Short Film

At Sea

Name: At Sea — Full Film
Uploaded: 2025-01-01
Description: A small film about something big. The kind of big you only feel once you're far from land, alone with your thoughts. At Sea drifts between memory and moment, truth and fiction. Told through the fragmented voice of an unreliable narrator, it follows a group of sailors navigating the vast, unpredictable waters of Greece.

A small film about something big. The kind of big you only feel once you're far from land, alone with your thoughts. At Sea drifts between memory and moment, truth and fiction. Told through the fragmented voice of an unreliable narrator, it follows a group of sailors navigating the vast, unpredictable waters of Greece.

Salt on the lens and wind in the mic. A collage of light, sound, instinct, and sea spray. Post-produced in After Effects and Procreate.

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Press

Directors NotesMartin Marko's 'At Sea' Immerses Us in a Nautical Symphony of Raw Experience and Artistic Intuition Film ShortageDaily Short Picks Directors NotesWeAreDnA Awards 2026: Nominated

Project Photos

View on Frameset

Awards

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Credits

Year2025

CategoryShort Film

Format2.39:1

DirectorMartin Marko

Writer / DP / EditorMartin Marko

SoundMartin Marko

Sound MixBojan Bojic

FramesetView

"An ordinary story told in an extraordinary way."

Horyzonty Adventure Film Festival

"Proposes a sensory and immersive experience with detailed visual and sound effects. Its unreliable narrator and non-linear story give the film a unique format, engaging viewers directly."

Hollywood Shortsfest

Full Film

At Sea

Written · Directed · Edited by Martin Marko 2025 2.39:1 Anamorphic

An unreliable narrator. Howling wind. Swaying sea. Burning sand. And the calm after the storm. A fast-paced homage to the sea and the ever-curious human spirit.

Director’s Statement

I made At Sea because I had to. It started as notes on a phone, images I kept returning to: the particular way light breaks on water at midday, the sound of rope against the hull, the feeling of being very small in a very large place. I did not set out to make a documentary or a narrative. I just wanted to capture something true about what it feels like to be out there.

The unreliable narrator was not a structural choice, it was the only honest way to tell it. Memory does not work in a straight line. The sea does not either.

“Memory does not work in a straight line.
The sea does not either.”

I shot the film over years, across different journeys, mostly at sea in Greece, with fragments from earlier travels. I used whatever I had: a Blackmagic Pocket, a 7D, a GoPro strapped to the bow, an iPhone in a waterproof case. The imperfection was the point. I wanted the image to feel earned, not polished. Salt on the lens. Wind in the mic.

The footage came together like memory does, not as a clean narrative, but as something felt. A voyage, the sea, the human need to keep moving, even without knowing where it leads.

Post-production was done in After Effects, with Procreate used to build out certain moments, like the stretched corridor effect. It gave what I captured a slightly off edge and helped connect fragments that did not naturally belong together. It also gave me space to be playful. There are moments where the film bends to the narrator, where cause and effect feel questionable. When the girl drops her phone into the sea, it almost feels like the narrator takes it from her hand and throws it, just to match the rhythm of what is being said, just because it fits.

The film asks you to meet it halfway. I think the sea asks the same thing.