As the Tide Comes In

In the face of the climate crisis, an eight-square-kilometre island off the Danish coast is a microcosm of the rest of the world in this transportative, witty portrait.

While used to flooding and storms, the 27 residents of Mandø – an isolated island in the Wadden Sea accessible only at low tide – now face a threat to their very existence: rising sea levels, which have only continued to worsen. But it’s not just the global environmental threat putting their future at risk. Their last remaining farmer, Gregers (who is also Mandø’s youngest inhabitant), is looking beyond home and to the reality show Farmer Wants a Wife and online dating to find love.

To make this sensitively handled, at times humorous account of life in remote conditions, co-director and visual anthropologist Sofie Husum Johannesen immersed herself in the locals’ experiences (including charting 99-year-old Mie’s dream of celebrating her 100th birthday) before shooting commenced, lending a scholarly eye that elevates the film’s observational storytelling. Meanwhile, director Juan Palacios was behind the visually arresting camerawork of sky meeting sea, ebbing tides and flat plains, culminating in footage gathered across 15 trips in four years – before it’s too late.

“Full of wonderful, human, slightly absurdist observations … An ode to this tough community and its tenacious residents.” – Business Doc Europe