Logline: From perilous jobs in remote locations to the lavish decks of massive cruise ships, exploring the hidden worlds that make these floating wonderlands come alive.
Synopsis: Along a cruise ship's intricate supply chain, many shadowy areas, like a massive floating iceberg, conceal the bulk of its true nature beneath the waterline.
From birth to death, among the extraction of raw materials to dismantling obsolete vessels, four different lives reveal the invisible, interconnected worlds that sustain this grand reflection of our society.
Sidi, a resilient miner in Zouerat, Mauritania, is the first hidden cog in the machine: his life in the iron quarry is gruelling, alienating, and engulfed in dust, punctuated by moments of prayer and contemplation.
Masum, in Monfalcone, Italy, navigates the challenges of integrating the Bengali community with his ambitions for freedom while working in shipyards that produce luxury cruise liners.
Luna and Mia, two elderly friends, indulge in the glamour and entertainment of a Caribbean cruise.
They are blissfully unaware of the harsh realities hidden behind the various tourist ports where their ship docks. Amidst humour and moments of intimacy, a deep sense of disorientation and loneliness emerges.
Finally, Rahman, in Chattogram, Bangladesh, struggles in the wreckage of ships at a ship-breaking yard. To provide for his wife and daughters, he faces exhausting dangers with dignity and perseverance, unable to cling to even the faintest hope for a better future.
The course is set, and the ship sails on, but to whom have we entrusted the helm?
Participant: Aurora Mischi