Caithness is in the frame for premiere of Flow Country film featuring Thurso composer’s soundtrack
A multi-award-winning Thurso-born filmmaker and composer will be showcasing his Flow Country film for premiere events in Glasgow and Inverness.
From the formation of the galaxies to the emergence of life on Earth, ‘When Fish Begin To Crawl’ takes us on an “extraordinary journey that redefines our human place in nature”.
Described as an “immersive cinematic experience”, the film is co-directed by award-winning Caithness composer, Jim Sutherland and BAFTA-winning filmmaker Morag McKinnon. Following global screenings at film festivals – where it picked up a host of awards for both Best Eco Film and Best Score – When Fish Begin To Crawl comes home for two special premiere screenings in Eden Court Theatre, Inverness on January 28 and Glasgow Royal Concert Hall for Celtic Connections Festival on February 2. The events form part of the Glasgow Film Festival (GFF).
The Royal National Scottish Orchestra will perform Jim Sutherland’s score live with the film triptych projected onto three huge screens and creating a celebration of the globally vital landscape of the Flow Country, now recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
In a joint statement, Jim and Morag said: “It is a huge honour to have this orchestral premiere in the Highlands of Scotland. We are extremely excited that many of the Caithness contributors will be able to see the film close to home.”
Jim added: “The people of Caithness have been vital to the film. We simply could not have made it without the generous contributions from Caithness people who kindly allowed us to use family home movies from years gone by as well as specially shot footage from drone work to phone footage.
“We made a call-out on a Facebook group named after the project and were inundated with the most incredible material. Even the folks at Dounreay very kindly gave us access to archive footage from the 1950s and onwards of the building and development of the Dounreay reactors.
“You might recognise one or two weel-kent 1970s faces from the streets of Wick and Thurso over the years or see footage of long-passed great-grandparents on fishing boats leaving Wick in the 1930s.”
Jim says there is dramatic drone footage along River Thurso, around the Duncansby Stacks and following surfers at Thurso East.
“The film opens out on a global scale, to take the audience on a unique journey through life on Earth, including footage from Harvard University scientists of the formation of galaxies in the deepest space to the microscopic work of scientists.”
Jim and Morag both agree that the real star of the piece is the Flow Country, the largest blanket peat bog in the world, and its inhabitants. RSPB footage of wildlife is intercut with the carnivorous plants and mosses of the peatlands.
Morag says: “The peatlands themselves, in all their majesty, form a vast carbon store that makes a massive contribution to the health of the planet.
“We celebrate the remarkable achievement of the area’s status as a Unesco World Heritage Site.”
Professor Roxane Andersen, from the Environmental Research Institute in Thurso, said: “Peatland landscapes like the Flow Country play a critical role in regulating the Earth’s climate.
“The Flow Country is now the first, and only peatland to have secured UNESCO World Heritage Site designation, which is an incredible achievement that rightly signals its international significance in the fight against climate change and biodiversity loss.”
Allison Gardner, GFF director, said: “Glasgow Film Festival is delighted to be co-presenting this groundbreaking Scottish-made film for both its Highland and Glasgow premieres.
“Premiering on not one but three big screens, and with the RSNO playing Jim’s beautiful soundtrack live, it promises to be both a visual and musical spectacle. The Flow Country is a Scottish natural resource of global climate significance and this film, blending local archive footage with contributions from scientific pioneers from across the world, is an ideal way to commemorate that.”
EVENT DATES:
Eden Court Theatre on January 28 at 7.30pm.
Tickets: eden-court.co.uk/event/when-fish-begin-to-crawl
Celtic Connections, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on February 2 at 8pm www.celticconnections.com/event/1/when-fish-begin-to-crawl/
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