Private Project

THE SEA HUT - 海边小屋

"The SEA HUT - 海边的小屋 ," is a hybrid documentary and a family tale.
A story of uprooted people, identity, love, loss and memory, created using archival materials and experimentation.

The story flits back and forth between my mother's childhood memories in Shanghai, 1935 with her beloved Chinese nanny called Ama; the Sino-Japanese War, World War II and a fishing village in contemporary China, where a sea hut becomes the catalyst and 'veil' between two worlds and two times: Europe and China, past and present.

Finally, this is also my own journey, where China bridges a link between my mother and myself.

  • Jeanne Pope
    Director
    Dust a Sculptors Journey. CHEZ LISE
  • Jeanne Pope & Patricia Pope
    Writer
    Chez Lise.
  • Scatterflix and Filmbandits
    Producer
    Jean. Chez Lise. Dust.
  • Patricia Pope
    Key Cast
  • AMA
    Key Cast
  • Eileen
    Key Cast
  • Roger
    Key Cast
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    海边小屋
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Feature
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 15 minutes 30 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    November 1, 2019
  • Production Budget:
    50,000 CNY
  • Country of Origin:
    China
  • Country of Filming:
    China, France, United Kingdom
  • Language:
    Chinese, English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital HD. Super 8.
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16.9
  • Film Color:
    Black & White and Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • CVVA - Transnational academic festival for Film and TV
    JInan
    China
    November 2, 2019
    China Premiere
    First prize - Best Documentary
  • TheLiftOffSessions
    London
    United Kingdom
    December 9, 2019
    England
    Official Selection
  • Beijing Academy Awards. Dec 2019. Best sound Design
    Beijing
    China
    December 31, 2020
    Best Sound Design
  • Beijing Academy Awards. Dec 2019. Best Innovation for documentary
    Beijing
    China
    December 31, 2020
    Best Innovation for documentary
Director Biography - Jeanne Pope

Adopted, I was always restless and at age 16 I left England to hitch-hike around the world. Inspired by my travels, I published various short stories, one of which was adapted to film in Canada. This began my love affair with film and edgy Montreal, Canada.
A graduate of Montreal's Concordia University cinema program, I created the award-winning "Stanley Lewis Documentary Collection" on the life of my dear friend, the Montreal sculptor, Stanley Lewis.
"Dust, A Sculptor's Journey," my first full-length feature is comprised of this collection and continues to play in and around Montreal. The work aimed to have Stanley Lewis recognized for the formidable artist he was.
Finally, it has come true as a gallery found the film at my website - Scatterflix, and his first show since1997 opened on the 8th April for 6 months.

My second full-length Canadian feature, "Chez Lise", is co-directed with my hometown Kent buddy, James Galwey in 2013. It follows two lovers, Deanna and Gordon who suffer from severe mental illness. It won first prize in Liège ImagéSanté for mental health, and other festivals in Canada and overseas. The SeaHut is my third full-length feature which has won prestigious awards in China.
I lived in China between 2015-and 2020 teaching documentary film production at the Beijing Film Academy, Qingdao Campus. (Now the Qingdao Film School.) Since the pandemic I am back in Europe and UK, teaching remotely for China and giving workshops on documentary film production for various associations.
The Sea Hut 海边的小屋 , is a Chinese production.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

I have always been drawn to the investigative, and in the SEA HUT, I delved into my mother's young childhood in China, 1935, initially with only a few original photos to work with, till I managed to find long forgotten albums through extended family.

It is my mother's journey, and that of Mum's Chinese nanny, Ama, and her betrayal in the hands of an English family who later employed her. It is also my own journey as I was adopted, and somehow China is a link between my adoptive mother and myself, I just needed to find it. The SEA HUT is a tale within a tale.

My mother, Anne, narrates her childhood in snippets, the small and intimate memories of a young child during the war, separation from her father and Ama. The city she loved, Shanghai.

I wanted to experiment with feeling, tones and textures, and I used the camera as 'eyes,' to another world long gone. Filmed in China and England, this hybrid, hand-carved documentary uses fictional elements - reconstruction, and personal Super-8 archives, HD, drone, and highly saturated images. I used the rich Prelinger archives when I could not use family footage and stills.

Music is a large part of this work, my mother sings a lot, and the music chosen is the music she recalls and loves.

Finally, and importantly, it is a thank you to my mother for having adopted me, giving me a new life, and to the one who loved her all those years ago as her own, Ama.

I have the deepest hope, one day, someone will guide me to Ama's family so I can personally give them this film as "our" homage to her.

You can see my full filmography at my website: scatterflix.com