Filmmaker and Little Rock native Olivia Wyatt recently premiered her documentary “Sailing A Sinking Sea” at the 2015 South by Southwest (SXSW) festival.
The film is an immersive look at the culture of the Moken people of Myanmar and Thailand. After learning about the people’s intrinsic relationship with the sea, including their ability to predict the 2004 tsunami, Wyatt was hooked. When she found out their population was in decline, she knew she had to capture their way of life on camera.
Wyatt has always been drawn to anthropologic films, and this was right up her alley. She created “Sailing a Sinking Sea” as a completely enveloping experience, different from the talking heads and structure of other films.
“I want people to feel like they took a plane to Thailand and Myanmar and are visiting the Moken for themselves, I want them to feel like they’re diving in the water and sailing on the sea,” said Wyatt.
Fast forward about two years and she submitted it to premiere at SXSW. The music, film and interactive festival gladly accepted her film, where it was screened at three different times in the “Visions” category, followed by Q&A sessions with Wyatt.
So far, “Sailing a Sinking Sea” has received lots of positive reviews and plenty of attention, a pretty cool factor considering Wyatt has only a few of her film team with her at the festival, no press or sales agents to draw in attention.
“The whole experience has been eye opening and rewarding,” said Wyatt. “I had no idea it would get accepted into such an incredible festival, or that people would be so open to how I share and tell a story. I’m just very grateful for everyone throughout the whole process.”
You can find out more about “Sailing a Sinking Sea” on Wyatt’s site or on the film’s SXSW page, as well as this filmmaker Q&A with Wyatt. She was also featured on Good Day Austin, which you can watch here.
