• MANIPULATE Festival February 4, 2023, Edinburgh, Scotland

• Festival Continent Afrique 4 - 8 février 2023 Pau, France

• Festival Films d’Afrique de l’Ouest - Garden Cinéma, 5 au 20 Mars 2023, France

• FESPACO Feb 25-March 4, 2023, Burkina Faso

• Elba Film Festival, 9 mars 2023, Italy

• Afrika Filmfestival, 21 avril au 6 mai 2023 Leuven, Belgium

• Très Court International Film Festival, 2 au 11 Juin 2023, France

• International Migration & Environmental Film Festival (IMEFF), 5 au 11 juin 2023, Canada

• Black Film Festival Zurich, 16 au 18 juin 2023, Zurich, Switzerland

• Festival Cinema Africano di Verona, 29 Juin au 2 juillet 2023, Verona, Italy

• Shocking Pink Endorphins 26 - 30 Septembre, Venice, Italy

• Festival International du Film d’Amiens (FIFAM), 10 au 18 Novembre 2023, France,

• Festival Shorts Not Pants, 18 au 27 Novembre, Canada

2024

• International Film Festival on Human Rights, FIFIDHO-Niamey Janvier 30 - Février 4, 2024, Niger

• Tehran International Animation Festival, 3 au 7 mars 2024, Iran

• African Film Festival Saint Louis, March 22-24, 2024, USA

• Mostra Itinerante de Cinemas Negros Mahomed Bamba, 23 Avril 2024, Salvador, Bahia

• W XOOL Festival, 5 Octobre 2024, France

• Festival Insulara. Islas En Red, 03 Octobre - 25 Novembre 2024, Canary Islands

• Festival International Gbaka Animation (FIGA), 25-27 Octobre 2024, Togo

• Reykjavik International Children’s Film Festival, 26 Oct - 3 Nov, Iceland

• Motriz - Festival de cinéma de planaltina, 23-26 Octobre 2024, Brazil

• Pune International Film Festival, 17 Novembre 2024, India

2022

• Seattle International Film Festival SIFF (US June 2022) | Official Competition

• Clermont Ferrand ISFF (France - January 2022) | Official Competition

• Palm Springs International ShortFest (USA - June 2022)  | Official Competition

• Nordisk Panorama Film Festival (Sweden - Sep 2022) | Young Nordic Competition

• Boundless Film Festival (UK - Jan) | Official Competition

• Oska Bright Film Festival (UK - Mar)  | Official Selection

• Kaboom animation festival (Netherlands - Mar)  | Official Competition Short Docs

• Tricky Women/Tricky Realities (Austria - Mar) | In this together program

• Movies that Matter Festival (Netherlands - Mar) | Official Competition

• Cinemagic International Film Festival - (UK - Mar)  | Official Competition

• Palm Springs Animation Festival (US - Apr)  | Official Selection

• Close:Up Reykjavík Film Festival (Iceland - Apr)  | Official Selection

• Cardiff Animation Festival (UK - Apr) | Official Competition

• Festival Filministes (Canada - May)  | Official Competition

• RVK Feminist Film Festival (Iceland - May)  | Sisters Awards Selection

• Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival (UK - May)  | Official Competition

• Flatpack Festival (UK - May)  | Official Competition

• Psarokokalo International Short Film Festival (Greece - Jun) | Official Competition

• FESCAAAL (Italy - May)  | Official Competition

• Leiden Shorts (Netherlands - Jun) | Official Competition

• Femfilm Oslo (Norway - Apr) | Screening

• Detours en Cinecourt (France - Jun)  | Screening

• Figari International Short Film Fest (Italy - Jun)  | Official Competition Animation

• Nova Frontier Film Festival (USA - Jun) | Official Selection

• Animafest ZAGREB (Croatie - Jun) | World Panorama

• Nickel Independent Film Festival (Canada - Jun)  | Screening

• Mostra de Cinemas Africanos (Brazil - Jul) | Official Selection

• Almagro International Film Festival (Spain - Aug)  | Official Competition

• Dotdotdot Open Air Kurzfilmfestival (Germany - Aug) | Screening

• Sao Paulo International Short Film Festival (Brazil - Aug) | Official Competition

• MIFF Mequinenza International Film Festival (Spain - Sep) | Official Competition

• Le Chouette Festival (France - Sep) | Official Selection

• Quibdo Africa Film Festival (Colombia - Sep) | Official Selection

• Weird Market (Spain - Sep) | Market

• Chacun fait son court (France - Sep) | Screening

• Afrika Film Festival Köln (Germany - Sep) | Screening

• Saint Paul Trois Châteaux (France - Oct) | Screening

• La Toile des Palmistes (French Guyana - Oct) | Screening

• iAfrica Film Festival (Netherlands - Oct) | Screening

• Festival Court Derrière (La Réunion - Oct) | Official Competition

• CinemAfrica (Sweden - Oct) | Screening

• Lumières d'Afrique (France - Nov) | Official Competition

• AZYL SHORTS (Slovakia - Oct) | Official Selection

• Leeds International Film Festival (UK - Nov) | Screening

• B3 Biennale (Germany - Oct) | Screening

• Rex Animation Festival May 5-7 2022, Sweden

• Flatpackfestival, May 17-22 2022, Uk

• Animation Nights New York 2022 May, USA

• Festival Fim Afrikin (FFA), 25 Mai, ile maurice

• Psarokokalo International Short Film Festival 2022 June 1 – 7, 2022, Grece

• Helsinki International Film Festival - Love & Anarchy 35th - 15.–25 septembre 2022, Finlande

• Ajyal Film Festival, 1 au 8 Octobre, Qatar

• African Movie Academy Awards, 26 - 30 October 2022, Nigeria

• 36th Leeds International Film Festival, 03 – 17 November 2022, UK

• Cinemazero, 28 Novembre 2022, Italie

• Seville European Film Festival 4 - 12 Novembre 2022, Espagne

• Uk film Festival, 23 Novembre, UK

• Amarcort Film Festival 22-27 Novembre 2022, Italie

• Rencontres cinématographiques de Sya, 6-10 décembre 2022, Burkina Faso

• FESTIC, 3-10 décembre 2022, Burkina Faso

• Festival International du film de Montagne d’Autrans, 30 Novembre au 4 Décembre 2022, France

• Hayti Heritage Film Festival, 9 au 11 Mars, Durham, USA

• DJARFOGO International Film Festival, 8 au 12 Novembre 2022, Cap-Vert