Harboring the Deep

Actress Martina Ebm in an interview

"It‘s a sensitive and hopeful film about the power of human closeness in the anonymity of a big city. It can be difficult to ask for help – and it can be healing to do just that. That’s what the film tells us – and it does so with great sensitivity. Behind every apartment door there’s a life of its own, full of sorrow, longing and little miracles. The story of ‘Harboring the Deep’ shows that it often takes just one small, courageous step to keep from sinking. It’s a quiet plea for compassion, solidarity and the hope that arises when people do not forget each other."

PRESS REACTIONS

A light and visually captivating production, full of moments where imagination surpasses reality, hilarious scenes and moments of pure poetry. A film that shows us how friendship and solidarity can solve even the most insurmountable problems.
Cinema Austriaco

A heart-warming film that makes a plea for civil, unbiased coexistence – irresistible!
Kleine Zeitung

With a light-hearted tone, vivid images and plenty of humour, the film shows that solidarity and care do not always have to depend on a single person. On the contrary: when responsibility is shared among several people, everyone benefits.
Filmfestival Diagonale

A gripping drama, a very unusual film because it attempts to lighten difficult and serious topics and make them accessible to everyone. A plea against the cliché that people in big cities are always seeking peace and quiet in anonymity.
Kronenzeitung

A touching film. Martina Ebm is convincing as Annie Breuer, a single mother with mental health issues who finds it increasingly difficult to cope with everyday life. As she becomes more and more desperate, unexpected help comes from the neighbourhood.
Heute

A light-hearted, humorous tragicomedy with finely drawn characters: With “harboring the Deep”, Rupert Henning has succeeded in creating an entertaining, well-timed and amusing plea for togetherness in a society in which people are increasingly withdrawing and becoming alienated from one another: the story (mental health, excessive demands, loneliness) is realistic, the narrative pleasantly fairy-tale-like. The writer-director manages a tragicomic balancing act with finely measured humour, a film that gives hope and takes its characters seriously.
Tittelbach.TV

The fact that the film is not a depressing drama is due not only to the abundant sunshine, but above all to the many small events on the sidelines, which often have little to do with the actual story, but a lot to do with the neighbourhood. A tragicomedy excellently performed, especially by the young cast.
Tilman P. Gangloff, Evangelisch.de