Click on the image to see stills.
Synopsis:
On a beach in the 1920's a young boy sneaks into an old fisherman's hut and encounters the magical world of the 'selchie' or grey atlantic seal. Based on a true story and told in drawings made of sand.
Background:
It tells of an incident in the author's life when as a child he first encounters a 'selchie' or grey atlantic seal. This led him to a lifelong fascination with collecting stories and folklore of the selchie. First published in 1954, the book beautifully describes the worlds in which the stories are told and an attempt was made to layer the film in a similar way. The magical is mixed with gritty reality in an attempt to put across a sense of mixed emotions. In the search for the sounds of seals, Brian re-traced many of David Thomson's steps in the west of Ireland, and later, at a screening of the finished film in London, Naomi had the opportunity to meet with David's widow and talk about his time in Ireland and love of the selchie.
Technique:
AMONG STRANGERS was made using the technique of sand animation. Sand as a material is symbolic of the world in between land and sea (much as the 'selchie' lives as a half-man half-seal creature). Two layers of glass with different sands were used to give variation to the look of the drawings. The film was produced in a very remote location similar to the story space itself; the voice of the fisherman was played by a local fisherman in West Clare, bringing the story full circle and adding a kind of 'verité' style to the sound. Recordings of the wild atlantic ocean or the sea birds at Loop Head situate us very much at the edge of the land; sounds of singing seals and a haunting musical score on guitar and electric mandolin remind us of our close proximity to the underworld. We are on a beach; our face is only
inches away from sand; the story unfolds in our imagination.
Format:
HD Tape/Beta SP PAL
Aspect ratio: 16:9 anamorphic
Colour
Stereo Sound
R/T 11 mins
Festival History:
Premiere at the Galway Film Fleadh, Ireland 2005.
It also screened at Feile Beochan in Ireland, AIFF in Alaska,TIFF in Albania,
and Nashville in USA. It won BEST ANIMATION at the Aubagne International
Film Festival in France 2006 which focuses on the soundtrack in filmmaking,
and got a nomination for BEST ANIMATION at the Birds-Eye-View festival in
London. It also screened in Bergamo Italy, Swaziland Africa, Espinho Portugal,
and in Hiroshima as part of a ‘best in world’ programme.
Producer - Nessa King, Metropolitan Films
Director/Writer/Animator - Naomi Wilson
Cast - Geoff Magee, Merlin Cummins
Sound & Music - Brian Doyle
Adapted from PEOPLE OF THE SEA
by David Thomson