The short film, The Water Will Carry Us Home, had an interesting combination of two mediums: modern film making and stop animation. This mixture of mediums made me think about the hybridity of mermaids that we have touched on quite a few times this semester, but I don’t think this was in the intention of the filmmakers. Rather, I think the combination of these two mediums allowed the filmmakers to tell a story, while also connecting it to real people and modern times. The film begins with shots of women lighting candles, with many shots focused on small details of their bodies and what they are wearing–such as the henna on their hands, the stretched ear lobes, the tattoos, the smoke from the candles. These small details slow down the film and force the audience to pay attention to these details, rather than a big picture. For instance, the henna on the hands with the eyes, which is later also seen on the boat in the stop animation portion of the film. If the shots had been wider and not focused on these details, the audience may have missed the eye on the woman’s hand. This symbol being in both parts connects these two mediums. By having modern film making sandwiching the stop animation, it first allows us to relate to something in the beginning (this looks familiar) and then brings us back to reality at the end (this is part of someone’s culture, this is a story told by these people). There is also hybridity within the stop animation. Although most parts are hand drawn and slowly moved, there are also historic documents embedded in the video that reveal the horrors of the slave ships that moved people to the United States. This is important because it shows the history behind this story. In addition, at the end, there is another woman who creates headphones out of shells and a piece of wire. This creation is a way to listen to the ocean, and is another hybrid part of this film as it combines something man made with something of nature, of the ocean. This hybrid element of this film shows the ability of man and nature to coexist, intertwined with each other, and unable to separate.