Reunions in Ortigia. A Short Film
In September, the sun in Ortigia begins to set around 7 pm. Small crowds gather on the west of the island to watch, whilst the tide broaches further towards the shore, and a few lonely swimmers bob above the lulling waves. Vic, Nic and I lie quietly in the waning warmth of the day rounding off a week-long stay on this little slice of Sicily. It was our third annual meet-up abroad since leaving the house we shared at university two years previously (with our fourth crew member, Mar), and a marker of three years of friendship for the four of us.
There is a growing trend in many of my mid-twenties friendships. The Reunion. The small pockets of time we allocate to come back together again, just to be as we were in a previous life that too quickly became memory. A tradition made necessary by the very fact that people who were once especially close inevitably seem to disperse.
This film is an experimentation in video effects and storytelling, captured during one such reunion. The essay, Reunions in Ortigia: Reflections on long-distance friendships in my twenties, will be available in my first issue of journels, the physical magazine.