Into the Blue
2023 · 28m · Denmark
Directed by Omer Sami
Genres: coming-of-age, documentary
Tones: contemplative, tender
A 12-year-old girl named Tatheer from a social housing estate in Copenhagen joins a week-long police bootcamp for girls deep in the Danish woods, navigating grueling rituals, elusive social dynamics, and personal setbacks in this tender coming-of-age documentary.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
Twelve-year-old at police boot camp filmed by a crew who went in blind — that real-time discovery hook is genuinely novel, not just "tender immigrant doc." Cautiously into it.
Sami's blind-immersion documentary methodology recalls early Wiseman in its observational humility, and the Danish bootcamp setting gives the coming-of-age frame unusual material grit. The Vimeo Staff comment about access confirms the access is real.
27:36 observational doc and the Vimeo staff comment about "crazy access" backs up the page's claim that the crew went in blind alongside the participants — which is exactly the choice that makes a film like this work or fail. Sami trusting the bootcamp's real rhythm to be the structure is the right instinct.
Reviews
Ömer Sami's poignant and deeply felt documentary short presents a coming-of-age so special and personal that we cannot look away.
Roxana Reiss' cinematography is exceptional, capturing the bootcamp with an immersive quality despite the crew going in blind alongside the participants.
Festivals
- Hot Docs 2023
- Telluride Film Festival 2023
- DOK Leipzig 2023
- Nordisk Panorama 2023, Honourable Mention - Best Nordic Short
- SIMA Awards 2023, Best Cinematography
- CPH:DOX 2023