A Cuban mother educates her son about the harsh realities of discrimination.
All Water Has a Perfect Memory
- Description
- Reviews
- Citation
- Cataloging
- Transcript
If you are not affiliated with a college or university, and are interested in watching this film, please register as an individual and login to rent this film. Already registered? Login to rent this film. This film is also available on our home streaming platform, OVID.tv.
ALL WATER HAS A PERFECT MEMORY is a poignant experimental documentary that explores the effects of tragedy and remembrance on a bi-cultural family. At seven months old, filmmaker Natalia Almada lost her two-year-old sister, Ana Lynn, in a drowning accident at her childhood home in Mexico. Inspired by an essay written by Toni Morrison, in which she speaks of the Mississippi River’s ability to conjure memories, this moving piece serves as a meditation on the cultural and gender differences between the filmmaker’s North American mother and Mexican father in the face of their daughter’s death. Through personal recollections narrated by each family member, including her brother, Almada incorporates Super-8 home movies, photographs and fabricated images to weave together a touching and moving visual memory of Ana Lynn.
“A masterfully crafted documentary of sheer power and beauty...captures the essence of pain, loss, remembrance, and cultural differences.” —David Kwok Programmer, Tribeca Film Festival
“Powerful imagery.” —Rebecca Rodrigues, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
“Poignant…(Almada) creates a touching and visual memory.” —Vistas Film Festival
“Stunningly beautiful. Its imagery is mesmerizing, its voices haunting…highly recommended.” —Visual Anthropology Review
Citation
Main credits
Almada, Natalia (filmmaker)
Distributor subjects
Cultural Anthropology; Cinema Studies; Family Relations; Grief; Death & Dying; Latin America; Mexico; Women’s StudiesKeywords
"All Water Has a Perfect Memory"; Icarus Films; cinema studies; Cultural Anthropology; family; grief; death; home movies; Latin America; Mexico; Spanish; "All Water Has a Perfect Memory"; Icarus Films
WEBVTT
1
00:00:09.573 --> 00:00:14.156
[speaker speaking in foreign language]
2
00:00:16.350 --> 00:00:18.630
3
00:00:18.630 --> 00:00:20.292
at how hard it is to actually do this.
4
00:00:20.292 --> 00:00:22.595
5
00:00:22.595 --> 00:00:27.178
[speaker speaking in foreign language]
6
00:00:29.520 --> 00:00:32.340
7
00:00:32.340 --> 00:00:33.570
that I don\'t really question
8
00:00:33.570 --> 00:00:35.700
and that somehow I was surprised
9
00:00:35.700 --> 00:00:39.141
to find that it\'s a bigger part of me than I thought it was.
10
00:00:39.141 --> 00:00:43.808
[speaker speaking in foreign language]
11
00:00:49.470 --> 00:00:51.930
12
00:00:51.930 --> 00:00:53.400
The only memory I have of her
13
00:00:53.400 --> 00:00:56.043
is a picture taken on the day that I was baptized.
14
00:00:57.090 --> 00:00:59.943
I\'m the only one in my family who cannot remember her.
15
00:01:05.892 --> 00:01:09.225
[train wheels chugging]
16
00:01:16.800 --> 00:01:20.860
17
00:01:21.810 --> 00:01:25.890
when I was so far away in Chicago,
18
00:01:25.890 --> 00:01:30.890
and I\'ve imagined that probably when I was on a train
19
00:01:33.690 --> 00:01:36.480
going with my sister, Cheryl, into the city
20
00:01:36.480 --> 00:01:38.163
for a day of shopping,
21
00:01:39.210 --> 00:01:42.750
that that was probably the time when she was drowning,
22
00:01:42.750 --> 00:01:47.010
when she was taking her final breath.
23
00:01:47.010 --> 00:01:52.010
And I was probably wandering in the streets
24
00:01:53.400 --> 00:01:57.450
looking in the department store windows with Cheryl
25
00:01:57.450 --> 00:02:00.190
when her father was carrying her body
26
00:02:02.250 --> 00:02:04.263
through the hallways of the house.
