‘Home Sea Home’ a collaborative Super 8 film with Audio and Minimalist Composing Created by Maria McSweeny and Shivan Alouf
Maria McSweeney Visual Super 8 Film
"Home Sea Home" is a poetic experimental non-narrative monochrome super 8 film, depicting a character's search for a place of refuge in the coastal landscape, with a sandcastle serving as a metaphor for home. Through its exploration of the concept of home in Ireland, the film touches on various themes, including the housing crisis, emigration of young people, the plight of vulnerable refugees seeking shelter, and the rising homelessness in the country. The film is complemented by a series of monochrome 35mm film stills. All this visual work was created by Maria during her analogue motion residency at "The Darkroom Dublin."
The film's theme of the fragility of home is not a new one in Irish history. Throughout the country's past, individuals were often forcibly placed in institutions and left to wonder if they would ever make it back home. Today, this fragility continues to be an ongoing issue, with the housing crisis, emigration, and migration of refugees all affecting the stability of home. Additionally, the recent pandemic has shown how vulnerable our bodies are, which can also be seen as homes themselves. Without a stable home for our bodies, they can succumb to physical, emotional, and mental illnesses.
Shot using analogue processes beside the sea, the film and 35mm series use of timeless media echoes the past and serves as a reminder that the fragility around our homes has been a prevalent issue in Irish society throughout history
Shivan Alouf Audio and Minimalist Composing
The audio for this piece was recorded on the shores of the Irish coast, the sounds were carefully selected and assembled to capture the scenery filmed. There is an emphasis on the voices and songs of birds throughout the recording, to capture the idea of travelling or migrating like the youth of Ireland must do in our current climate.
The songs of the Irish sea are powerful, they allow those to hear the beauty of the film presented to them. The soft keys are distorted to create a sense of musicality in an almost ominous manner, but only subtly as the sound of our landscape creates its own delicate music.
Mixed carefully the audio in this film was composed with intention to compliment the visual in a modest way, to enhance the story being told authentically.
Screenings:
2 Films 3 Clues Hosted by Irish Artists' Film Index, Lunchtime Screening Event, Visual Artist Ireland Offices, Dublin (Upcoming May 2025)
Big Shots, Dolans Warehouse, Limerick
Clocks For Seeing, The Darkroom, Dublin
TERRA FIRMA, Oughterard Courthouse Gallery, Co. Galway
Feile na Phobail, Community Arts Festival, St Mary’s University, Belfast
