Animated Feature Films

Pesem morja / Song of the Sea

In English with Slovenian subtitles

Directed by:Tomm Moore

Script: William Collins, Tomm Moore

Art Director: Adrien Merigeau

Editing: Darragh Byrne

Music: Bruno Coulais

Voices: David Rawle, Brendan Gleeson, Lisa Hannigan, Fionnula Flanagan, Lucy O'Connell, Jon Kenny, Pat Shortt

Producers: Claus Toksvig Kjaer, Tomm Moore, Paul Young

Co-production: Melusine Productions, The Big Farm, Nørlum, Superprod

Production: Cartoon Saloon

The story of the last Seal Child’s journey home. After their mother’s disappearance, Ben and Saoirse are sent to live with Granny in the city. When they resolve to return to their home by the sea, their journey becomes a race against time as they are drawn into a world Ben knows only from his mother’s folktales. But this is no bedtime story; these fairy folk have been in our world far too long. It soon becomes clear to Ben that Saoirse is the key to their survival.

In Irish mythology, Selkies live as seals in the sea but become humans on land, and stories featuring Selkies were often allegories for the grief of losing someone to the sea. Mac Lir (or Manannán Mac Lir), is a sea deity in Irish mythology. In Song of the Sea, Ben tells his sister stories of Mac Lir’s adventures, and the sad face of Mac Lir can be seen entombed on the side of an island near their home. The idea of mythology and storytelling is central to the film.

“A seanachai is a traditional storyteller in Ireland,” says director Tomm Moore. “He is someone who learns the stories from the old generations and passes them on to the next one. It’s a tradition that is fading here like it is everywhere.”

“So in Song of the Sea, we took elements of Irish folklore such as selkies, and the Sea God Mac Lir and even the character of the Great Seanachai, and wove them into a new narrative and setting based on our own understanding of these stories. My hope is that this will inspire some of our audience to research the old stories and then reinterpret them themselves for another generation, hopefully holding the truth at the core of them in the retelling.”