Polaris

Hayat is a skilled seawoman who sails across the Arctic, navigating far away from people and her troubled youth in France. But when her little sister Leila gives birth to a baby girl Inaya, the promise of new beginnings is on the horizon. We witness how the sisters’ worlds are turned upside down, each going on a deeply personal journey, guided by the Northern Star to overturn their family’s fate. Distance is what characterizes the relationship between the two sisters, who are each other’s opposites in many ways. Their brief phone conversations are separated by long periods with no reception. But there is also a tangible intimacy between them that cuts through that sense of distance; a sense of a shared past where they could depend only on each other—their mother was an alcoholic and their father was absent—and a present where it looks like patterns may be repeating. Director Ainara Vera got personally involved and very close to the sister over the course of filming, sometimes even mediating between the two: "Making the film went beyond the boundaries of cinema to become a personal experience for Hayat, Leila and myself. For a while, we formed a triangle of solidarity that made us better people. It was beautiful!"