19 minutes / Color
English; Spanish / English subtitles
Release: 2001
Copyright: 2001
Included on 5-disc box set Personal and Political: The Films of Natalia Almada.
ALL WATER HAS A PERFECT MEMORY is a poignant experimental documentary that explores the effects of tragedy and remembrance on a bi-cultural family. At seven months old, filmmaker Natalia Almada lost her two-year-old sister, Ana Lynn, in a drowning accident at her childhood home in Mexico. Inspired by an essay written by Toni Morrison, in which she speaks of the Mississippi River’s ability to conjure memories, this moving piece serves as a meditation on the cultural and gender differences between the filmmaker’s North American mother and Mexican father in the face of their daughter’s death. Through personal recollections narrated by each family member, including her brother, Almada incorporates Super-8 home movies, photographs and fabricated images to weave together a touching and moving visual memory of Ana Lynn.
“A masterfully crafted documentary of sheer power and beauty...captures the essence of pain, loss, remembrance, and cultural differences.” —David Kwok Programmer, Tribeca Film Festival
“Powerful imagery.” —Rebecca Rodrigues, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
“Poignant…(Almada) creates a touching and visual memory.” —Vistas Film Festival
“Stunningly beautiful. Its imagery is mesmerizing, its voices haunting…highly recommended.” —Visual Anthropology Review
Select Accolades
The filmmaker reflects on her great-grandfather, who was a revolutionary general and then president of Mexico.
Natalia Almada | 2009 | 83 minutes | Color | Spanish | English subtitles
From dusk to dawn Martin watches over the extravagant mausoleums of Mexico's most notorious Drug Lords.
Natalia Almada | 2011 | 72 minutes | Color | English; Spanish | English subtitles
Cinematic meditation on technology and motherhood.
Natalia Almada | 2022 | 81 minutes | Color | English; Spanish | English subtitles | Closed Captioned
