Sea – Shipping – Sun (2021)

How do we reckon with our attachments to place, and their knotted historical relations? A meditation on maritime trade routes, Sea – Shipping – Sun is a short film directed by Tiffany Sia (b. Hong Kong) and Yuri Pattison (b. Dublin) shot over the span of two years to render a simulated duration of a day, beginning at twilight and closing with sunset. The film is set against shipping forecasts from archival BBC radio broadcasts. The sea contains a submerged history. Currents trace trade routes, and also draw a means of escape. While the sea binds communities together, it also disappears and drowns them. An ambient archival broadcast roils over footage of the sea channel traffic, and the sun emerges and disappears, again and again. Inspired by audio and visual media, from lullabies to ASMR videos, created with the intention of inducing sleep or relaxation, Sea – Shipping – Sun gathers a vision of entanglement. We are left with history’s residue: A gentle, rocking waltz over the sea.