In the mid 1960s a young girl who has never seen anything but rural Trinidad has her eyes opened to the world when her adventurous Auntie from India comes to visit. This is the story behind The Seas Between Us. Writer/director Faisal Lutchmedial talks to WCFF about the film.
Tell us about you and the film?
I’m a writer – director whose work has regularly explores the themes of identity, the immigrant experience, and loss. My current film, The Seas Between Us is about a young girl who has never seen anything but rural Trinidad who has her eyes opened to the wider world when her adventurous Auntie from India comes to visit.
What inspired this story?
The film is very special to me because it was inspired by a story my late mother told me about travelling to meet her in-laws for the first time, and being the talk of the town as the first person from the homeland they had ever met. My cousins told me the story from their point of view as well, and that’s what I used to come up with the original concept.
What was the most challenging part of making this film?
I really wanted to make a lyrical film that felt dreamlike and captured the wonder of a child. To do this I chose to shoot both scripted and improvisational scenes, and tried to create an extensive palate of imagery that we could draw from. It was quite difficult finding that balance when you’re pressed in production to just run through script pages.
How do you see your film contributing to the conversation on identity or heritage?
I feel as though there aren’t many Indo-Caribbean stories on our screens, and because of this many people who have subsequently immigrated to other countries from the Caribbean are categorized as only South Asian, erasing part of their heritage. I wanted to make a film that addressed that in some way, and showed how you can be fascinated and proud of all the different stops in your ancestral journey.
What’s next for you?
I am hoping to direct a feature film entitled Through the Eyes of an Ibis about An aging woman who finds herself travelling through time to key moments of her life as a new immigrant to Canada and her life back home in Trinidad. When the reality sets in that she is suffering from dementia, she is determined to ensure her children and her husband’s lives are in order before she loses herself in her memories forever.
Outside of that, currently I am in the writing room for Murdoch Mysteries which airs on the CBC in Canada and ITV in the UK.
Where can people find out more about you and your work ?
My personal website is www.lutchmedial.ca and our company is Green Dragon Productions, which is here: www.greendragonproductions.ca. I’m also on instagram and Bluesky.
