A man recalls his mother. She used to tell him about a mythical place, the beach. In Soft Sea, the bathman would immerse the children in the waves amid screams and laughter, lace and swimsuits were in fashion, and people asked the sea to make them live forever. Meanwhile, the photographer walked along the sand, attempting to capture a society on the brink of decay.
Director statement
The way performances and rituals were established on the Beach gave people a sense of harmony in customs that persists to this day. Photography is an inseparable practice of this behavior or ritualistic performance. Representations of this place are omnipresent, endlessly repeated in family albums over time. But these images, while preserving precious moments, also reveal our eternal search for what escapes us. Therefore, I decided to explore the narrative possibilities of the archive, questioning the nature of reality and expanding the boundaries that separate documentary from fiction. Thus, Soft Sea presents itself as an allegory that explores the ephemerality of life, the search for meaning in the void of memories, and the inevitability of the end.
Bio
Sara N. Santos is a portuguese filmmaker. She has a degree in Documentary Cinema and a Master’s degree in Audiovisual Communication. Her films intertwine Memory and Archive with Fiction. In 2014, ‘SABA’ was awarded an honorable mention at LEFFEST and in 2015 it won the PrimeirOlhar award at Encontos de Cinema de Viana. ‘Just Like the Films’ (2020) won the award for best student experimental short film at Porto Femme 2021. She directed the experimental short Suave Mar (2025) with the support of Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian for artistic creation. Alongside directing, she works on editing and teaching.
Director: Sara N. Santos,
Music: Helder Luís voice-over: Rui Spranger
Editing: Sara N. Santos
Sound recording: Sérgio Silva and Raquel Gonçalves
Sources of reused footage: Centro Portugês de Fotografia, Arquivo Municipal de Lisboa, Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo, Arquivo Histórico Municipal de Cascais
Pebbles Underground is focused on showcasing and promoting experimental, avant-garde, underground, and no-to-low budget projects by artist-humans from all over the world. Absurd, uncanny, witty, humorous, slow-video – all are welcomed, and loved.
Pebbles Underground is an independent project not funded by any government or corporation, and we intend to keep it that way. Main source of funding is personal donations from humans organizing the project, who are artists themselves, and the main drive of the project is formed by the energy and involvement of the organizers, and the public.
