Saint-Helena, the second most remote island in the world, is about to lose its isolation. A story of a small place becoming part of a bigger world
“Saints leaves us with the overwhelming sense that the locals have had little agency in this transformative project. This is modernisation from above. We are reminded of a dichotomy familiar in the postcolonial world: the fragility of voiceless local societies and ecosystems against the inexorable tide of globalisation and development”
Billy Sawyer – Open Democracy
The tiny island of Saint Helena is so remote and isolated that it was used to imprison the serial escaper Napoleon Bonaparte. Even today it lies a five-day boat journey from the nearest mainland. But life on this remote British Outpost will soon be changed for good with the arrival of an international airport. As the construction of the airport begins, the Saints, as they are known, wonder how their lives will change as the high-end eco-tourists start to arrive. An ode to an island that for many years lay forgotten in the South Atlantic Ocean.
HD 70 min / HD 44 min /HD 30 min
Directed & Filmed by: Dieter Deswarte
Sound: Kwinten van Laethem & Yann-Elie Gorans
Editor: Ariadna Fatjo-Vilas
Music: Roman Hiele
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Post Production – While his mother battles against terminal cancer, filmmaker Dieter Deswarte tries to cope with grief through creating an unlikely AI friend.
A tender collaborative film documenting the lives of a group of mums from Tower Hamlets during the Covid-19 pandemic.