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The Herald Scotland
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
Scots festival celebrates female cinema and island culture
The artistic director of the Sea Change Festival, which will be held on the remote Hebridean island between 19 and 21 September, explains: 'My parents were Scottish. After I became redundant, my auntie offered my grandad's house on Tiree, so my family and I moved there ten years ago. 'This was around the time of Me Too and a lot of great work was being done about increasing female representation in film. I remember going to an industry event and telling everyone about an idea I had about a female-led film festival. 'A few people offered to run sessions and help out. We received funding and started the first festival in 2018.' Jen Skinner (L), alongside colleagues at the festival. (Image: Sea Change) Skinner says that the festival, which is associated with Screen Agryll and will feature the iconic mobile cinema 'the Screen Machine,' has been rebuilding since the Covid pandemic provoked a generational change in film watching. Indeed, in the run-up to the festival, Screen Argyll will tour Mull, Coll, and Seil, screening a range of classic films directed by women at local venues across the islands. While things have been 'a bit quieter' in recent years, Skinner is excited for this year's festival, which will focus on women in Scottish animation. 'The first festival really demonstrated how important it was to be on Tiree and how it benefited the community,' she notes. 'You have the chance to get away for a bit and watch a film under the big open skies. It brings out a different element, and it is really lovely how cinema can bring people together.' Orcadian Amy Liptrot, author of the The Outrun, will introduce a special screening of the eponymous Saoirse Ronan film, while Shallow Grave star Kerry Fox will speak about some of her favourite collaborations with female directors including Fanny and Elvis and An Angel At My Table. Skinner says: 'I'm delighted we will be welcoming Kerry Fox to the festival. It's bringing me full circle in a way. My first joh in cinema was managing the Hebden Bridge Picture House, and we'll be screening Fanny and Elvis, which was shot in Hebden Bridge. 'We are also welcoming Alison Gardner from the Glasgow Film Theatre. We've wanted to get her to Sea Change for a while. She'll be hosting an 'in conversation' discussion with Fox.' Gardner will also take part in the Sea Change's industry programme; which will include practical sessions, networking opportunities, and one on one conversations. An attendee takes part in a filmmaking session. (Image: Sea Change) The involvement of the local community is integral to the success of the festival, Skinner says, providing an example from a recent conversation. 'I was speaking to a local man who is very involved and sits on every community board there is on Tiree,' Skinner tells me. 'I told him how excited I was about The Rugged Island, an archival film about crofters on Shetland, and how we have two fiddle players coming to play for us as well. I said there was no excuse for him to come now!' The Rugged Island, directed by Scottish filmmaker Jenny Gilbertson, has been praised as a 'tender and beautiful dramatisation of Shetland life,' and includes a live score by award-winning fiddlers Inge Thomson and Catriona McDonald. 'Last year, we made a Mama Mia film with 98 people from the local community,' she adds. We will hold sessions in the school and animation workshops with young people and families.' The festival liaises with a range of local businesses, as Skinner notes: 'A wild bathing company from Oban will be holding seaweed baths and leading swimming sessions each morning. We also work with local providers to secure accommodation and run the cafe and organise activities.' 'What about funding,' I ask. Will the festival be able to weather the budget constraints of a world which seems to value the arts less and less. Skinner responds: 'It is always difficult as we rely on year on year project funding. However, Screen Scotland has confirmed they will fund the festival for the next two years. That's been good as we can plan for the future.' As we wrap up our conversation, I ask Skinner what her driving motivation is? Why should people spend a weekend on a remote island a four hour ferry ride from Oban? Read more: When Ozzy Osbourne played the Barrowlands, 37 years ago today Why does everyone seem to hate Maggie Chapman? Smoked salmon, Irn-Bru bhajis and micro herbs: What's on the menu at Bute House? She pauses, before responding with consideration. 'It's important to increase representation on screen. Women working in the industry are still a small number, especially the higher up you go. There still aren't a lot of female directors,' Skinner says. 'We want to platform a range of different stories from those in the global majority and around the world.' Indeed, the festival's programme is very diverse, ranging from Motherboard, branded as 'an epic look at solo motherhood shot over 20 years and 6 I-Phones' to Sister Midnight, a feminist punk comedy set in Mumbai, and Spanish film Sorda, which tells the story of a young Deaf woman trying to have a baby.' Skinner sums it up well. 'You know, cinema can be political. The shared experience of watching a film together opens people up to different worlds and new ideas.'
