| Seaview | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Nicky Gogan Paul Rowley |
| Produced by | Maya Derrington Nicky Gogan Paul Rowley |
| Cinematography | Paul Rowley |
| Edited by | Nicky Gogan Paul Rowley |
| Music by | Dennis McNulty |
Production company | Still Films |
| Distributed by | Arsenal Institut for Film and Video Art (Germany) IndiePix Films (North America) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 81 minutes |
| Country | Ireland |
| Language | English |
| Budget | €90,000 (estimated) |
Seaview is a 2007 documentary film directed by Nicky Gogan and Paul Rowley. The film chronicles the lives of a group of asylum seekers living in the former Butlin's Holiday Camp at Mosney, Ireland. The film takes an innovative approach to the use to sound and image in telling the stories of the Mosney residents. [1] This has much to do with the past work of the directors, which has been focused on video art and gallery installation projects. [2]
The film premiered in the Forum section of the 2008 Berlin Film Festival and has since shown at many festivals internationally, including Hot Docs in Toronto, Silverdocs, Sheffield Doc-Fest, and the Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo Film Festivals. The film was nominated in the best feature documentary category at the 2009 Irish Film and Television Awards (IFTAs). [3]
Directors Nicky Gogan and Paul Rowley first visited the camp as children when Mosney was run as a holiday centre. They returned to the camp in February 2004 to begin a period of research with the residents at the camp. Originally the intention was to write a script for a drama based on the idea of flotels - container ships holding asylum seekers to be floated off the coast while the asylum seekers were being processed. The filmmakers decided soon after meeting the residents in Mosney to change direction and make a documentary. They began to run a series of audio and video workshops in the camp with the residents, including concerts with a rap group formed at Mosney, audio workshops with the women's group, and community radio broadcasts. [4]
The filmmakers lived at Mosney over a three-year period, meeting with asylum seekers at different stages in the process and conducting interviews. The film discusses the difficulties that arise when people are forced to live for an extended period of time in within a system that is processing their case. Deprived of the right to work, the residents are put on a system called Direct Provision, whereby they are fed and housed by the Irish government, and given a small amount of cash (19 Euro per week at the time of filming). [5]
The film received a positive reception upon its premiere at the Berlin Film Festival. The Sunday Times said this ‘innovative documentary about asylum seekers held at a former Butlin’s holiday camp packs a real punch’. [4] The Wall Street Journal called Seaview a ‘powerful documentary’ and said that ‘the filmmakers are able to combine the abstract quality of a video installation with the urgent stories of the people they interview’. [6] The Village wrote: "While Seaview tells some grueling stories of exile, this film is also a beautiful portrayal of humanity". [5] The Sheffield Doc/Fest catalogue said ‘As far as documentaries go about asylum seekers and the immigration debate, no other is as human and evocative as Seaview’, [7] while the Silverdocs Catalogue said 'Directors Paul Rowley and Nicky Gogan’s approach to storytelling is solemn and innovative. This lyrical and deliberately displacing film captures the irony of a space repurposed and stories of migration put on hold.' [8]
Butlin's is a chain of large seaside resorts in the United Kingdom, incorporated as Butlins Skyline Limited. Butlin's was founded by Billy Butlin to provide affordable holidays for ordinary British families.
Sir William Heygate Edmund Colborne Butlin was an entrepreneur whose name is synonymous with the British holiday camp. Although holiday camps such as Warner's existed in one form or another before Butlin opened his first in 1936, it was Butlin who turned holiday camps into a multimillion-pound industry and an important aspect of British culture.
Sheffield DocFest, is an international documentary festival and Industry Marketplace held annually in Sheffield, England.
Mosney Accommodation Centre is located in Mosney, County Meath, Ireland and is situated approximately 48 km (30 mi) from Dublin. It is probably best known as the site of a Butlin's holiday camp in the second half of the 20th century and as the site for the national finals of the Community Games. By the early 21st-century, this had been converted into an accommodation centre for asylum-seekers. The centre was served by Mosney railway station, which closed down in 2000. Currently, it ranks as the biggest earning direct provision Centre in Ireland.
The AFI Docs documentary film festival was an American international film festival. Created by the American Film Institute and the Discovery Channel, it was held annually in Silver Spring, Maryland and Washington, D.C., from 2003 to 2022, when it was merged into AFI Fest, a Los Angeles-based film festival.
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Mosney is a townland and village in County Meath, Ireland. It is in the civil parish of Moorechurch 35 km (22 mi) north of Dublin city centre, and 10 km (6 mi) south-east of Drogheda.
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Keirda Bahruth is an American filmmaker based in Los Angeles, CA. She began her career working on Music Videos and Commercials before a move to New York teamed her up with legendary Saturday Night Live director James Signorelli, famous for his commercial parody sketches. As Signorelli's assistant, she began shooting behind-the-scenes footage of life at SNL for the show's 25th Anniversary Special, which gave her complete access to the inner workings of the show. After three full seasons at SNL, Bahruth returned to Los Angeles in 2001 and joined the nascent world of reality television. She has worked as a director and producer on shows for the Discovery Channel, E!, Fox, NBC/Universal, The WB and BET.
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Heather Ann Croall is an international arts festival CEO and artistic director and documentary producer, best known for leading Sheffield Doc/Fest and Adelaide Fringe, and her work on live music / archive films including The Big Melt, From the Sea to the Land Beyond, Girt By Sea, From Scotland With Love, Atomic, Living in Dread and Promise
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Nicky Gogan is an Irish film director, writer and producer. She is the director of the experimental film festival Darklight Film Festival. She is also a founder and director of the Irish film production company Still Films.
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