Leading film festival returns to Montrose for the third year
The programme has been revealed for this year’s LandxSea Film Festival, which will be held in Montrose next month.
Scotland’s leading platform for films and discussions that spark green ideas and actions, this will be the environmental film festival’s third year, which will run from Friday, September 12–Sunday, September 14 September at the community-run Montrose Playhouse
The festival will open with the Scottish premiere of ‘Lost For Words’, a poetic journey across Britain’s landscapes and seasons, inspired by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris’s beloved book, and close with the Scottish premiere of ‘Yanuni’, a thrilling eco documentary produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, following Brazilian Indigenous chief Juma Xipaia as she fights to protect the Amazon and the future of her unborn child.
Other highlights include 22 new feature and short films from Scotland and around the globe, in-depth discussions, a family-friendly live film soundtrack workshop, live music, creative workshops, and the return of the bracing Montrose Beach Dook.
These include the Scottish premiere of ‘Future Council’, following eight school children from across the world on a biofuelled bus trip like no other, to challenge powerful corporate leaders across Europe about climate change solutions. The film’s young Scottish star Clemence ‘CC’ Currie will attend the premiere, with director Damon Gameau appearing online from Sydney.
It will also see the Scottish premiere of ‘Lowland Kids’, set on Louisiana’s sinking Isle de Jean Charles, where two Indigenous teens and their uncle become America’s first climate refugees, forced to choose between home and higher ground.
‘North Sea, Nature Untamed’ will plunge beneath the waves through the eyes of diver and underwater cameraman Peter van Rodijnen in a thrilling cinematic adventure that showcases the North Sea in all its glory. Peter will attend the premiere.
‘Tracing Light’ will also receive its Scottish premiere, and journeys from Hebridean shores to German photon labs, pairing artists and physicists in a luminous exploration of light’s power to shape nature and fuel discovery. The film’s Scotland-based producer Sonja Henrici and executive producer Leslie Hills will attend the premiere.
Rachel Caplan, festival director, said: "This year’s theme, ‘Creative Ground’, celebrates the vital role artists play in helping us navigate a changing climate. From Indigenous sci-fi to luminous orchestral film, the programme reflects our belief that imagination is essential for transformation."
Anthony Baxter, festival co-founder and director, and Scottish BAFTA-winning film-maker, added: “It’s incredible to see LandxSea grow into a national platform for environmental cinema, based right here in Montrose.
“We’re proud to bring stories that inspire change to audiences of all ages."
Tickets are on sale now and are available at montroseplayhouse.co.uk, by calling 07395 071 636 or by emailing [email protected] and from Connect & share: @LandxSeaFest. For more information about the full programme, go to landxsea.org.