The National
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- The National
Female filmmakers festival to take place in Tiree
Taking place from September 19 until 21, Sea Change will showcase a selection of new films from women directors from across the globe in Tiree (more than 80 miles away from the nearest permanent cinema). A 1934 story documentary about crofting life in Shetland by pioneering Scottish filmmaker Jenny Gilbertson, The Rugged Isle: A [[Shetland]] Lyric, will opening the festival. Later screenings include Motherboard, BAFTA-winner Victoria Mapplebeck's look at solo motherhood shot over 20 years and six iPhones; Sister Midnight, Karan Kandhari's feminist punk black comedy set on the streets of Mumbai; and the Berlin Film Festival Audience Award winner Deaf (Sorda), a drama about a young Deaf woman and her hearing husband having a baby. READ MORE: Prestwick Airport gears up for Donald Trump arrival on Air Force One The film festival also invites audiences to experience sea swims, beach pilates and ceilidh dancing classes in between screenings. Orkney author Amy Liptrot will introduce a special screening of The Outrun, Shallow Grave star Kerry Fox will share some of her favourite collaborations with female directors including An Angel At My Table and Fanny and Elvis, and there will be a focus on Scottish women in animation. The festival will take place at venues across the island including An Talla, community hall, the 19th century Hynish Centre (originally built to house the workers building Skerryvore Lighthouse) and Screen Argyll's screening room in Crossapol. The Rugged Isle: A Shetland Lyric, a 1934 "story documentary" about crofting life by the Scottish filmmaker Jenny Gilbertson (Image: National Library of Scotland) In the week before the festival, Screen Argyll will host official Sea Change screenings of some classic films directed by women in Seil, Mull and Coll. Following on from the festival dates, Screen Argyll will be touring a programme of Vicki and Selina's animations to audiences across the Hebrides and Argyll, including showings in the world-famous Screen Machine mobile cinema. Ahead of the public festival opening, a host of leading female and non-binary film industry professionals will arrive in Tiree for a series of conversations around an ever-shifting industry. Highlights of the sessions include guests sharing their wisdom, with Kerry Fox delivering a masterclass on working with actors, Glasgow Film CEO Allison Gardner revealing her tips on getting your film in front of an audience and animator Selina Wagner talking about how she is developing her first feature film. READ MORE: New Glenfinnan bus service launches in bid to tackle viaduct overtourism They will be joined by talks and panels from top Scottish industry bodies including BECTU, the Scottish Documentary Institute and Animation Scotland. Sea Change's artistic director Jen Skinner, who lives full-time in Tiree where she runs Screen Argyll, said: 'We are so excited to share brilliant films and welcome wonderful people into our communities, for this year's Sea Change. "Tiree is the most westerly island in the inner Hebrides and the ideal place to ask what connects us? 'Everyone is welcome to join us for a weekend of films, workshops, family activities and special guests! Local venues open their doors to filmmakers, film students and film lovers of all ages as we come together to watch, talk, walk, swim, make and share.'
Scotsman
23-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Shallow Grave star Kerry Fox to appear at island festival celebrating female filmmaking talent
The Sea Change festival is the only one in Scotland celebrating female filmmaking talent. Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Shallow Grave star Kerry Fox will appear at an island film festival celebrating female filmmaking talent. The actress, who played Juliet Miller in the 1994 hit film set in Edinburgh alongside Ewan McGregor, is to introduce some of her favourite collaborations with female directors at Sea Change Festival on Tiree in September. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The Hebridean island is located over 80 miles away from the nearest permanent cinema. The festival's opening night will host a screening of The Rugged Isle: A Shetland Lyric, a poignant 1934 'story documentary' about crofting life by the pioneering Scottish filmmaker Jenny Gilbertson. Meanwhile, Ms Fox will introduce a closing night screening of Fanny and Elvis, in conversation with Allison Gardner, chief executive of Glasgow Film. Writer-director Kay Mellor's first film is an odd-couple romantic comedy, starring Fox as a middle-class romantic novelist and Ray Winstone as a tough car salesman who meet when her clapped-out VW Beetle. She will also introduce a screening of Jane Campion's classic 1990 biopic An Angel At My Table and lead a special industry workshop on working with actors. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Meanwhile, the writer of The Outrun, Amy Liptrot, will speak at a screening of the film adaptation of her hit book, which stars Saoirse Ronan as a woman who returns home to the Orkney Islands. Sea Change's artistic director Jen Skinner, who lives full-time on Tiree where she runs Screen Argyll, said: 'We are so excited to share brilliant films and welcome wonderful people into our communities, for this year's Sea Change. Tiree is the most Westerly Island in the Inner Hebrides and the ideal place to ask what connects us.' The festival - which takes place at venues across the island including An Talla, community hall, the 19th century Hynish Centre originally built to house the workers building Skerryvore Lighthouse and Screen Argyll's screening room in Crossapol - also offers audiences sea swims, beach pilates and ceilidh dancing classes alongside the big screen entertainment. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad There will also be a focus on women in Scottish animation, with leading Scots animators Vicki Haworth and Orkney-borne Selina Wagner visiting the festival to showcase their award-winning animated shorts and lead workshops for both adults and children. Christopher Eccleston, Ewan McGregor and Kerry Fox played the three Edinburgh flatmates in Shallow Grave. Ms Skinner said: 'Everyone is welcome to join us for a weekend of films, workshops, family activities and special guests. Local venues open their doors to filmmakers, film students and film lovers of all ages as we come together to watch, talk, walk, swim, make and share.' In addition to the festival on Tiree, screenings will be held in other Argyll island communities, including the Isles of Seill, Mull and Coll. She added: 'We are all about bringing communities together through film. I can't wait to share cinema, connections and Tiree with audiences this year.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad
