Special Screenings / Learning To Breathe Under Water / Ireland, United Kingdom, Netherlands 2026
Eight-year-old Leo lives with his dad and a giant shark, which crashed through the roof of their home. Yes, you read that correctly. The shark is Leo’s best friend, to whom he can confide all his secrets. He can’t really talk to his dad; he must be missing mum, who’s been gone five years now. Then Anya the au pair bursts into their lives, and their world suddenly changes. It’s more cheerful and Leo discovers that the metal shark doesn’t have to be his only friend. An enchanting film for parents and children about how to talk together and how to grieve together. About how the world of adults is sometimes hard to understand, and how children’s opinions really should be taken seriously. And, above all, it’s about learning how to breathe again.
Anna Kořínek
95 min / Color, DCP
World premiere
Director Rebekah Fortune
/ Screenplay Richard Brabin
/ Dir. of Photography Richard Kendrick
/ Music Alexander Reumers
/ Sound Evelien van der Molen
/ Editor Sam Hodge
/ Producer Jack Tarling, Patrick O’Neill
/ Production Shudder Films, Wildcard
/ Cast Rory Kinnear, Maria Bakalova, Ezra Carlisle
/ Sales Bankside Films
Rebekah Fortune. Filmography: Just Charlie (2017), Learning To Breathe Under Water (2026).
Bankside Films
12 Great Portland street, W1W 8QN, London
United Kingdom
Phone: +44 207 636 6085
E-mail: [email protected]
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