Agenda

06 Sep 2023 10:00

Iorram (Boat Song) – Exploring Scottish Gaelic through sound archive led documentary filmmaking

Ca' Bernardo, Sala B

This presentation will reflect on the sound archive led documentary film project Iorram (Boat Song) (2021, UK www.iorramfilm.com). This 97-min feature length documentary film, directed, filmed and produced by Dr Alastair Cole, is set in the Outer Hebrides in north west Scotland. The project explores the role of the Scottish Gaelic language, and its historically recorded stories, songs and retelling of events, in the understanding of the contemporary significance of the sea and fishing industries to the island’s cultural, and particularly linguistic futures. The film combines Gaelic language sound archive recorded by ethnographers in the middle of the 20th century with contemporary observational documentary images filmed with the fishing community in the islands today. The project examines these links between Gaelic and fishing, as well as the capacity of sound archive led creative documentary filmmaking to foster connections between the past and present for audiences. As the first ever cinema documentary entirely in Scottish Gaelic, the presentation will highlight the project’s unique translation context and process, including its multilingual cinema release, which also saw it be the first film released as fully accessible in Scottish Gaelic. The film was launched at the 2021 Glasgow Film Festival, and went on to be released theatrically in the UK across 50 cinemas, be broadcast on the BBC, and has been selected and won awards at numerous festivals internationally. The presentation will use clips from the film but a private link for antendees to view the film in English or Italian prior to the presentation is available (please contact prof. Cardinaletti). 

Supervisor: Dr Alastair Cole, Documentary Filmmaker and Senior Lecturer in Film Practice, Newcastle University, UK; www.tonguetiedfilms.co.uk

Language

The event will be held in English

Organized by

Department of Linguistics and Comparative Cultural Studies

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