The Son and the Sea [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Stroma Cairns, Imogen West
scheda film] is the feature debut by Stroma Cairns, which has premiered in the New Directors section of the San Sebastián International Film Festival. There, we had the chance to speak with Cairns and Imogen West, who, in addition to being her co-writer and producer, is also her mother. They share their thoughts on this sensitive portrait focused on Jonah, a charismatic and sensitive young man who is also, respectively, their brother and son.

Cineuropa: This is your first feature. Why were you interested in telling the story of Jonah and Lee?
Stroma Cairns: Jonah [Jonah West] is my brother in real life, and his personality has always inspired me since I was a teenager. And we both – all our family, really – have experienced unavailable fathers in some way. My brother and I have different dads, but he lost his when he was 16, and I watched him go through manhood, if you like, without a father. And I was very interested in that kind of journey because I can relate to it. Even though I'm not a guy, it's similar. So obviously, I have a lot of love for Jonah. We developed his character for the film, inspired by his real life. But it's not a full documentary; it's a script. However, the core theme is fatherless boys. I also made a documentary six years ago, which was about the deaf twins (Connor Tompkins and Lewis Tompkins) in the film. We put the twins and Jonah together, and then Lee (Stanley Brock) is Jonah's best friend in real life.

In this context of a “crisis of manhood”, where the idea of what it is to be a man is being questioned and deconstructed, it’s nice to see a story about a group of guys who struggle but who also care for each other. Did you think about this concept when making the film?
SC: Yes, definitely.

Imogen West: That was the inspiration behind it, really. So, other than just being conscious of Jonah's growing up without a father in real life, we are both interested in the sort of lost boys of today. You could say that it's an observation of this reality, but from a loving place.

The character of Charlie is deaf, but being deaf is not his main defining characteristic. He's charismatic and amiable, and he fits perfectly into the friendship between Jonah and Lee. Why did you choose to introduce Charlie in this story?
SC: Well, I grew up with moderate hearing loss, so that's why I was interested in portraying deaf characters on screen, and my aim was to make a film that my younger self would have loved to have seen, putting these characters on screen without the story being all about the experience of being deaf. Obviously, it touches on that, but for me, it’s such a joy to see. I met Connor, and he had such an amazing energy – I was inspired again by parts of his character. So, we kind of exaggerated that in the film and made him this joyous character that celebrates life.

Throughout the movie, music is particularly important. There’s a great moment with a woman singing a song in the pub. What can you tell us about the role of music?
SC: I have such a big love for music, especially folk music, so it was always going to be important to me. We knew we wanted an old folk song, and the Scottish landscape kind of links in with that, and the story of the “False Knight on the Road” is linked to the emotional journey that Jonah and all of the boys go on, so those lyrics turned out to be perfect for the film.

When we see life in the city, the characters are lost and bitter, and then it changes when they get to the small town on the coast, as they start to feel more strongly connected to themselves and to everything around them. Was that intentional?
IW: I know that some people might say it's a bit of a cliché. You go, you find yourself in the wild... But, you know, it's also that Jonah is consumed by his phone, and how do we break away from that? All of us need space, we need nature, and we need to connect.

SC: And because that village is where we used to go every summer, we have a very close connection to it. And in real life, there is no phone signal, and that’s the real experience of going there. When I went up there before we were shooting, I was completely cut off, and it does feel completely different from being in London. Sometimes, you have to be in these places to force yourself to disconnect because we are all addicted. I'm not saying this is what you need to do, but it might help.

The film leaves some issues unresolved, such as what happened with Charlie’s brother, but it leaves you with a hopeful feeling about this new friendship that is blossoming.
SC: Yeah, I felt like it was nice to leave it open because it's open to interpretation what they were going to do. But I think the important thing to take away from it is that they are all, in some way, not changed exactly, but accepting responsibility. And that is what growing up is, to me. It might not be this big, resolved ending, but it is a very gentle leap into connecting with himself and just having hope.