Somewhere Over the Clouds (2007)

• 66%
• 2007
• Documentary
• Hsiao Mei-Ling

A letter the filmmaker wrote to her late teacher and guide, the renowned American documentary filmmaker Robert Kramer (1939-1999) is woven throughout the plot of the story, as the boundaries of life, distance, language, identity and nationality are reexamined from the perspective of Elodie, her daughter. Elodie is a girl of mixed French and Taiwanese descendant, conceived in Indonesia and born in Taiwan. At her birth, her French father applied for unpaid leave and arrived in Taiwan to stay for one year. After returning to France, the Internet web cam becomes the means by which they know one another; a real father confined behind a small, virtual screen. The meaning of "Daddy" changes along with Elodie, from being the computer, to the mouthpiece, to the teddy bear, to the intruder who competes with her for her mother's affection.