12 minutes of fish drama, father-son tension, and the slow death of a neighborhood.
A tropical fish shop in the East End of London, the last of what used to be many. Tiny, watery dramas inside fish tanks accompany the thoughts of local fish-keepers, while father and son Big Tel and Little Tel work to keep the shop alive.
Direction
Mortimer finds entire worlds in 12 minutes.
Cinematography
Fish tanks become liquid stained glass.
Director
Eleanor Mortimer
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The 'last shop' documentary genre exploded post-2010 as gentrification accelerated; Bubble is among the most compressed and devastating examples.
Mortimer spent months building trust before filming; the hobbyists' unguarded philosophizing only works because they're performing for a fellow believer, not an audience.
GB
US
