Ama-San

A film of intimate beauty, Cláudia Varejão’s Ama-San depicts three generations of Ama—Matsumi, Mayumi and Masumi. Women from the Ise peninsula in Japan, they continue a 2000 year old tradition, free-diving for pearls, abalone and shell-fish. Harvesting their catch with a knife, and recognisable by the white linen scarves protecting their heads from the sun, this a world away from the industrial scale fishing we’re familiar with seeing portrayed on screen.

With breathtaking underwater sequences at sea, combining with the warm light of home and dockside camaraderie, there’s both extraordinary strength and glowing merriment at the heart of Ama-San. The film’s gentle style and gorgeous cinematography describes a community of women—the oldest of whom is pushing into her 80s—with much singing, conversation and riotous laughter.