27
00:02:05.183 --> 00:02:09.850
[speaker speaking in foreign language]
28
00:02:43.440 --> 00:02:45.060
29
00:02:45.060 --> 00:02:49.413
when I was looking at summer dresses.
30
00:02:50.700 --> 00:02:53.700
I was probably trying to decide which pair of shoes to buy
31
00:02:53.700 --> 00:02:58.080
or what color pairs pair of shoes to buy
32
00:02:58.080 --> 00:03:00.960
when her grandmother was bathing her body,
33
00:03:00.960 --> 00:03:03.450
and combing her hair,
34
00:03:03.450 --> 00:03:07.070
and tying her hair in little ponytails.
35
00:03:07.070 --> 00:03:10.399
[sewing machine rattling]
36
00:03:10.399 --> 00:03:15.066
[speaker speaking in foreign language]
37
00:03:42.960 --> 00:03:45.040
38
00:03:46.020 --> 00:03:47.820
a whole chain of events,
39
00:03:47.820 --> 00:03:49.530
Montelargo being one of them,
40
00:03:49.530 --> 00:03:51.570
obviously not related to it,
41
00:03:51.570 --> 00:03:54.660
and our parents getting divorced two years later.
42
00:03:54.660 --> 00:03:56.490
So in a lot of ways,
43
00:03:56.490 --> 00:04:01.490
this accident kind of started things that radically changed,
44
00:04:03.450 --> 00:04:06.003
not so much your life, but our lives.
45
00:04:08.908 --> 00:04:13.575
[speaker speaking in foreign language]
46
00:04:30.784 --> 00:04:33.810
47
00:04:33.810 --> 00:04:37.320
I said, \"It\'s Ana Lynn.
48
00:04:37.320 --> 00:04:39.020
She drowned in the swimming pool.\"
49
00:04:43.146 --> 00:04:47.729
[speaker speaking in foreign language]
50
00:04:59.790 --> 00:05:02.520
51
00:05:02.520 --> 00:05:05.190
that he would throw into the deep end of the pool
52
00:05:05.190 --> 00:05:07.230
that I would dive in and get it and bring it up.
53
00:05:07.230 --> 00:05:08.250
I remember turning around
54
00:05:08.250 --> 00:05:10.740
and seeing that at the far end of the pool
55
00:05:10.740 --> 00:05:15.483
Ana Lynn was kind of floating there, pretty motionless.
56
00:05:16.333 --> 00:05:19.083
[water babbling]
57
00:05:22.080 --> 00:05:24.330
58
00:05:24.330 --> 00:05:26.440
sitting across the aisle from me
59
00:05:28.050 --> 00:05:30.900
with a little girl about Ana Lynn\'s age.
60
00:05:30.900 --> 00:05:32.820
And I\'d been watching this little girl
61
00:05:32.820 --> 00:05:34.110
and watching the little girl,
62
00:05:34.110 --> 00:05:36.930
and I really wanted to touch her.
63
00:05:36.930 --> 00:05:39.577
And I leaned over and said to the mother,
64
00:05:39.577 --> 00:05:44.577
\"I had a little girl like yours and her name was Ana Lynn,
65
00:05:44.940 --> 00:05:46.457
but she died today.\"
66
00:05:48.857 --> 00:05:53.524
[speaker speaking in foreign language]
67
00:06:27.990 --> 00:06:30.180
68
00:06:30.180 --> 00:06:32.700
the weather was very bad.
69
00:06:32.700 --> 00:06:34.740
And when we finally did leave,
70
00:06:34.740 --> 00:06:39.710
there was heavy turbulence, rain, lightning,
71
00:06:40.620 --> 00:06:44.040
and we had to make a landing in Hermosillo.
72
00:06:44.040 --> 00:06:47.880
And at the moment, the plane touched down on the runway,
73
00:06:47.880 --> 00:06:51.150
all the lights went out at the airport
74
00:06:51.150 --> 00:06:53.640
and the lights went out in the city.
