British Council Logo UK Films Database
Project Detail

The Sea

Synopsis

A middle-aged art historian returns to the Irish seaside village where, as a boy, he and his family spent their holidays. His visit triggers a series of memories, some romantic, some disturbing, of a summer that saw the awakening of sexuality and an unexpected tragedy. John Banville adapted his Man Booker Prize-winning novel to provide the script for this haunting and superlatively acted film.

Details

Year
2013
Type of project
Features
Running time
87 mins
Director
Stephen Brown
Producer
Luc Roeg, Michael Robinson, David Collins
Executive Producer
Andrew Orr, Philip Herd, Ernest Bachrach, Rebecca Long, Steve Spence, Michael Sackler, Julia Godzinskaya
Editor
Stephen O'Connell
Screenwriter
John Banville
Director of Photography
John Conroy
Production Designer
Derek Wallace
Sound
Simon Willis
Composer
Andrew Hewitt
Principal cast
Ciarán Hinds, Charlotte Rampling, Natascha McElhone, Rufus Sewell, Bonnie Wright, Sinéad Cusack

Genre

Drama

Categories

Fiction

Production Status

Complete

Sales Company

Independent

32 Tavistock St
London WC2E 7PB
Tel: +44 20 7257 8734

Page updates

This page was last updated on 12th May 2025. Please let us know if we need to make any amendments or request edit access by clicking below.

Suggest amendments

See also

You may also be interested in other relevant projects in the database.

Kowloon City Culture Tour SightNotSeeing

Director: Sheung Man Yim

Year: 2026

SIGHTNOTSEEING captures a cultural tour in post-colonial Kowloon, around the remnants of the Walled City, but not the kind of tour you'd expect. Filmed in a single overhead long take, it drifts through performance, misunderstanding, and (post-)truth, held together by confusion and just enough confidence to carry on. Official Selection International Film Festival Rotterdam 2026 - World premiere

Asian Comedy Docufiction Fantasy
A Mustard Seed A Mustard Seed

Director: Femi Oladigbolu

Year: 2026

Mide, a young man brought up in a traditional Nigerian family, has spent his early years within the strict confines of a Christian Pentecostal household. In Mide’s home, tradition and faith are intricately intertwined, guided by the family’s patriarch - Mide’s father.

Drama
Smooth the Edges Smooth the Edges

Director: Charles Newland

Year: 2026

Chantel, a young woman of Romani-Gypsy heritage conceals her ethnicity to avoid workplace discrimination, but after losing her job, she confronts her identity while navigating the challenges of finding new employment and facing the prejudices of those around her.

Drama