Tides

Can the story of a river reveal the meaning of a life imprisoned by History? Despite the end of the conflict, in Northern Ireland there is still a city with two names: Derry, for Catholics, Londonderry for Protestants. In the middle flows a river: the Foyle, which has become their border against their will. Documentary and magical realism intertwine in a dreamlike autobiography about borders, time, and dreams: are the dreams of those who lived before the conflict different from those dreamed today? And above all, where have all our dreams gone?

Is the story of a river able to reveal a sense of life imprisoned by History? Despite the end of the conflict, in Northern Ireland there is still a city with two different names: Derry, for Catholics, Londonderry for Protestants. In the middle of the city, flows the river Foyle, which acts as their liquid border. A visionary and surreal autobiography of a river that ended up being what it wasn’t supposed to be: a liquid wall, dividing two sides separated by 40 years of conflict.

Through dreamlike/ oneiric sequences and archive material made by ordinary Irish people in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s the River invites us to reflect on issues that are going beyond its own edges: what is a border? Are the dreams of those who lived before the violent conflict different from those dreamed today? And above all, what happened to our dreams?

A film-reverie, where a river becomes the paradigm of any possible border and any imaginable trespass.