Seavacuee
Dir. Duncan Cowles
Seavacuee
My Grandma was eleven when a boat taking her to Canada was torpedoed by a German Submarine. Now, 72 years later my Grandma agrees to talk about it one last time.
Living on her own 600 miles away I’ve grown up not knowing my Grandma very well, with a recent string of heart attacks I aim to re-connect with her through the telling of her story.
This film takes you on a journey of what it was like to leave your parents so young, escape a sinking ship in the Atlantic ocean, and once again experience British mince & potatoes.
Last year I collaborated with Duncan Cowles on his film, Seavacuee. I edited the film which creates an insight into what life was like during wartime through a child’s perspective. His granmother was an evacuee sent to sea where she found herself torpedoed out in the Atlantic ocean.
The film also flags up the distance that some of us may have between ourselves and our grand parents. As Duncan trys to remove this distance by visiting his gran he discovers her interesting past. The visit also surfaced a large stash of archive material which was used as a device to help tell her story. His gran mother provided the film with Photograghs from her childhood but more interestingly Official letters from the goverment during wartime. The letters were sent to the parents of the children explaining that their children have just been torpedoed!
The film won Best Story award at Half Cut Student Film Fest 2013 and from 1st July – 21st Seavacuee will be exhibited at Stills Gallery in Edinburgh as a part of their film series on migration.