Careless Reef - Marsa Abu Galawa

Spectacular underwater photography dominates this short subject from Gerard Holthuis, a filmmaker and sculptor from the Netherlands. Featuring a powerful array of images edited to the rhythms of Egyptian musician Abdel Basset Hamouda, - Mark Deming, Rovi

A breathtaking mash up of shape and color, where the captivating underwater images collide into each other, etching a new, accidental ecosystem. Holthuis' "MARSA ABU GALAWA" will mesmerize and amaze, while still managing to evoke the type of primordial feelings of peace and distress only the ocean can produce. -- Cinematexas, Ivan Lozano

Over relentlessly energetic Arabic music from Abdel Basset Hamouda, director Gerard Holthuis cuts rapidly between different scenes of underwater life -- so rapidly, in fact, that they overlap in the mind's eye, leaving swarms of fish, jovial turtles, and monstrous bottom dwellers to co-exist peacefully. By the end of this 12-minute workout, an extended, tranquil shot of the ocean lingers while a scuba tank rattles in the background, letting viewers literally catch their breath. - Austin Chronicle

Best short experimental film, Santa Cruz filmfestival USA 2004
Gecko Award, Cinematexas, Austin USA 2004
Honorary Mention of the Jury, Uppsala Short filmfestival 2004