An international environmental film festival that celebrates the connection between land and sea is set to return to the North East of Scotland this September, with a programme spanning rewilding politics, open-water swimming and the consequences of overfishing.
The fourth annual LandxSea (‘Land by Sea’) festival takes place in Montrose from September 11th to 13th, featuring films from Scotland, Greenland, Iraq, Croatia, Indonesia and the United States. The programme includes one European premiere, two UK premieres and eight Scottish premieres, all screened at the Montrose Playhouse, an award-winning three-screen community cinema converted from a former swimming pool.
(l to r) Rachel Caplan, Anthony Baxter and David Paton on Montrose Beach. Pic by Lesley Martin
Festival Director Rachel Caplan said Montrose’s location placed it at the heart of conversations about climate, energy and agriculture, noting that the town is home to Europe’s largest offshore wind farm and sits at the point where land meets sea. Describing this year’s programme as deeply emotionally charged, she said the films would make audiences laugh, cry and remember that the world remains a wonderful place.
The opening night film, Derek vs Derek, offers a light-hearted documentary exploring a culture clash between two Devon farmers, both named Derek, who hold radically different views on agriculture. One runs an intensive dairy farm while the other has transformed his land into a haven for beavers, wild boar and other native species. What begins as a feud becomes a revealing portrait of the British countryside under pressure.
Among the international features, Materia Prima examines the global race for lithium and its social and environmental impact on communities in the Bolivian Andes. Hope is a Word, a Norwegian Nigerian production, looks at oil drilling in the Niger Delta, while a silent French film from 1929, Finis Terrae, depicts a dispute among young men harvesting seaweed off the Breton coast and will be screened with live musical accompaniment.
Scottish filmmaking is strongly represented, with Expressing the Earth marking the debut feature from Scottish director Glenda Rome. The film combines the work of geologist James Hutton with the insights of writer and philosopher Kenneth White, coinciding with the 300th anniversary of Hutton’s discoveries.
The full programme features ten feature films and twelve short films, with each feature paired with a short and many followed by Q&A sessions with filmmakers. The North Light Award will be presented to the best Scottish film.
All Rivers Spill Their Stories To The Sea by Jeanie Finlay tells the story of a fisherman who leads a grassroots campaign for answers after thousands of dead crabs wash ashore on England’s North East coast, uniting his community in a David and Goliath battle against officials.
Beyond screenings, the festival includes seaweed tasting, knot-tying workshops and its popular annual Montrose Beach Dook, when filmmakers from around the world plunge into the icy waters of Montrose Bay. Local schoolchildren will be treated to a preview screening of North Sea, Nature Untamed, while young wildlife enthusiasts can enjoy a screening of the animated classic Watership Down.
Caplan flagged up an added attraction: ‘The festival dates coincides with the arrival of the pink footed geese on Montrose Basin – so last year there were a couple of hundred pink footed geese at the start of the festival and by the end there were more than 30,000.’
David Paton, chair, architect and founder of the Montrose Playhouse said: ‘It’s amazing to have all these international film makers coming to a town the size of Montrose. The festival brings people together and starts conversations and that’s really important.’
