The Return of The Interview at Sea as a Finalist in Europe, UK, Wales

Report from the SeeMôr Films Festival, Anglesey

October marked the international expansion of the festival journey of The Interview at Sea. While the two New York-based festivals were taking place (see the reports here and here), The Interview at Sea had also made its way back to Europe. Once again heading north, though not as far north as its first trip to Iceland (here’s the announcement article about our first international selection at Ocean Films Húsavík). This time, the setting was the beautiful Welsh island of Anglesey, a key hub and port for connections between Great Britain and Ireland.

SeeMôr Films is a festival dedicated to films exploring the theme of the sea. In the submission call, applicants were specifically asked to explain how and where the theme emerged in their work. We submitted the following statement: “In addition to being featured in the title, the word ‘sea’ is repeated 39 times by our character, and for half the film, the sea is constantly on screen.”
Clearly, we met the requirements, and there was no room for doubt. What we didn’t expect, however, was to be named finalists on the eve of the awards ceremony. The event was held on October 26, and we had already committed to attending in New York. Then, as you know, things didn’t go as planned, and we couldn’t make it.

The SeeMôr Films Festival focuses on maritime themes with particular attention to environmental and climate issues (here’s a link to learn more about the festival). We were truly honored to be part of this event. Not all festivals focused on ecological themes (and there are many) fully grasp the complex message we aimed to convey through The Interview at Sea. Fishing is a human activity and, like all human activities, inevitably has an environmental impact. The key is to understand, measure, and assess what that impact actually is. The fishing industry is often accused of damaging marine ecosystems. What we wanted to portray was the true relationship between fishers and the sea—and between coastal communities and sea-based culture. The sea is, in every sense, a second home to fishers—not just a workplace, but also a space they live in.

It’s neither easy nor obvious to distinguish between destructive behavior toward the marine environment (which certainly exists) and the vast majority of fishing activities, which represent not only economic endeavors but also collective cultural heritage.

We’re proud to have been able to communicate this in many sea-focused festivals that take place in coastal locations. Often, these are island communities where the sea is not just a border, but an all-encompassing presence. The Interview at Sea has reached Ischia (see the festival report), Ortigia (Syracuse) twice (here’s the first report and here the account of the special G7 screening), Iceland, Cefalù (report coming in an upcoming article), Caorle (see our recap), and now Anglesey, Wales.

Although we didn’t know it at the time, the festival journey of The Interview at Sea continued in the months that followed—and is still ongoing in 2025, reaching places we never could have imagined!