‘The Melusinas At The Edge Of The River’: Doclisboa Review

Dir/scr: Melanie Pereira. Portugal/Luxembourg. 2023. 84mins

Myths and fairytales provide a fresh perspective on a young woman’s experience of home in The Melusinas At The Edge Of The River. Melanie Pereira’s imaginative documentary uses her own life to create a complex exploration of fitting in to an a country adopted by her parents. Further festival interest could flow from the film’s receipt of the HBO Max Award for Best Film in the Portuguese Competition section of Doclisboa.

 A complex exploration of exile, fractured identity and displacement

Pereira is a previous winner at Doclisboa for her first film To My Parents (2018), a documentary on her parents’ move to Luxembourg from Portugal; a constant theme in her work. The Melusinas begins by telling the story of the legendary Luxembourg mermaid Melusina, a beautiful woman who beguiled Count Siegfried. They were married on the condition that every Saturday she could isolate herself in a tower unobserved and undisturbed. Seven years into their marriage, the King violates that promise, observing Melusina in the water and glimpsing her fish tail. She jumps from the tower into the river Alzette, leaving the country motherless. She is reputed to resurface every seven years with the city’s golden key in her mouth, and is desperate to be freed from the cold waters of the river. 

Water becomes a recurring theme in the film, as Pereira searches for some sense of Melusina’s presence by swimming in lakes, visiting the Alzette, sharing a bathtub with her friends and permeating the film with the sounds of raindrops and waterfalls. There are also many modern resonances contained within the Melusina story in terms of belonging, integration and identity, which Pereira proceeds to explore through the stories of herself and close friends Ana-Filipa Martins, Melina Mutombo Menendez, Shanila Mutumba and Amelia Skenderovic. All of them were either born or raised in Luxembourg, but share a feeling of being outsiders.

The closeness between Pereira and her friends allows for honest conversations infused with the benefit of hindsight. In flowing floral dresses, the women walk barefoot in the woods, pose in boats and bathtubs. The security and freedom that Luxembourg offered is not questioned, but there is a sense of never feeling they could confidently claim it as their home. 

There are clearly generational differences too, as what drew their parents to the country, and sustained them there, has not proved sufficient for the women. Many of them feel it was necessary to leave Luxembourg in order to find themselves. The simple question of  ’Where are you from?’ provokes all kinds of emotions when you were born in Luxembourg but  feel the pull of your heritage in Spain, the Congo, Portugal or Bosnia.

Perreira weaves together home movies and family photographs from the 1990s and 2000s to provide the visual backdrop to individual stories. Conversations provide thoughtful insights and are a crucial element in a film that becomes a journey, constantly transporting Pereira closer to peace and understanding.