75
00:06:53.640 --> 00:06:57.480
And the pilots had to tie the plane down on the runway
76
00:06:57.480 --> 00:06:59.283
because the wind was so strong.
77
00:07:00.240 --> 00:07:03.090
So Cheryl and I were left sitting in the plane.
78
00:07:03.090 --> 00:07:07.170
I was afraid that I would get there too late,
79
00:07:07.170 --> 00:07:09.810
but I wasn\'t sure what the customs are in Mexico
80
00:07:09.810 --> 00:07:14.340
for daring a person.
81
00:07:14.340 --> 00:07:16.083
How much time do they wait?
82
00:07:17.368 --> 00:07:19.957
And I kept thinking,
83
00:07:19.957 --> 00:07:23.010
\"My God, what if I don\'t get back in time?
84
00:07:23.010 --> 00:07:25.050
What if they bury her?
85
00:07:25.050 --> 00:07:26.370
What if by the time I get there,
86
00:07:26.370 --> 00:07:27.837
they\'ve already buried her.\"
87
00:07:30.737 --> 00:07:35.320
[speaker speaking in foreign language]
88
00:07:37.791 --> 00:07:40.541
[water babbling]
89
00:07:41.730 --> 00:07:44.640
90
00:07:44.640 --> 00:07:46.350
that separated the pool from the house,
91
00:07:46.350 --> 00:07:48.960
and dad was there and he was crying.
92
00:07:48.960 --> 00:07:51.280
And I remember specifically asking him
93
00:07:52.590 --> 00:07:53.730
why were he was crying.
94
00:07:53.730 --> 00:07:56.940
And as you know, that\'s probably the only time
95
00:07:56.940 --> 00:07:58.893
I\'ve ever seen him or remember him cry.
96
00:08:00.060 --> 00:08:02.670
97
00:08:02.670 --> 00:08:06.630
And I remember looking out the window
98
00:08:06.630 --> 00:08:09.510
and seeing the lights of Culiacan,
99
00:08:09.510 --> 00:08:11.820
and seeing the runway lights below.
100
00:08:11.820 --> 00:08:13.290
And that there were lots of cars
101
00:08:13.290 --> 00:08:15.510
with their lights on along the runway.
102
00:08:15.510 --> 00:08:17.610
I knew these people were waiting for us,
103
00:08:17.610 --> 00:08:21.090
but I couldn\'t remember why.
104
00:08:21.090 --> 00:08:24.360
And I remember taking my compact out of my purse
105
00:08:24.360 --> 00:08:27.633
and putting lipstick on, combing my hair.
106
00:08:29.130 --> 00:08:30.213
Plane landed.
107
00:08:31.170 --> 00:08:33.750
They opened the doors and Chuy was standing there
108
00:08:33.750 --> 00:08:37.470
and they put us into the backseat of a car.
109
00:08:37.470 --> 00:08:39.360
And all of the sudden,
110
00:08:39.360 --> 00:08:44.360
Chuy started making these horrible guttural sounds.
111
00:08:44.520 --> 00:08:49.520
They were sobs, but they almost didn\'t sound human.
112
00:08:50.310 --> 00:08:54.090
And I laughed.
113
00:08:54.090 --> 00:08:55.983
I was smiling.
114
00:08:55.983 --> 00:08:58.083
I didn\'t know what was wrong with him.
115
00:08:58.980 --> 00:09:01.680
I thought it was strange.
116
00:09:01.680 --> 00:09:02.830
I thought it was funny
117
00:09:04.296 --> 00:09:08.879
[speaker speaking in foreign language]
118
00:09:17.814 --> 00:09:21.041
[sewing machine rattling]
119
00:09:21.041 --> 00:09:25.624
[speaker speaking in foreign language]
120
00:10:07.005 --> 00:10:09.168
[sewing machine rattling]
121
00:10:09.168 --> 00:10:11.918
122
00:10:13.737 --> 00:10:18.737
and her doll was there next to her.
