A hyper-intelligent and deeply personal film by director Su Friedrich about the complex relationship with her father. In twenty-six short, poetic chapters — composed of black-and-white footage of both everyday and exceptional events — a young girl’s voice recounts the memories that have profoundly shaped her understanding of fatherhood, family, play, and work.
Water plays a central role in Sink or Swim (1990): the film opens with swimmers, ends in a lake, and in between, water flows through many of the chapters. It serves as a metaphor for the stream of memory — the passage from present to past, from the blissful ignorance of childhood to adult awareness.