Mermaids

Directed By Ali Weinstein

A feature documentary about the powerful allure of a universal myth. MERMAIDS immerses audiences in a world where fantasies come to life.

  • ABOUT
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A feature documentary about the powerful allure of a universal myth. MERMAIDS immerses audiences in a world where fantasies come to life. Following the stories of five extraordinary tail-donning women who are part of a growing "mermaiding" subculture, audiences voyage between mermaid theme parks, conventions, tail-making studios, and deep into the ocean where escaping reality and transforming into the empowered icon of the mermaid is possible.

Ali Weinstein is an award-winning documentary filmmaker living in Toronto, Canada whose character-driven work often centres on people searching for a sense of belonging. Her latest feature YOUR TOMORROW (TVO) premiered at TIFF 2024 where it won a runner up Audience Choice Award. Her first feature documentary MERMAIDS (Super Channel), about a group of women living a mermaid lifestyle, debuted at Hot Docs 2017 and has since been broadcast in Canada, Brazil, France, Israel, and Germany. In 2018, she co-directed THE IMPOSSIBLE SWIM (TSN) about a 16-year-old girl attempting to swim across Lake Ontario at its widest point. In 2020, she directed #BLESSED (CBC) about the stunning success of an Evangelical church amongst the youth of downtown Toronto, and that same year she produced the feature documentary THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE THIS PLACE, ANYPLACE (CBC) about the redevelopment of the iconic Honest Ed’s block in Toronto, which was nominated for two Canadian Screen Awards and won an Audience Choice Award at Hot Docs. Ali has also worked as an Associate Producer on films directed by acclaimed Canadian documentarians Alan Zweig, Nicholas de Pencier, and Kevin McMahon. She holds an MFA in Documentary Media Studies from Toronto Metropolitan University, and for four years served as a board member of Breakthroughs Film Festival, the only short film festival showcasing work exclusively by women and non-binary filmmakers in Canada.

Hot Docs 2017

Warsaw Film Festival 2017

Guanajuato International Film Festival, Mexico 2017

Cleveland International Film Festival 2018

Doc Edge, New Zealand 2018

Best Feature Film - Lower East Side Film Festival

"Mermaids is a sensitive, nuanced portrait."
Vice
"Weinstein finds poignancy in the tales of the tails and Catherine Lutes’ stunning underwater photography just might send you out searching for a fish tail of your own."
Toronto Star
"Mermaids walk among us. Which is odd, since they don't have legs. Ali Weinstein's charming documentary follows a variety of humans who are living the mermaid lifestyle."
National Post