A three-day festival celebrating environmental films will return to Montrose for the second year with the programme for the event being announced.
The Montrose LandxSea Film Festival was launched last year and was successful and now returns for its second annual event. It’s co-produced by acclaimed filmmaker and podcaster Anthony Baxter and international festival producer Rachel Caplan and will run in the community-owned cinema Montrose Playhouse from Friday September 13 to Sunday September 15.
Highlights across the festival include the Scottish premiere of Shetland-shot Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story, the UK premiere of Chasing Time, the spectacular new glacier documentary from the team behind the Emmy Award-winning Chasing Ice, as well as an iconic red phone box transformed into a one-person cinema for screenings of Local Hero and You’ve Been Trumped.
LandxSea 2024 will also give out the inaugural North Light Award, honouring Scottish environmental filmmaking and it will host the Coastal Erosion Summit addressing the urgent issues affect Montrose.
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The festival is the brainchild of the two producers and the full programme has been announced with three days of inspiring films and thought-provoking conversations about the planet. It will b
It will open with Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story about a wild otter and a man who form an unlikely bond that transformers their lives in a bid to highlight the connection between humans and the natural world. It will close on the Sunday night with the multi-award-winning The Eagle with the Sunlit Eye, which is Ted Simpson’s account of the dramatic reintroduction of the white-tailed eagle in Britain and the conflict with Scotland’s rural community.
Other documentary highlights include the Battle for Laikipia, The Bough Breaks, Notes from Sheepland, Planet Wind, Send Kelp and X Trillion.
Speaking about the event, Mr Baxter said: “When we began the LandxSea Film Festival in Montrose last year, we knew we were starting something special. The extraordinary audience response exceeded all our expectations, as visiting filmmakers shared their incredible films here in Montrose.
“This year, we are building on that foundation with an even more ambitious programme packed with amazing films from around the world. We hope these films will spark many conversations about the future of our planet.”
A number of short films will also be celebrated including a programme on rising sea levels, which is a serious and pressing concern for Montrose while there is also a world premiere of Finding Bo, which follows Karen Miller’s work capturing the lives of mountain hares through photography in wintery Scottish conditions.
The North Light Award will be accompanied by a £500 cash prize and finalists will be showcased before the winner selected by a jury of film and environmental leaders including Lia Furxhi, Kate Munro and Paul Sng.
The festival sees a 40% rise in feature films from the 2023 edition and includes themes such as coastal erosion, people and animals, land ownership, women leaders and artists and the environment.
LandxSea Co-Director Rachel Caplan said: “It is an honour to continue our tradition of bringing films at the forefront of today's global environmental issues to Montrose, a community dedicated to climate compassion.
“This year, we are thrilled to introduce the North Light Award, celebrating the best in Scottish environmental filmmaking. This award not only honours innovative storytelling but also shines a spotlight on the vital environmental issues that affect us all. We're proud to support filmmakers who are making a difference and look forward to sharing their powerful stories with the Montrose community.”
Tickets for all LandxSea events go on sale at midday on Wednesday 12th August at landxsea.org
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