Double Bill - THE DREAMING BOG & CURSE O' THE MYRE + Q & A with the Directors.
The DREAMING BOG - by Robert Aitken and Co Producer Micheal G Clark
THE DREAMING BOG is an ecopoetic film on Climate Change told through the history and mythology of the Peatbogs of Northern Scotland and the Mires of Finland - an exploration of the punishment and preservation by human-kind on these vulnerable landscapes.
The film is based on the opening act of an epic new poem by Caithness Makar, George Gunn, 'SIX THOUSAND YEARS OF SUNLIGHT, voiced and woven into a dreamscape narrative; a sensory journey; an imagining - echoing memory, language, history and our relationship with mother nature's silent nurturer: The Carbon rich Peatbog.
The Peatbog (Boglach in Gaclic) or Mire (Suo in Finnish ) is not only a depository of Carbon it is a repository of human collective history and of memory, ecosystems and evolution - A guardian of the planet in the midst of a Climate and Biodiversity crises.
The film is meditative weave of dreams and a beckoning of consciousness where image, poetic voice and music garner ideas of creation, formation and humanity focussing on the Bogs and Mires both locally and globally as a locus of civilisation. The Bog is a constant pulse as the planets head and heart. Listen to heartfelt comment from those who live and work in these fragile environments. Through the lens we are led into THE DREAMING BOG - our hand is held, the space is safe, each vision is individual, each thought progress and healing.
It's only by disrupting patterns of thought we will survive as a species. Can we be more mindful in the preservation of Earths most precious Carbon Keeper? Can we think towards our human origins, embrace ideas of healing and regeneration so that ecosystems can flourish once more?
What are our dreams - portent or paradigm?
Perhaps it's time we let our human sunlight sing itself back into the Peat...
For news, updates & screenings follow: www.facebook.com/thedreamingbog
#thedreamingbog #thedreamingbogfilm
CURSE o'the MYRE -Robert Aitken and Co Producer Micheal G Clark
CURSE o’the MYRE is a new animated film that brings Scotland’s haunted past vividly to life by Brora born filmmaker, Robert Aitken. The film is a reimagining of the legacy of Lady Margaret Sinclair, whose grief after the 1513 Battle of Flodden became one of Caithness’ most enduring legends. With its ‘mythstorical’ lens and evocative visual style, CURSE o’the MYRE offers a poignant and timely tale.
The story centres around a Spirit Guard, who has been eternally bound to her crumbling Highland castle and the mist laden myres that surround it she is condemned to relive the tragedy of a clan’s brigade march to the Battle of Flodden and the loss of her beloved William. Her grief transcends time, seeping into the peatlands of Caithness, as her haunting presence becomes both a warning and a lament for the harm humanity inflicts upon each other and upon the earth itself.
As Aitken further explains; “In 1513 three hundred Caithness men marched south under the banner of William Sinclair, 2nd Earl of Caithness. I was haunted not only by their fate, but by what might have lingered behind, the grief of those left waiting in the far North. This is especially gut-wrenching given only one soldier boy returned out of the whole Caithness brigade.”
Blending poetic narration, immersive computer animation and rich historical research, CURSE o’the MYRE continues Aitken’s acclaimed exploration of Scotland’s ecological and cultural psyche with this new tale of documented history fused with centuries old folklore.