Last year’s Community Voices documentary
Still
is making headlines, and developing a great reputation, fast.

After positive reviews and great success at festivals, the film has landed in a rather odd location for a video: in a magazine!

Ok, well it’s an online version of a magazine, but a ‘zine nonetheless.  Check out what
The Atlantic
had to say about this gorgeous, thoughtfully-paced documentary:
Documentary Student Film "Still" Featured in Atlantic Magazine

In recent years, underwater freediving—diving without breathing equipment—has found new popularity. Dating back thousands of years, it’s an ancient tradition and a recognized sport, but for Carlos Eyles, freediving is a way of life.

In the short documentary Still, Eyles, a freediver and photographer based in Hawaii, floats through coral reefs photographing dolphins and sea turtles. Eyles says, “the ocean exists as a fundamental reality of the earth. Through that mirror, you can see the fundamental reality of yourself.” Eyles has currently written ten books based around the ocean.

The film was shot over a month in Hawaii, with most of the footage coming from five days of underwater shooting. According to Michael Barth, one of the filmmakers of Still, “[Eyles] really is a Mr. Miyagi of the sea … Sometimes he felt like swimming in the sea longer than any of us young guns could keep up and other days he just needed a day off to play his bongos.”

Still is a film by Michael Barth, José Tadeu Bijos, Pasqual Gutierrez, and Ruby Stocking. Additional underwater footage was captured by Tom Lyon and Sarah Lee.

To see more work from Carlos Eyles, including photography, books, and more, please visit his website.


From a staid publication like
The Atlantic
, this praise is all the more exciting.

Congrats to Michael, Jose, Pasqual, and Ruby.  Personally, I was floored by its delicate balance of narrative and montage, and clever use of archival footage, when I saw it in the Folino last year.  I just wish all of The Atlantic’s readers could see it on the big screen, as it was meant to be seen!