Kalymnos, the island of sponge divers (1960)

Overview

"The annual balance is $25,000,000, five deaths and three paralytics." The difficulties, the dangers and the joys of a small place in the Dodecanese that lives by sponge fishing. Every dive hides the danger of divers' disease, every journey is a battle with the sea, while on land wives, parents and widows are left waiting. The ritual preparation of a diver before diving. The everyday life of the women and the festive reception of the mops when they return. Life during the months they stay on the island, along with the entire cycle of processing and trading the sponges. The great festival before their departure for another six to seven months. A multi-award winning documentary about daily toil, human pain and the joy that inevitably accompanies it in the cycle of life.