Rather than following a conventional documentary format, The Writing in the Sand is structured as a visual and auditory experience. Konttinen’s black-and-white images unfold alongside a soundtrack of beach recordings, music, and spoken word, immersing the audience in the rhythm of seaside life. The film moves between moments of play, solitude, and togetherness, showing children digging in the sand, teenagers wading into the sea, and families sheltering from the wind. This experimental approach allows the film to evoke the sensations of memory and time, where the present moment is always in conversation with the past.

Spanning over two decades, The Writing in the Sand highlights both change and continuity in seaside culture. While clothing styles, beach equipment, and leisure habits evolve, the fundamental experience of being by the sea remains the same. Konttinen's film captures this enduring connection, offering a poetic meditation on the significance of the North East coastline in people's lives. It stands as both a celebration of shared experience and a historical record of a landscape shaped by generations of visitors.

Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen is a Finnish-born documentary photographer who has chronicled working-class life in North East England since the late 1960s.

A co-founder of the Amber Film and Photography Collective, her acclaimed work, including Byker and Step by Step, offer significant portrayals of the lives of everyday people in the North East. In 2011 her photography was inscribed onto the UNESCO Memory of the World Register as of national significance to the UK due to her embedded practice and historically vital portrayals of local communities. In 2025 Konttinen was awarded an MBE in the 2025 New Year’s Honours list for her services to photography.