ROSE OF NEVADA

One day, a mysterious boat called Rose of Nevada appears in the old harbour. It vanished thirty years earlier, taking its entire crew with it. To those too young to remember, its return is little more than an anomaly, almost a folk tale brought to life. For the older villagers, however, it is deeply unsettling – a sign of sorts. They know the boat must be put to sea again if the village is ever to find peace.

Captain Murgey (Francis Magee), an Ahab-like figure, sets about assembling a new crew to go fishing and breathe life back into the long-forgotten vessel. Nick (George MacKay) volunteers, seeing it as a chance to earn extra money and provide for his family. So does Liam (Callum Turner), a newcomer to the community who is only too willing to escape his past on the unforgiving sea.

Dressed in yellow oilskins, the three men head out together, and the sea rewards them generously. In the stifling, claustrophobic confines of the boat, they gut their catch as the smell of fish fills every corner. When the job is done, and they return proudly to harbour, nothing is quite as they left it. Something is wrong, and even time itself seems to have slipped off its usual axis.

Shot on 16mm, Jenkin’s film is an oneiric tale that uses metaphor with great precision, guiding the viewer through small details and inviting them to piece together a local mystery. The sea air carries the presence of ghosts, people no longer among the living, as well as the quiet trauma of a community scarred by its past.

‍

Text: Dorota Reksińska