Watermarks (2004, Kino International w/Cinemax-HBO, 84 minutes) is a fabulous film. Director Yaron Zilberman locates eight women in their 80s who were part of the exclusively-Jewish HaKoach Swimming Club in Vienna in the 1930s, which had mamy of Austria's and some of the world's most talented women swimmers, and who now live in Israel, England and the U.S. He asks them what they remember from their youth. He invites them to a reunion back at the pool in Vienna where they used to practice, but they are not sure if they want to go.
As the swimmers talk to him about their memories, show him photos, and share the direct honest communication that is the hallmark of elders who have grappled with some of deepest tragedies of the 20th century, and who have lived in multiple cultures, the film segways between scenes shot in the present and film shot in the 1930s cover many universal issues. We see them grapple with how much to share with a younger generation. This is a great film!
