Puffling
2023 · 20m · UK
Directed by Jessica Bishopp
Genres: coming-of-age, documentary
Tones: contemplative, melancholic, tender
On the remote Vestmannaeyjar islands of Iceland, two teenagers spend late-summer nights rescuing disoriented puffin chicks (pufflings) that mistake harbor lights for the moon. The film quietly parallels the birds' first flight from the nest with the girls' own impending departure from childhood and island life.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
Icelandic teens spend annual nights rescuing baby puffins from harbor lights — hyperlocal ritual as coming-of-age frame is exactly the kind of subject that justifies a documentary. Yes.
Jessica Bishopp finds a coming-of-age structure inside a hyperlocal Icelandic nocturnal puffin-rescue tradition — the parallel of birds and girls leaving the nest is irresistible without being forced. New Yorker-published and rightly so.
Twenty minutes built on a hyperlocal Icelandic tradition — a two-to-three-week annual window of nocturnal puffin rescue patrols — paralleling the birds' first flight with the girls' departure from childhood. That subject-as-metaphor architecture is gift-wrapped; New Yorker Documentary placement seals it.
Reviews
A clever combination of coming-of-age narrative and environmental documentary that leaves a reverberating impact.
From its opening shot, this documentary declares an exciting directorial vision, drawing moving parallels between its human and animal subjects, both on the precipice of embarking on new journeys.
Festivals
- SXSW 2023
- Aspen Shortsfest 2023, Jury Award for Documentary
- DOC NYC 2023
- Palm Springs International ShortFest 2023
- Galway Film Fleadh 2023
- Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival 2024
- Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia 2024