The Solway is a deeply personal debut feature documentary from filmmaker Eamon Bourke.
Sue died suddenly in 1983, leaving behind three young children. Eamon was three and can’t remember his mother. When his father, John, decides to sell their family home in Cumbria, Eamon doesn’t want to let it go, so returns to capture it on film.
In the process of clearing the house, Eamon unearths several cassette tapes recorded by Sue, full of personal reflections and intimate moments that bring her back to life in astonishing detail.
These are the missing memories that Eamon has longed for his whole life but also a gateway back to a family tragedy now forty years in the past.
Sue’s last tape captures her illness taking hold and ends with her and Eamon singing together.
A final devastating discovery awaits Eamon on a damaged tape he must take apart and put back together.
Set amidst the cinematic beauty of the Lake District, with a powerful original score, The Solway is an extraordinary meditation on love, grief and the wound of losing a parent in early childhood.
“That’s where she lives for me, in this slightly out-of-reach world”
SLIDE LIGHT TABLE
SUE — KASHMIR
John and children, Cumbria
“Medicine for the soul”
— The Brothers Gillespie“That was genuinely worth 100 therapy sessions. I feel quite profoundly moved on a somewhat fundamental level, like something has shifted within me”
“It was the description of grief I didn’t know I needed”
“A raw, honest, human story that will resonate with anyone who has loved, lost or tried to hold onto something that matters”
“A life-affirming celebration of love and family”
Eamon directed, filmed and edited The Solway. The Solway is an act of devotion to his mother, an honouring of her memory and an attempt to understand why his grief still feels so raw after forty years. On the tapes, Sue asks Eamon to sing her a song, and Eamon feels this film is his reply.
As the Mitos Studio founder, The Solway is close to Ed's heart, as someone who also lost a parent when he was a child. Ed's last documentary, The Road of Excess, was recently released into cinemas.
Nicola was Bafta-nominated for co-producing the C4 documentary 'Syria's Disappeared: The Case Against Assad’. She has found her life immeasurably enriched by working on The Solway and believes the film has the capacity to touch audiences deeply.
THE BROTHERS GILLESPIE
CEITIDH MAC
MÁIRÉAD KERR
ROLLO CLARKE
LAND ART BY RACHEL SHIAMH
ANIMATION BY ASHLEY DEAN
A variety of artists have come together to make The Solway, with music composed by The Brothers Gillespie and Ceitidh Mac, alongside Máiréad Kerr and pianist Rollo Clarke; animation from Ashley Dean of Broken Pixel and land art created by Rachel Shiamh.
For distribution requests, screening inquiries, or further information about the film, please contact our producers. Click below to secure the email address:
Producer
Producer