123
00:10:23.280 --> 00:10:25.630
And I touched her
124
00:10:26.820 --> 00:10:31.820
and she was rigid and cold.
125
00:10:32.400 --> 00:10:36.840
Her body was cold and her coloring was awful.
126
00:10:36.840 --> 00:10:40.233
And she had a bruise on her right temple.
127
00:10:41.610 --> 00:10:43.890
Chuy would come in, her father,
128
00:10:43.890 --> 00:10:46.750
many times the rest of that night
129
00:10:47.760 --> 00:10:50.790
he would come in and he\'d pick her up and he\'d rub her tummy
130
00:10:50.790 --> 00:10:55.790
and he\'d kiss her and and rub her legs and her little feet.
131
00:10:56.850 --> 00:11:00.633
And I couldn\'t do it.
132
00:11:00.633 --> 00:11:01.762
[sewing machine rattling]
133
00:11:01.762 --> 00:11:06.345
[speaker speaking in foreign language]
134
00:11:18.812 --> 00:11:22.800
[sewing machine rattling]
135
00:11:22.800 --> 00:11:24.540
136
00:11:24.540 --> 00:11:27.120
It was August, it was very hot.
137
00:11:27.120 --> 00:11:28.440
The curtains were drawn,
138
00:11:28.440 --> 00:11:30.303
it was quite dark in the room,
139
00:11:31.620 --> 00:11:35.493
and the smell of flowers was very heavy.
140
00:11:36.652 --> 00:11:41.319
[speaker speaking in foreign language]
141
00:11:44.760 --> 00:11:46.710
142
00:11:46.710 --> 00:11:50.430
trying so hard to focus on his white robe,
143
00:11:50.430 --> 00:11:51.783
just focus on the robe.
144
00:11:52.719 --> 00:11:57.386
[speaker speaking in foreign language]
145
00:12:02.250 --> 00:12:03.390
146
00:12:03.390 --> 00:12:04.920
She\'s a beautiful angel.
147
00:12:04.920 --> 00:12:07.068
She\'s with God.
148
00:12:07.068 --> 00:12:08.190
She\'s in heaven.
149
00:12:08.190 --> 00:12:10.263
She will never suffer again.
150
00:12:11.100 --> 00:12:12.900
She\'ll never know suffering.
151
00:12:12.900 --> 00:12:14.583
She\'s at peace.
152
00:12:19.474 --> 00:12:21.480
153
00:12:21.480 --> 00:12:24.870
that Ana Lynn was really lucky because she was an angel now
154
00:12:24.870 --> 00:12:26.670
so she got to fly around all day long
155
00:12:26.670 --> 00:12:28.980
and she was having a really good time.
156
00:12:28.980 --> 00:12:32.910
So for me, I don\'t know if it was a sense
157
00:12:32.910 --> 00:12:34.950
of the spirituality that children have
158
00:12:34.950 --> 00:12:38.700
or if it was the idea that she gets to fly around
159
00:12:38.700 --> 00:12:41.160
and have a really good time all day long.
160
00:12:41.160 --> 00:12:43.530
I don\'t know if it was my imaginations or natural presence
161
00:12:43.530 --> 00:12:47.760
but I remember feeling whatever.
162
00:12:47.760 --> 00:12:50.100
But I guess that\'s how children
163
00:12:50.100 --> 00:12:53.223
would probably deal with something like that.
164
00:12:55.429 --> 00:12:58.138
[film reel rattling]
165
00:12:58.138 --> 00:13:02.805
[speaker speaking in foreign language]
166
00:13:21.780 --> 00:13:23.190
167
00:13:23.190 --> 00:13:26.160
looking at her for quite a long time.
168
00:13:26.160 --> 00:13:28.461
It was probably just a few minutes.
