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Selkie

A wayward selkie (a seal that can turn itself into a human) has followed a school of herring up the Delaware river when her seal skin is captured by a man from the Fishtown neighborhood of Philadelphia.

  • Amy Frear
    Director
    Another Time
  • Amy Frear
    Writer
  • Katie Stahl
    Key Cast
  • Jordan Mottram
    Key Cast
  • Gerardo Salazar Borja
    Key Cast
  • Shawna Annable
    Director of Photography
  • Tayarisha Poe
    2nd Camera
  • Patrick Mangan
    Music
    Musical Director, Riverdance
  • Matthew Kay
    Music
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Fantasy, Magic Realism, Romance, Myth
  • Runtime:
    7 minutes 37 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    August 1, 2016
  • Production Budget:
    600 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • St. Francis College Women's Film Festival
    Brooklyn, NY
    United States
    April 4, 2019
    Best Professional Narrative
  • Mystic Film Festival
    Mystic, Ct
    United States
    October 20, 2018
    Official Selection
  • Drunken Film Festival- Bradford, UK
    Bradford, West Yorkshire
    United Kingdom
    July 15, 2018
    European Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Women's Film Festival
    Philadelphia
    United States
    March 18, 2018
    Official Selection
  • Garden State Film Festival
    Atlantic City, NJ
    United States
    April 1, 2017
    Official Selection
  • Jim Thorpe Independent Film Festival
    Jim Thorpe, PA
    United States
    June 10, 2017
    Official Selection
  • Trenton Film Festival
    Trenton, NJ
    United States
    April 2, 2017
    Official Selection
  • Philadelphia Film Society
    Philadelphia, PA
    United States
    December 2, 2016
    North American Premiere
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Amy Frear

Amy Frear is a filmmaker and theatre artist from Philadelphia. Her other short films include HUMAN BEING and ANOTHER TIME. Her work utilizes subtle science fiction and fantasy to explore getting lost, connection, theatricality, and silliness overcoming aggression and control.

She is an adjunct professor at Temple University and the University of the Arts.

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Director Statement

A "selkie" is a seal that can shed its skin and take a human form. Often in Irish and Scottish mythology, selkies are coerced into relationships with humans when someone steals and hides their seal skin. I decided to set the selkie story in the riverward Fishtown section of Philadelphia in honor of the neighborhood's working class Irish roots and the occasional marine mammal that wanders down the Delaware river from the ocean. Most of all, I wanted to tell a story about the end of an unhealthy relationship.

My work often follows a character trying to fit into a world that is not their own. In SELKIE, a relationship is keeping our title character in a place where she can't be herself. No dialogue is used in the film besides the fisherman's tale in the introduction. It was very important to me to show the silent moments in which we struggle to connect.