Patrick and the Whale (Patrick in kit glavač)

25th Documentary Film Festival
By Mark Fletcher
Austria, 2022, 73'

Cankarjev dom For Young People and Schools Patrick and the Whale (Patrick in kit glavač)

Patrick Dykstra has dedicated the past twenty years of his life to travelling the globe, following and diving with whales. Over the years, Pat has learnt how whales see and hear, how they perceive other creatures in the water and how they behave at close quarters. He has a finely tuned sense and knows how to act when within touching distance of a whale – what to do, what not to do and when. This allows him to consistently get closer than anyone else alive – a truly unique skill.

Filmed over many years, Patrick and the Whale tells a remarkable story of a man’s changing relationship with sperm whales, as he is led by them into a deeper understanding of our relationship to nature and each other. This is a film about relationships, whale to whale as well as whale to human, bonds that cannot be seen, that are very hard to describe, and as Patrick says, have to be felt to be understood at all.
Mark Fletcher

Q&A with Director of Photography Gail Jenkinson after the screening.