169
00:13:28.461 --> 00:13:33.044
[speaker speaking in foreign language]
170
00:13:46.680 --> 00:13:48.570
171
00:13:48.570 --> 00:13:51.300
but when he closed the coffin,
172
00:13:51.300 --> 00:13:54.930
there was a little window there, a small window.
173
00:13:54.930 --> 00:13:59.930
And you could see Ana Lynn\'s pale little face in the window
174
00:14:00.930 --> 00:14:04.143
with muneca, with her doll.
175
00:14:05.250 --> 00:14:10.250
And they looked like two little travelers
176
00:14:11.580 --> 00:14:15.550
going on a journey far away forever.
177
00:14:17.728 --> 00:14:20.198
[train wheels chugging]
178
00:14:20.198 --> 00:14:24.865
[speaker speaking in foreign language]
179
00:14:26.580 --> 00:14:27.930
180
00:14:28.950 --> 00:14:32.460
and watched while they wheeled this little coffin
181
00:14:32.460 --> 00:14:37.460
down this very big hallway
182
00:14:38.010 --> 00:14:41.670
and out the front doors and down the steps.
183
00:14:41.670 --> 00:14:45.330
And I just kept thinking, they\'re taking her away.
184
00:14:45.330 --> 00:14:50.330
They\'re taking my Bolita away, they\'re taking her away.
185
00:14:50.357 --> 00:14:54.940
[speaker speaking in foreign language]
186
00:14:58.260 --> 00:15:02.490
187
00:15:02.490 --> 00:15:07.353
cemented into the wall of mausoleum in a box
188
00:15:09.510 --> 00:15:12.753
was excruciating.
189
00:15:16.715 --> 00:15:21.298
[speaker speaking in foreign language]
190
00:15:40.410 --> 00:15:43.800
191
00:15:43.800 --> 00:15:45.720
because in our family,
192
00:15:45.720 --> 00:15:48.270
well, there\'s three who had a previous experience
193
00:15:48.270 --> 00:15:51.540
and you were the one who were kind of after that.
194
00:15:51.540 --> 00:15:53.250
But in a lot of ways,
195
00:15:53.250 --> 00:15:55.750
I think that you might have been a lot better off.
196
00:15:58.650 --> 00:16:00.240
Maybe it made you more realistic
197
00:16:00.240 --> 00:16:03.810
or maybe it made you more independent,
198
00:16:03.810 --> 00:16:08.523
but it\'s kind of a hard thing to kind of come to terms with.
199
00:16:10.800 --> 00:16:11.820
200
00:16:11.820 --> 00:16:14.040
always being emptied and filled,
201
00:16:14.040 --> 00:16:16.590
as if somehow by emptying it and filling it up
202
00:16:16.590 --> 00:16:18.180
over and over again
203
00:16:18.180 --> 00:16:19.660
they could change its history
204
00:16:24.210 --> 00:16:29.210
205
00:16:30.420 --> 00:16:35.310
it started thundering and lightning and a storm was coming.
206
00:16:35.310 --> 00:16:37.920
And then it started raining very hard.
207
00:16:37.920 --> 00:16:40.380
And I walked down that long hallway
208
00:16:40.380 --> 00:16:42.010
to the other side of the house
209
00:16:42.990 --> 00:16:47.880
and walked along the garden to the swimming pool
210
00:16:47.880 --> 00:16:49.980
and stood at the edge of the swimming pool
211
00:16:50.910 --> 00:16:53.190
with the rain beating in my face.
212
00:16:53.190 --> 00:16:54.993
And I screamed.
213
00:16:57.927 --> 00:17:02.510
[speaker speaking in foreign language]
214
00:17:34.980 --> 00:17:37.650
215
00:17:37.650 --> 00:17:42.650
that throughout since the beginning of time,
216
00:17:43.500 --> 00:17:47.560
a mother\'s wail of agony
217
00:17:48.660 --> 00:17:53.660
of losing one of her children, losing a child,
218
00:17:53.970 --> 00:17:57.120
has probably always sounded the same,
219
00:17:57.120 --> 00:18:01.053
the same as mine always.
