Rara Avis

In the middle of the ocean, a crew composed of five teenagers and adults of different ages and backgrounds travels aboard a sailing boat. Off the coast, time seems to be suspended and the boat's space forms a closed-door environment where everyone is put to the test of living together. Mirjam Landolt's camera focuses on the moments of latency, the gestures and silences, on the water that surrounds them and conditions their (dis)balance, but also - above all - on the daily tasks entrusted to the teenagers. Little by little, we understand that the violence and difficulty of their backgrounds are the reason for their presence on board. One by one, they are confronted with the pleasure of being together, with waiting and boredom, with their fears and hopes, but also with the manoeuvres of navigation, with the ocean and its turmoil - until they arrive on land where a new reality awaits them. Rara Avis is a remarkably cinematographic film that portrays these teenagers in the midst of their journey and the adults who surround them with kindness.

(Camille Kaiser, Visions du Réel)