My Life without Air

The most important moments in the life of Goran, a Croatian free diving record-holder, take place exclusively under water. And because they are associated more with quiet and stoic calm than with drama, the debuting director chose tempered action as her instrument as well. Employing long takes, she captures the all-pervasive stillness of the champion’s daily life, whether in his attempts to break the world breath-holding record, his unimaginably deep dives in the open ocean, regular medical checkups, or in entirely banal activities. These extreme performances, pushing the limits of what is humanly possible, defy what the audience deems rational. After each of Goran’s breaths, we thus succumb to the shared physical experience of his condition, until faced with a sudden emotional fall into the depths of the deep blue sea, where up is indistinguishable from down. The border then blurs between unconsciousness induced by a lack of oxygen and the irrevocable violation of human possibilities; all that follows is numbness in limbo. And then we can finally exhale.