Screening at sea

There was something almost surreal about doing this screening aboard the RMS St Helena, as we sailed to  St Helena.  The screening took place after  tea in the Sun Lounge -on two screens.  Some of the shooting for Sathima's Windsong was done from this ship when leaving and arriving. The dock scenes, seen at the start of the film, were taken on the outward journey, mid-afternoon while the short at dawn, seen at the end of the film, were taken on the return journey.  

I've traveled on this ship many times and those journeys have inspired some of the thinking for this work. Journeys by sea, more than travels by air, invoke a sense of  liminality. There is also this  sense of awe that the sheer expanse and the depth of the ocean provoke. Thoughts converge on these journeys -thoughts of the many who have made these journeys (at least one hundred million journeyed by sea in the 19th century in search of better opportunities!). thoughts of time and these endless oceanic horizons. The sea features prominantly in Sathima's Windsong as 'something to think with.' And the concept 'tidalectics' borrowed from the notable Caribbean poet Kamu Brathwait, is one such thinking tools derived from the sea.