This was a very interesting short film, Sirenomelia, by Emilija Skarnulyte, but left me confused as to what it was trying to convey. The first thing that caught my attention was the strange background noise. The first, and only text, in the video states the location is a classified, decommissioned NATO submarine base above the Arctic Circle. The setting reminded me of last weeks discussion of how we see the ocean, and how those views changed after submarines were introduced to modern warfare, and the ocean becoming a battleground. The water temperature is 2 degrees Celsius, and the white noise sound was recorded at the Norwegian Mapping Authority Geodetic Observatory in Spitsbergen. The short film included beautiful shots of the Arctic, white snow covered mountains, and glaciers in the water. These shots of nature were often contrasted with shots of the white machinery at the decommissioned NATO base. We see the stark difference between nature and machine. In the final scene, the mermaid, dressed in a tail, wetsuit, and goggles, swims between a channel, trapped between two concrete sides. Finally, it appears she makes it to the open sea. After watching the film, I read the description. Sirenomlia is a rare congenital deformity called Mermaid Syndrome where newborns are born with legs joined together creating a mermaid like appearance. Based on what I read, it is extremely rare (1 in 100,000 births), and most cases die shortly after birth. Could this be commenting on the harshness of nature, or conversely, the harshness of human nature? Still, I’m unsure of the meaning, I am excited to hear about what others made of this short film.