I’m Diving

A little girl bounces up and down in the waves. A woman gets splashed. In the distance, a man wearing a rubber ring seems to be daring the sea. Ten years have gone by when Henri-François Imbert finds this clip of simple joy in the case of a Super 8 camera. Sensitive to family films, he sets out to find the actors of the clip in order to give them back this fragment of life belonging to them.
During his search, he reaches Northern Ireland on a Sunday of peace-making, a day to be remembered in school books, newspapers and by the Irish citizens. Henri-François’ languid and controlled voice-off documents step by step his attempt at finding the living source of the fragment of film. Sylvain Vanot’s electric pads intervene when extracts from the reel are shown on the screen. The mixture is a sweet ode to nostalgia. “Sur la plage de Belfast” conjures up the passing of time, the gone and all that goes, and the disappearing of places.