AIDAN MOFFAT + LOST TREASURE
RED DAWN FIlm festival
David Pollock hears about Lost Treasure, an unfi nished short fi lm
which explores the scandal of
Scottish depopulation
Last year’s Glasgow Short Film Festival featured an intriguing historical curio, a 30th anniversary celebration of a community i lm project, Clyde Film. Through meeting those involved with this project made by young i lmmakers from Cranhill, the festival’s director Matt Lloyd learned of the Dawn Cine Group, a similar collective from the 1950s, and of their i lms Let Glasgow Flourish (about city housing conditions) and Lost Treasure (concerning rural depopulation). The former i lm was shown at last year’s festival; the latter, still uni nished, will launch this year’s GSFF as part of a new audio-visual work created by i lmmaker Minttu Mäntynen and musicians Drew Wright (aka Wounded Knee) and Hamish Brown (of Swimmer One). ‘As far as we can ascertain, none of the Dawn Cine Group are still with us,’ says Lloyd. ‘They were the i lmmaking arm of the Clydeside Film Society and set out to cover pressing social and political issues of the time, as well as marches and demonstrations, and a visit by British trade unionists to the USSR.’
Lloyd can’t say for certain whether they were all signed up members of the Communist Party, but based on the work they produced he doesn’t believe that they were mere propagandists. ‘They had a more nuanced, less dogmatic political outlook,’ he insists. ‘Lost Treasure attempted to tell the story of the Highlands, particularly the draining of its human resources, and to suggest why that mattered for Scotland as a whole. It was a hugely ambitious and well- researched project that set out to do what The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black Black Oil did some years later.’ What still exists of the piece is partly dramatic and partly documentary, forming an interesting backdrop to a situation which remains live. ‘So many of the ideas explored are alarmingly relevant today,’ says Brown. ‘There’s the current work of Andy Wightman gaining an audience and the ongoing spectacle of the Land Reform Bill progressing through Parliament. It’s a really interesting time to revisit this project.’ ■ Lost Treasure, Glasgow Film Theatre, Wed 16 Mar. Glasgow Short Film Festival, Wed 16–Sun 20 Mar.
4 Feb–7 Apr 2016 THE LIST 25
P H O T O © N E A L E S M T H
I
‘I did worry
with the live action would be footage of Moffat meeting colourful characters along the route, many of whom remain in the i nished i lm. Among them is a grieving widower who i nds solace in those old songs (and is naturally another harsh critic of Moffat’s versions) and the rivals on the shores of Loch Ness who have dedicated their lives to spotting the fabled monster. But once Stewart got on board, it changed everything and became much bigger than a simple ‘tour diary’ feature. seeing it’
about my mum
Moffat sensed a kinship with her for their shared love of storytelling, everyday language and the vocal delivery where ‘the feeling means more than the notes’. But their light-hearted jousting leads to a wonderful i nale when she takes to the Barrowland stage to interrupt Moffat’s band as they perform ‘The Parting Song’ in order to do the ‘original version’ – a true gift for the i lmmakers and a genuine treat for the crowd. It’s a moving and spirited ending to the gig as well as the documentary, a moment made ever more poignant by the fact that this was Stewart’s i nal performance just a few months before her death at the end of 2014. ‘I’d started writing some songs and made a few trips here and there for research,’ recalls Moffat. ‘Everyone talked about Sheila so I started listening to her work which is quite hardcore traditionalist. We got hold of her after a while and Paul went to talk to her and discuss the i lm. He came back and showed me some of the footage with her and I was actually surprised at how funny she was; I didn’t expect her to be so relaxed and good-humoured because she had this reputation for being a somewhat formidable woman. But she was great fun and totally up for being involved. Though I suspect Sheila wanted to be involved so she could make sure people knew what she thought about what I was doing.’ Where You’re Meant to Be, Barrowland, Glasgow, Fri 19 Feb; Glasgow Film Theatre, Wed 24 Feb.