Vox Populi
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Video: She Sells Seashells
Archival footage meets contemporary black and white super 8, in a curious exploration of the female cockle gatherers of South Wales and the surprising secrets shellfish and seaweed hold for our oceans’ health.
Amidst the bustle of a day in Swansea Market, Carol recounts memories of her childhood and her great-grandmother who worked on the sand flats until her 80s. Meanwhile, on an ocean farm off the coast of St Davids, Meg harvests rope-grown seaweeds and sorts through oysters, sharing her affinity and intimate understanding of the Welsh coast. Meg and Carol allow the cockle gatherers’ feminist legacy to live on, this historical relationship between women, shellfish and seaweed evolving into the present with greater ecological significance.
Director / Producer / Writer: Lily Tiger Tonkin-Wells
Cast: Carol Watts, Megan Haines
Locations: Marchnad Abertawe/ Swansea Market, Câr-y-Môr, Ty Ddewi, Sir Benfro
Funding: Commissioned by WOW Film Festival
Running time: 12 minutes
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What an upper to see this little documentary about a tiny part of the world where nature is valued and protected. I will now send it to a young man who grew up near where this was filmed so he can enjoy and share it.
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Thanks, Mandy!
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The sensitivity and beauty of honoring a way of life for these women, at the same time speaking of the nutrients of the sea, seaweed/cockles/oysters, and with the soulful song, is simply exquisite.
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Thanks, Catherine. I agree. This kind of documentary fills a gap left by commercial film studios.
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I love this film for the way it documents a way of life that has been happening on the northern coasts for ten thousand years.
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