Time And Water Trailer: Sara Dosa’s Heartfelt Tribute to Our Vanishing Glaciers

New Documentary Explores Iceland’s Melting Glaciers and Cultural Identity

Iceland’s enchanting landscapes, once cherished for their icy beauty, are facing a significant transformation due to climate change. This urgent theme is at the heart of Time and Water, an evocative documentary directed by Oscar nominee Sara Dosa, renowned for her work on Fire of Love. The film draws inspiration from Andri Snær Magnason’s acclaimed book, On Time and Water, with Magnason narrating the cinematic journey.

In 2019, Magnason poignantly penned an obituary for Okjökull, the first glacier in Iceland officially deemed moribund after losing substantial thickness and surface area. His reflections serve as a precursor to the film’s exploration of the intertwining fates of people and their environments.

National Geographic has collaborated with 1-2 Special and Dogwoof to distribute Time and Water globally, with theatrical releases scheduled to begin on May 29.

“In Time and Water, renowned Icelandic poet and author Andri Snær Magnason is chasing something elusive,” reads a recent press release. “As the glacial ice of his homeland melts, he constructs a time capsule to hold onto this moment and send it to the future, before everything he loves slips away. Using his own collected archives, his grandparents’ photographs and films, as well as traditional songs and folktales, Andri interlaces his family’s story with that of the land around him.” This narrative serves as a universal reflection on the notion of home amid overwhelming change.

The documentary is produced by Oscar winner Shane Boris, alongside Elijah Stevens, Jameka Autry, and Dosa. National Geographic executives Carolyn Bernstein and Tim Horsburgh are serving as executive producers, along with Jessica Harrop, Caitlin Mae Burke, Kristín Ólafsdóttir, Nina Fialkow, Moudhy Al-Rashid, and Sam Frohman.

Bernstein stated, “Time and Water is a deeply moving and timely cri de coeur that invites audiences to reflect on the ties that bind us to the natural world and to each other.” She commended the film’s emotional depth, dramatic urgency, and stunning cinematography, a hallmark of Dosa’s approach.

Dosa’s previous works include The Seer and the Unseen, also filmed in Iceland. She expressed her vision, stating, “Time and Water weaves a story of family and our natural landscapes as an effort to make sense of our profoundly changing world.” The film draws inspiration from how memory is preserved across generations, showcasing the indelible link between human life and nature.

Magnason, who serves as a co-producer, remarked on the film’s narrative significance: “People don’t understand data, they understand stories…The film is a love letter to glaciers and generations, an invitation to us all to consider how we listen to the world as it changes around us.”

The documentary premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January and has since been showcased at various international festivals, including the Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival and the San Francisco International Film Festival. Time and Water is set to stream on Disney+ later this year.

Dosa concluded, “In a time when the violence of the climate crisis ravages the earth, we need stories that can act as maps for our shifting world. Time and Water is a gesture toward such a map, tracing the ice of Iceland through the human story of one family.”