Ama-San

Portuguese director Cláudia Varejão's award-winning documentary is an intro to the traditional world of Japan's free-diving fisherwomen.

"For centuries, the ama (literally 'women of the sea') of the remote Shima Peninsula have been diving for seafood. Remarkably, the average age of the fisherwomen is 67. Varejão's film captures three generations of divers as they head out to the Pacific, chatting like workers everywhere as they fold their traditional linen headdresses and adjust their goggles. As the women plunge beneath the ocean, silence surrounds them and time slows – a fitting analogy for this enduring but endangered tradition – while onshore they bathe and unwind before returning to household routines. This spellbinding film is awash in hypnotic visuals and reflects on past and future, while questioning common concepts of femininity." (Sydney Film Festival)

Less