OTHER THAN OUR SEA
Experimental documentary · Archival video collage · 10'40"
Between the ruins of an ancient Greek colony in Southern Italy and images of contemporary shipwrecks, Other Than Our Sea traces the Mediterranean as a place of mythology, exploration, forced migration and loss.
Through a layered montage of archival footage, classical narratives and fragmented imagery, the film explores the sea as both a passage into the unknown and a contested border between worlds.
From Ancient Greece to the present, the Mediterranean Sea is the natural stage for a specific kind of migration: a brutal journey marked by forced displacement and dangerous crossings. Like the Pleiades guiding ancient sailors, the sea now serves as a passage for countless people seeking refuge and safety in Europe.
Forced migration across the Mediterranean is also inseparable from death at sea, as migrants and refugees risk everything in search of safety and a better life. The calm waters that once inspired myths of celestial nymphs now bear witness to an ongoing humanitarian crisis.
The contemporary plight of migrants and refugees in the Mediterranean evokes parallels with the Pleiades. Just as the mythical sisters were transformed into a constellation, those lost at sea are memorialised within the collective consciousness as a tragic constellation of human suffering, in this story, the Pleiades remind us of humanity’s intertwined relationship with the natural world — a relationship marked by both wonder and peril.
About the work.
From the archaeological remains of an ancient Greek colony in Southern Italy to contemporary shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea, Other Than Our Sea traces a history of journeys shaped by exploration, displacement and conflict. Fragments of classical literature, ethnographic cinema and contemporary news footage converge in a layered visual narrative, bringing ancient mythologies into dialogue with the realities of forced migration across the Mediterranean.
A voice recalls the myth of the Pleiades, seven sisters transformed into a constellation whose appearance in the night sky was associated with the Mediterranean sailing season. Another narrator tells the story of Mother Water, a figure rooted in narratives of enslavement, where the ocean becomes a place of refuge, spiritual return and collective memory. These mythological and historical narratives intertwine with contemporary images of dangerous crossings from North Africa towards Europe, evoking the countless lives lost at sea.
Through fragmented imagery, archival manipulation and sound collage, Other Than Our Sea explores the Mediterranean as a space of profound contradictions: a route of discovery and exchange, but also a contested border marked by violence, disappearance and loss. The journey unfolds as a passage into the unknown, where ancient and contemporary histories converge, and where the promise of freedom remains inseparable from the possibility of death.
The film reflects on the enduring relationship between mythology, migration and the sea, questioning how collective memory is shaped by the stories we tell about those who travel, those who arrive and those who disappear.
PROJECT DETAILS.
Medium: Experimental documentary, HD video collage
Duration: 10'40"
Year: To confirm
Concept & Editing: Valentina Ferrandes
Sound: Valentina Ferrandes, Enzo Elia — credit to confirm
Archival sources: Jean Rouch, Guardia di Finanza and newsreel footage
Screener: watch the film
SCREENINGS. 2015 - 2021.
2021 Amazonia del Plata Film Festival
2017 Simultan Festival. MIT Turin
2016 Cinemigrante - Buenos Aires
Forum des Images- Paris
Experiments in Cinema- Albuquerque - New Mexico
London - International Documentary Festival
Jury Selection. 16th Japan Media Art Festival
Les Inattendus + Festival for Independent Cinema - France
International Film Festival - ZOOM Zblizenia - Poland
Visions in the Nunnery - Bow Arts Trust - London
Bardo National Museum - Algiers
Museo Marca - Catanzaro
Museo d'Arte Contemporanea di Acri - Italy
ProxyAct Film Festival - London
Riace in Festival - Italy - Fondazione Libero Bizzarri - Italy
2015 Phoenix Film Festival Melbourne + Australia
Visioni da Mondo + Documentary Film Festival + Italy
Haverhill Experimental Film Festival + US
DokuFest + Kosovo
Filmideo 2015 + Index Art Center + Newark + US
Visions Du Reel + DOCM Media Library + Nyon + Switzerland
Flatpack Short Film Festival + Birmingham + UK
Festival Isolacinema + Izola + Slovenia
M. Foucault - Of Other Spaces
“Every boat is a floating piece of space, a place without a place, that exists by itself, that is closed in on itself and at the same time is given over to the infinity of the sea and that, from port to port, from tack to tack, from brothel to brothel, it goes as far as the colonies in search of the most precious treasures they conceal in their gardens, you will understand why the boat has not only been for our civilization, from the sixteenth century until the present, the great instrument of economic development (I have not been speaking of that today), but has been simultaneously the greatest reserve of the imagination. The ship is the heterotopia par excellence. In civilizations without boats, dreams dry up, espionage takes the place of adventure, and the police take the place of pirates.”
For those who lived under the yoke of oppression, Mother Water offered a lifeline: a source of hope in a world steeped in darkness. Through its telling, they reclaimed agency over their own narratives, transforming experiences of suffering into stories of resilience and survival.
A journey across the Mediterranean.
A leap into the unknown: a voyage of discovery, forced migration, death and rebirth.

