Rings of Life

Hanna was seven years old when her five-year-old sister Emma suddenly became very ill. It happened after a boat trip, a happy day out for the family, with the little sisters playing in a ball pit and eating their fill of candy and cupcakes. Emma had a terrible headache when she got off the boat. A few hours later, she died. In this experimental documentary, Hanna talks about the sister she lost. Hanna is present only in voice-over, accompanying another story, told in images, starting with snowy trees and gradually engaging more closely with the subject. The spoken words are a mixture of dreams, thoughts, and recollections – including memories of that last happy day and its horrific conclusion, and they all provide insight into the world of a young girl suffering terrible grief. “I think you end up in a beautiful place. Somewhere pink, green and white. Or peach-colored. And there are clouds and horses and candy. Everything that you like. And only girls,” says Hanna, who is scared of spiders, but not of death. Her clear memories of Emma keep her going, and there is new joy to be found in her family as well.