This haunting and magical film moves between Edinburgh and Orkney as it tells of a woman’s attempts to come to terms with her mother’s death through her childhood memories. Margaret Tait’s only feature-length film was the first Scottish feature film directed by a woman
This haunting and magical film moves between Edinburgh and Orkney as it tells of a woman’s attempts to come to terms with her mother’s death through her childhood memories. Filled with flashbacks and dream sequences, it’s also a film about islanders’ relationship with the ever-present sea.
Margaret Tait’s only feature-length film, from her own screenplay, was produced by the BFI in 1992 and was the first Scottish feature film directed by a woman. Now newly remastered in 2K and available on DVD and Blu-ray for the very first time.
Extras
Film poems – the work of filmmaker Margaret Tait (2018, 31 mins): BFI curator Peter Todd welcomes academic Lucy Reynolds and writers So Mayer and Anna Coatman to talk about the work, rhythm and poetry of film poet Margaret Tait
Margaret Tait Film Maker (1983, 34 mins): Arts Council England film featuring the only filmed interview with Margaret Tait
A Portrait of Ga (1952, 5 mins): Margaret Tait's hypnotic and deeply personal short documentary by about her mother. Made in Orkney shortly after Tait returned home from Rome in 1952
The Leaden Echo and the Golden Echo (1955, 7 mins): Tait's entrancing interpretation of Gerard Manley Hopkins' poem
Rose Street (1956, 20 mins): Tait's 1956 film about the Edinburgh street that runs parallel to Prince's Street
