Seaview (film)
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''Seaview'' is a 2007 documentary film directed by Nicky Gogan and
Paul Rowley Paul Rowley (born 12 March 1975) is a British rugby league coach and former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He is the current head-coach of Salford Red Devils. An England representative , he played at cl ...
. The film chronicles the lives of a group of asylum seekers living in the former Butlin's Holiday Camp at
Mosney Mosney () is a townland and village in County Meath, Ireland. It is in the civil parish of Moorechurch north of Dublin city centre, and south-east of Drogheda. It was best known as the site of a Butlin's holiday camp during the second half ...
, Ireland. The film takes an innovative approach to the use to sound and image in telling the stories of the Mosney residents. This has much to do with the past work of the directors, which has been focused on video art and gallery installation projects. The film premiered in the Forum section of the 2008 Berlin Film Festival and has since shown at many festivals internationally, including
Hot Docs The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is the largest documentary festival in North America. The event takes place annually in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The 27th edition of the festival took place online throughout May and June ...
in Toronto,
Silverdocs The AFI Docs (formerly Silverdocs) 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., fro ...
, 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 The Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA) is an all-Ireland organisation focused on film and television. It has about 1000 members, and is based in Dublin, with branches in London and Los Angeles. The IFTA now holds separate ceremonies for the ...
(IFTAs).


Production

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.’Meath Chronicles’. Interview. Pavel Barter. The Sunday Times. 8 March 2008. 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)."Mosney: A holiday camp no more". Interview. Sara Burke. The Village. 29 February 2008.


Reviews

The film received a positive reception upon its premiere at the
Berlin Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...
. ''
The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...
'' said this ‘innovative documentary about asylum seekers held at a former Butlin’s holiday camp packs a real punch’. ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...
'' 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’. ''The Village'' wrote: "While ''Seaview'' tells some grueling stories of exile, this film is also a beautiful portrayal of humanity". 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''’, 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.'Silverdocs Film Festival Catalogue. http://silverdocs.com/festival/films/2008/seaview/


Notes


External links


Official site
*{{IMDb title, id=1153047, title=Seaview Irish documentary films Documentary films about refugees 2007 documentary films 2007 films 2000s English-language films English-language documentary films