Lindsey Ryan’s debut feature, Capsized, will have its world premiere in competition at the Edinburgh film festival after a demanding shoot on a real boat at sea. The American independent film follows a family whose holiday is disrupted by hidden financial problems, using the physical instability of life on the water to mirror their emotional and economic strain.

Ryan says the production broke several conventional filmmaking rules by involving children, an animal and a boat, with the young cast limited to four hours of filming daily and the Coast Guard monitoring the shoot. The cast includes Lily Rabe as mother Diane and Rhys Ifans as the chaotic father Ray, alongside Sarah Catherine Hook, Griffin Gluck, Eli D Goss, Ada Bland and Joan Stein; Ryan’s maritime experience, developed while growing up on Long Island, helped her manage the unusual production.