the passage of time
— In 1960 China during the Great Leap Forward famine, a hungry boy eats his entire lunch bread on the way to school, remembering his family's lost wealth.
— A young skier investigating dark puddles in cracked ice falls through and fights to survive, his life flashing before him as he struggles toward the surface.
— A canoe journey down a river becomes a catalog of sensory impressions — from burbling water to wild mint to watchful eagles — preserved as memory.