DER JUNGE UND SEIN HAI (WT)

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On the tiny Caribbean island of Islote de Santa Cruz, the smallest and most densely populated island in the world, Adriano grows up surrounded by overcrowding, scarce resources, and the limits of island life. The film follows his everyday world between fishermen, tourists, and floating football fields, while he and a group of young volunteers transform parts of the island through graffiti and murals. “The Boy and His Shark” is a portrait of an extraordinary place and a young man searching for his role within it.

▶︎   STORY · PRODUCTION · TEAM · TRAILER · GALLERY

PRODUCTION
„Silvia Is My Name“ a project by Am Schönen Berg Films & Kunsthaus e.V..

TEAM
Upcoming

SYNOPSIS
English: On the tiny Caribbean island of Islote de Santa Cruz, the smallest and most densely populated island in the world, Adriano grows up surrounded by overcrowding, limited resources, and the tight social structures of island life. The film follows his everyday world between fishermen, tourists, floating football fields, and the constant struggle of the island against its own limits. Together with young volunteers, Adriano launched a project to transform parts of the island through graffiti and murals, bringing new color and identity to the community. While many inhabitants are uncertain about the future, Adriano believes his generation must take responsibility for protecting both the island and the surrounding Caribbean environment. “The Boy and His Shark” is less a traditional coming-of-age story than a portrait of an extraordinary place and a young man searching for his role within it.

Deutsch: Auf der winzigen Karibikinsel Islote de Santa Cruz, der kleinsten und zugleich am dichtesten besiedelten Insel der Welt, lebt Adriano, der dort geboren wurde und zwischen Überbevölkerung, Wassermangel und den engen Strukturen des Insellebens erwachsen wird. Der Film begleitet seinen Alltag zwischen Fischern, Touristen, improvisierten Fußballplätzen im Meer und dem ständigen Kampf der Insel gegen ihre eigenen Grenzen. Gemeinsam mit jungen Volunteers hat Adriano ein Projekt gestartet, bei dem Teile der Insel mit Graffiti und Wandbildern gestaltet werden, um dem Ort neue Farbe und Identität zu geben. Während viele Bewohner von der Zukunft der Insel verunsichert sind, glaubt Adriano an Veränderung und daran, dass seine Generation Verantwortung übernehmen muss. „Der Junge und sein Hai“ erzählt weniger eine klassische Heldenreise als vielmehr das Portrait eines außergewöhnlichen Lebensraums und eines jungen Mannes, der versucht, darin seinen eigenen Weg zu finden.

In the spring of 2018, people in a small coastal town in Colombia told me about a “floating island” located off the Colombian coast: Islote de Santa Cruz.
To visit the island, I was introduced to Adriano, who was 18 years old at the time. Adriano was born on the Islote, which lies in the Caribbean Sea around 20 kilometers off the coast and measures only about one and a half hectares in size. Despite its tiny area, nearly 1,200 people live there, making it the most densely populated island in the world.

– Max Hegewald, Director