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 sustainable development/climate change, as the theme
of coastal erosion is explicit, while 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.
