The director finds a box of 8-millimetre films full of images from all over the world at a flea market.
Two boxes filled with small-gauge film are found at a flea market. When the pictures start moving, a treasure is revealed: countless frames taken around the world, someones experiences and adventures from decades ago. The filmmaker has immortalised foreign faces in distant harbours, a stormy ocean, the neon lights of Manhattan, the sand-coloured pyramids, Machu Picchu and his own shadow.
Who was this filmmaker and why did his memories end up for sale? This riddle is tackled in the documentary Iceberg Shadow. The name found in the film bags puts the director on the right track. More evidence is uncovered at the War Archive and in attics: old photos, letters and postcards. These form a picture of lived life, of the man behind the films. The amazing adventures of First Engineer O. V. Kovanen and his beautiful legacy are also a story about what is left of us when we are gone.
