From Friday 25th June – Friday 2nd July, Transgressive North will curate Folk Film Gathering, the world’s first folk film festival, which has been running annually since 2015. Transgressive North is a Scottish artistic collective founded by directors Jamie Chambers and Michael Brogan in 2011. Although their projects predominantly revolve around music and film they also work in other fields.
The roots of the Folk Film Gathering can be traced back to two films they released which focused on Scotland’s living community folk traditions. The short documentary When The Song Dies (watch below) highlights how Scottish folklore lives on…”a poignant reminder that the dead linger on, all around us, in the houses and landscapes we live in, and in the language and music of our culture.” Customs are fascinating; while some disappear over time, others are reborn. While we often think of their disappearance as a fairly modern phenomenon tied into technology and social disconnection, this is not always the case. In Margaret Bennett’s book Scottish Customs – From the Cradle to the Grave (2nd Edition), she gave an example in the book’s preface of customs fading in 1870 – Alexander Carmichael (Carmina Gadelica) recorded Catherine MacNeill while visiting the Isle of Barra. She told him how many curious customs among the old people began to drop when strangers “began to come into the country, and they began to mock the people….”
When The Song Dies featured Margaret Bennett alongside the likes of Sheila Stewart and Norman Maclean and more and went on to win the Jury Prize for Best Documentary at Busan Film Festival and screened at Raindance, TriBeCa, Glasgow Film Festival, Los Angeles Film Festival, AFI Silver Docs.
Their feature-length drama Blackbird, which I’ve just managed to track down on DVD, was nominated for the Michael Powell Award for Best British Feature Film and has screened and won prizes at film festivals around the world. It also featured performances from Norman Maclean and Sheila Stewart.
Film synopsis: Ruadhan, despairs as the fabric of his Scottish hometown erodes. There are no fish in the sea, no jobs and a steady exodus to the city. Life as he loves it is slipping away and Ruadhan’s idol, town bard Alec, has little stomach to fight the change. Longtime best pal, Callum, and returning childhood friend, Amy, spark Ruadhan’s struggle to keep the past alive. When Alec takes off to a retirement home in mysterious circumstances, Ruadhan must act quickly to save him and protect the town he loves. As his battle spirals out of control, it becomes Ruadhan who needs saving. Featuring legendary performers Norman Maclean and Sheila Stewart, Blackbird brings Scotland’s most loved folk heroes to the big screen alongside up and coming Scottish talent.
These two works led to an ongoing collaboration with Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland and the Traditional Music forum in which they founded the now annual Folk Film Gathering in 2015. I’m just sorry I didn’t hear of this sooner, especially after I read what they have in store for us this year which has a theme of “solidarity: exploring both the different stories that distinguish communities in different parts of the world, alongside certain aspects of experience that are shared in common.”
Alongside music, independent film is something I’m very passionate about and one of my favourite film directors is Pat Collins. In 2017 he released Song of Granite, a lyrical biopic on sean nós singer Joe Heaney which also featured Lankum and Lisa O’Neill in one scene. I was equally moved by his film Silence, which tells the story of a sound recordist who returns to Ireland to try and record places free from man-made sound.
He also made a brilliant documentary on writer Yorkshire man Tim Robinson, based upon his Connemara Trilogy – a visual interpretation of his work as a map-maker and writer.
I single out Pat Collins as he is one of the directors in conversations at this year’s festival during which his aforementioned film ‘Silence’ will also be shown. It has to be said, this is something of a dream festival for me, as alongside the director conversations and streaming programme there is also to be a series of live conversations between musicians from different parts of the world, with connections to the filmmakers. So Bonnie “Prince” Billy will talking to Mairi Campbell and Brían Mac Gloinn (of Ye Vagabonds) is chatting to Alasdair Roberts. How much better can it get?
What’s On?
Below are details of the online programme, their website states that further events are to be announced:
Kleber Mendonça Filho (Brazil) in conversation with John Sayles (USA) | Saturday 26th June, 7pm
Pat Collins (Ireland) in conversation with Michelangelo Frammartino (Italy) | Sunday 27th June, 7pm
Elisa Cepedal (Asturias, Spain) in conversation with Nadir Bouhmouch (Morocco) | Wednesday 30th June, 7pm
Gaston Kaboré (Burkina Faso) in conversation with Zacharius Kunuk (Inuit community, Canadian Arctic) | Friday 2nd July, 7pm
Accompanying these conversations will be an online programme of films from each director which will be available to stream at various points during the festival dates. Please note that all films will be available to stream in the UK, and certain titles (alongwith all live events) will also be more widely available for international viewers.
Il Dono (Michelangelo Frammartino, 2003)
Silence (Pat Collins, 2012)
Buud Yaam (Gaston Kaboré, 1997)
Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (Zacharius Kunuk, 2001)
Work, or To Whom Does the World Belong (Elisa Cepedal, 2019)
Timnadin n Rif (Nadir Bouhmouch, 2018)
What Happened Here (Amber Collective, 2020)
[Further titles will be announced soon]
Alongside our director conversations and streaming programme will be a further series of live conversations between musicians from different parts of the world, with connections to the filmmakers. These conversations will feature songs, stories and discussions and will be hosted by the Traditional Music Forum’s David Francis.
Bonnie “Prince” Billy (USA) in conversation with Mairi Campbell (Scotland) | Thursday 1st June, 7pm
Brían Mac Gloinn (Ireland) in conversation with Alasdair Roberts (Scotland) | Date + time TBC.
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