This short film handles a large set of complex issues in under two minutes. A child on the beach prepares a sandcastle, intricately adorned with shells and plants to look like a well-loved home. As the waves begin to roll in, the child’s mother comes to help. Although she tries to help defend the base of the sand castle, neither of them can stop the waves, and the castle looks sure to be destroyed. Just when all hope is lost, a group of strangers gather around to help defend the castle: each places a stone around the base of the castle to strengthen it against the rising waves. The film concludes with the juxtaposition of the strengthened, beautiful, newly secured sandcastle and the row of real-life houses that stand near the seafront just behind it. This film is rich with dialogue opportunities for 4-7 year olds and 8-11 year olds. The use of metaphors creates a tangible, accessible, and safe way to consider difficult themes. In particular, these include the basic right of every individual of a safe place to live and sustainable development/climate change, as the theme of coastal erosion is explicit. The migration narrative is implicit to the premise of an eroded home — what happens when a home cannot be saved? Where is home, then? The symbolic loss of home also represents a way to consider how a home can be lost, beyond natural causes or climate change, such as a war and escape from violence. (Contains dogs).
