An estranged brother and sister come together to save the family boat.


HARBOR is used with permission from Keegan Duncan. Learn more at   / harborshortfilm  .


Jay is trying desperately to save his family's decaying boat, where Jay also lives. The boat was his father's pride and joy and now it is up to Jay to keep it in the family.

He's trying to repair it in time for a bioluminescent event, but when he discovers that the rent on the dock has fallen behind and piled up, he must reach out to his estranged sister Grace to help. Grace doesn't want anything to do with the boat or her brother, but Jay has to find a way to convince his sister and heal the breach between them.

Directed by Keegan Duncan from a script co-written by Jack Norris, who also plays the lead role of Jay, this pensive and moving family drama is striking at first for its immersive visual atmosphere, which uses beautifully moody cinematography to capture the waterside setting. The world of the film feels soaked and even water-logged, from the mists of the liminal times of day to the sometimes harsh sunlight of day. Family narratives can feel painfully intimate sometimes, but the unique atmosphere of a harbor -- both melancholic and unsettled -- opens up the tumultuous feelings that underlie Jay's seemingly quixotic quest to save the family boat and hints at the layers of family history giving meaning to his project.

The writing efficiently details Jay's emotional investment in the boat, the love of his father that he connects to as he works on it, and the odds of saving it. The cost of the unpaid dock rental is the most daunting obstacle, and to overcome it, Jay must pull his estranged sister into his dream. The arrival of Grace in the story brings the energizing spark of outright conflict; she's none too pleased to be pulled into Jay's efforts.

As Grace, actor Pamela Portnoy is flinty and tough but also deeply hurt by her brother, and her defensiveness and hostility towards Jay at first protect her from that resentment and anger. As an actor, Norris conveys both the wistfulness and sadness of the past and how it fuels his determination in the present. As the two estranged siblings finally voice the heartache they've harbored for some time, their conversation also fills in the larger context for their estrangement, as well as the deeper meaning of the boat to both Jay and Grace.

HARBOR is not afraid of deep emotion or sentiment, building to a tender, moving ending that finds the two sharing an extraordinary experience, one connected to the water and boat they both loved as children, the father who cherished them both and their bond as family. It also becomes a portrait of the interconnection of grief and love: how it is processed differently by people, how it can fracture selves and families but also how it can bring people together, united by the love they held for the departed.