Synopsis

Ten-year-old Jarka lives together with her sick grandmother and mother Lucia, who – having had Jarka at a young age – is overwhelmed with the responsibility. She prefers to spend most of her time away from the house, amusing herself, leaving Jarka to take care of meals all by herself. The girl suffers deeply from the fact that she isn’t growing up in the “right” kind of family. Her friend and neighbour, Kristian, a boy of her age, has it the other way around: the dreamy youth has to suffer his parents’ watchful eye. They never let him out of their sight. One day, events take a dramatic turn when Jarka finds a pair of abandoned twin babies lying around at the train station. She seeks refuge in a derelict hut at the edge of her garden and together with Kristian manages to conceive the perfect family she always dreamed of: a “small haven” for the four stranded souls, full of affection, a sense of responsibility and commitment. Directed with love and care by Iveta Grófová from Slovakia, Little Harbour is based upon a true story in the Czech Republic, told in the novel The Fifth Boat by Monika Kompaníková, which was named Novel of the Year in Slovakia in 2010.