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Staff and customers at Wholesale Tropicals in the East End of London have two preferred topics of conversation: how the character of the rapidly gentrifying neighbourhood is changing and, of course, tropical fish. Brimming with subtle charms, gentle humour and poignant observations, and set to the soothing sound of bubbles percolating through an aquarium’s air pump, the short documentary Bubble provides a portrait of the specialist retailer and its many characters, land- and water-dwelling. Juxtaposing human and fish perspectives on their surroundings, and especially the unusual creatures staring at each through the glass, the UK director Eleanor Mortimer finds a compelling subject in this slice of London, building an understated atmosphere from the small joys that compound with each passing minute.
Director: Eleanor Mortimer
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Biology
Butterflies become unrecognisable landscapes when viewed under electron microscopes
4 minutes
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War and peace
Two Ukrainian boys’ summer unfolds just miles from the frontlines
22 minutes
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Nature and landscape
California’s landscapes provide endless inspiration for a woodcut printmaker
10 minutes
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Love and friendship
Never marry a man you love too much, and other views on romance in Sierra Leone
5 minutes
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Engineering
Can monumental ‘ice stupas’ help remote Himalayan villages survive?
15 minutes
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Virtues and vices
Why Bennie tried to disappear, and what happened when he was found decades later
16 minutes
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History of technology
Curious singles and tech sceptics – what ‘computer dating’ looked like in 1966
6 minutes
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Animals and humans
Join seabirds as they migrate, encountering human communities along the way
13 minutes
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Stories and literature
Two variants of a Hindu myth come alive in an animated ode to Indian storytelling
14 minutes