Med Selkies, 11min., UK
Directed by Kelly Ann Buckley
Med Selkies is a poetic film exploring a near-future climate crisis where land is ravaged, and a lone human drifts at sea. Succumbing to the depths, the human encounters an ancestral, aquatic force - beings who once diverged from humanity to adapt to life beneath the waves.

https://www.instagram.com/k_a_b_art_n_sound

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?

~ This was an expansion of a project I did for Focal Point Gallery - a wonderful contemporary arts gallery in SouthendonSea, UK. I was lucky enough to be commissioned to create an exhibition for their FPG Sounds programme. My project - Echoes in the Fossils - was a sound-led audiovisual 5 part piece - focused on rising sea levels and lost past & imagined future soundscapes, ranging from Mesolithic to Anthropocene epochs, which touched upon futuristic polymer-human hybrids. Med Selkies was a continuation of that exploration, after Echoes in the Fossils had finished. I am interested in the Aquatic Ape theory and the idea that there may be some human cousin out there in parts of the ocean we don't know about. Med Selkies evolved from my thinking about that, and what may happen if we are forced to return to the ocean, living with them, because of climate change. This was combined with the thinking about humans carrying micro plastics in their bodies vs the plastic eating microbes scientists are now working with. What if these grow huge, and we become the food? It's all very mixed up thinking and dreamlike and I suppose this vibe was carried through to the film.

2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?

It's hard to be precise because I suppose the idea was growing alongside the Echoes in the Fossils project although it wasn't fully formed. It may have been something like 6 months to a year or just over.

3. How would you describe your film in two words!?

Fantastical truth

4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?

I had a very small but very powerful underwater camera that I was initially using to film some underwater scenes in the North Sea, which is where I also filmed some underwater footage for Echoes in the Fossils. Unfortunately one of my teenage sons then lost it in the sea. I was very distraught at the time but he's forgiven now. 😊 I ended up licensing footage, which I'm sure is much better to watch anyway, than the very mirky and silty underwater views of the Thames/Estuary North Sea.

5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?

I had a big smile on my face. It was so lovely to listen to - I think as an experimental film, you don't expect people to immediately 'get it', but they did, and that felt good, like I achieved my goal. It was funny to hear someone say they thought I worked with AI. There was no AI in this film! Also someone said about the music/sound filter. I'm not sure what they meant, but there wasn't one filter I used. The underwater sound was a result of lots and lots and lots of hours of sounddesign and many many layered tracks; the majority being hydrophone recordings of myself underwater screaming and swooshing around plastic crisp bags and suchlike.

6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?

I mainly make sounddesign or sound-art/compose music and write. For many years I have documented a lot of these processes with video or moving art/imagery/visuals, so I suppose it has been a natural evolution that has run alongside. I've always been interested in filmmaking - I did an A level in film studies and did multimedia studies at college, but I didn't really think of myself as a filmmaker in the obvious sense as I know so many brilliant filmmakers in the traditional sense - amazing knowledge, and tech, and camera skills and whatnot. I suppose I would say I've become more of a filmmaker (actually feels imposter-ish even saying that now) in an experimental/art sense.

7. What film have you seen the most in your life?

Oooh. Lots. Ummm... a few faves I've watched multiple times are Withnail and I, Couscous, Caramel, Betty Blue. The whole Godfather series too.

8. What other elements of the festival experience can we and other festivals implement to satisfy you and help you further your filmmaking career?

I think you guys are doing a wonderful job, which seems to go way beyond the norm (judging by the limited film festival experience I have), in helping get people's names out there and help raise profiles, with your feedback, blog and podcasts etc.

9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experiences been working on the festival platform site?

Really good so far! I am quite new to it!

10. What is your favorite meal?

Sunday roast dinner with all the trimmings.

11. What is next for you? A new film?

I have just finished co-writing a screenplay with Tom Keenan for a feature film. I have been a journalist of 30 years and so was partly brought on board for those transferable skills - the film is inspired by the true story of Steve Camps - but also my passion for Cornwall and it's rich heritage, for story, and ecological issues. Steve Camps is an artist based in Cornwall who had never picked up a paintbrush in his life until recently when he retired, and then was very quickly catapulted into fame and fortune because these paintings are so special and enchanting - buyers have been coming in from all over the world! His story started appearing across national newspapers and TV. My partner Tom read one of these stories in a British National newspaper called The Observer (The Gaurdian's Sunday paper), and secured the life rights of the story towards the end of last year. We then received early development investment. We also formed a partnership with the Sound/Image Cinema Lab in Cornwall. So we have been working together on it since around October/November 2024. I'm co-producing the film too, and at the time of answering these questions, we are currently in Cannes to form partnerships and push it forward. It's title is The Prince Of Whales and people can find out more at powfilm.net if they'd like to.