“Films are often the starting point for a conversation and in our increasingly atomised, polarised world”
IMAGE BY RED UNION FILMS
Married to his childhood sweetheart, Jack finds himself drawn to the charismatic Daniel, sparking an affair that shakes their remote fishing community. Against a brooding coastal backdrop, Helen Walsh’s elegantly crafted drama explores masculinity, identity and desire, telling a quietly powerful story of repression and the courage to confront one’s true self.
DIVA chats with Helen Walsh ahead of its screening at BFI Flare 2026.
Why was it important for you to tell this story?
Out of all the stories buzzing around my head in the last ten years, this is the one I returned to again and again. It’s about a mussel raker, Jack Morgan, who comes out mid-life. It’s a story about love – marital love, familial love and impossible love – and it’s a story about place. Like my protagonist, I grew up in a small Northern town, in Thatcher’s Britain. As a brown-skinned kid on a white estate, I was acutely aware of my visibility. I was kicked in the back of the head and spat on by a couple of men at a youth rugby match, once. What shocked me was not the fact that it had happened but the lack of reaction from others. I was much fairer than my brother, and during my adolescence, I lightened my hair and tried to “pass”. I felt a huge connection with Jack when I was writing him. I felt I understood why he married a woman when his heart was with men. On The Sea is a gay love story, but its themes are universal. It shows the power of love and human kindness to be a transformative, triumphant force in the face of hatred and suffering.
Was there a specific moment or reference point which inspired your film?
The story is loosely inspired by a father I knew who was completely cut adrift from his small-town community after he was outed, against his will, mid-life. He was initially ostracised from family and friends and forced to move away from the town in which he’d lived for the last 40 years.
BFI Flare is a celebration of LGBTQIA+ storytelling. What do you hope LGBTQIA+ audiences at BFI Flare take away after watching your film?
I am honoured to be screening On The Sea at BFI Flare, but I am also nervous. I know there will be people in the audience who have had similar journeys to Jack, and I really hope the film resonates with them in some way.
BFI is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. What LGBTQIA+ film from the last four decades has changed your life and why?
I came to books before films, which experienced much less censorship. As a teenager, I burned through gems such as Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room, Selby’s Last Exit To Brooklyn (both written in the 1950s), and Winterson’s Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit – but encountered none of the diversity and nuance in film that literature offered. Although I didn’t see it until seven or eight years after its release, My Beautiful Launderette was a life-changing piece of cinema for me. I found Kureishi and Frears’ depiction of interracial love, class, sexuality and the welfare state in Thatcher’s Britain utterly groundbreaking.
Why is it so vital that we continue to support and celebrate spaces like BFI Flare for the next 40 years?
While curated streaming services have brought a wealth of hidden gay and trans stories to audiences starved of content, dedicated festivals like Flare create a physical and inclusive space for filmmakers and audiences to come together. Films are often the starting point for a conversation, and in our increasingly atomised, polarised world, those conversations are more important than ever. Festivals like Flare also provide a lifeline for debut or emerging filmmakers, whose stories run the risk of being shunned, sidelined or indeed sanitised for mainstream audiences.
Is LGBTQIA+ filmmaking still important in 2026?
More than ever. The world is constantly shifting and evolving (often in the wrong direction), and we all need stories that respond to, resist or reflect these changes. LGBTQIA+ filmmaking also offers mainstream audiences a richer, more layered, experimental and intersectional approach to a world unafraid to show us life beyond the mundane and predictable.
What queer cinematic ancestor would you want sitting next to you at your BFI Flare screening and why?
I would love to be sandwiched between the multimedia artist, writer and activist David Wojnarowicz (1954 – 1992), and Catherine Corsini.
The 40th BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival takes place 18 – 29 March at BFI Southbank. On the Sea premieres at BFI Flare on 23 March. You can find out more about BFI Flare here: whatson.bfi.org.uk/flare
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