Flotsam

Original Title: Flotsam

Runtime: 80'

Expected Release: November 2027

Production Stage: Production

1st Feature: Yes

Looking for: Co-Production Partners, Financing Opportunities, Sales Agents / Distributors, Festivals, Broadcasters

Synopsis:

Set in Astana, Kazakhstan, Flotsam is a cinematic, director-led documentary following the parallel lives of an ageing fisherman and a fish beneath the frozen surface of a polluted river. Separated by ice yet bound by the same forces of threat, instinct and endurance, their journeys unfold as a poetic and unexpected reflection on how closely human life mirrors the fragile cycles below the water.

Director’s Profile:

Isa Rao is a Glasgow-based documentary filmmaker and cognitive neuroscientist. Born in Germany, she completed a PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience in Scotland, where her research sparked a lasting interest in human and animal consciousness. A self-shooting director working across observational documentary television and creative cinema, her work focuses on ethical storytelling and interspecies relationships. Her credits include Hear Me Out (2023), The Animal Healer (BBC Three, 2019) and Crannog (2018). Crannog was funded through Bridging the Gap at Scottish Documentary Institute and screened at BAFTA- and Oscar-qualifying festivals. Recognised as an Emerging Director by BBC Scotland and Screen Scotland, she is now developing Flotsam, her debut feature-length creative documentary.

Producer’s Profile:

Nadira Murray is an award-winning independent producer based in Scotland and founder of Sylph Productions. She was named Rising Star Scotland (2024) and a BIFA Breakthrough Producer (2023). A current participant in EAVE Producers Workshop, her work includes Winners (dir. Hassan Nazer), the UK’s Official Entry for Best International Feature at the 2023 Academy Awards; and a winner of BAFTA Scotland Best Feature. Recent and current productions include The Education of Jane Cumming (dir. Sophie Heldman), a Germany/Swiss/UK co-production under the European Convention; River Dreams (dir. Kristina Mikhailova), a Kazakhstan/Swiss/UK co-production; and Flotsam (dir. Isa Rao), a debut creative documentary being developed with Hopscotch Films, supported by Screen Scotland and BFI Doc Society.