Four immersive documentaries will invite the audience to think about food production, food security and farming from the animals’ viewpoint. The has been created to compliment cultural activity around COP26, the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, taking place in Glasgow later this year.
The Last Autumn follows an older couple as they undertake their last year of crofting in a remote part of Iceland; Grenada and the Goats looks at a co-operative’s attempt to reduce dependence on imported food on the Caribbean Island; The Truffle Hunters concerns the specialised and localised knowledge and expertise of Piedmont farmers and their dogs in Italy who know where to find the truffles that are so sought after by the international restaurant trade. Finally, Gunda, gorgeously shot in black and white, attempts to experience the farm as the animals do; filmed on a farm north of Oslo, we are invited into the world of a mother pig, her piglets, some cows, and, most gloriously, a one-legged, scene-stealing hen.
The screenings are supported by Taste of Shetland, the Shetland Livestock Marketing Group (SLMG) and Climate Fringe 2021. Taste of Shetland is the marketing arm of a growing membership company representing over eighty local businesses and organisations associated with the food and drink sector. The SLMG provide key services to Shetland’s agricultural community, in addition to leading on Shetland ParkLife, a project which aims to increase crofter and farmers knowledge of biodiversity and habitat-making. The strand is also supported by Climate Fringe, a programme of events about Scotland’s climate in the lead up to COP26.
More news on the Screenplay programme will be on the way soon. The festival runs from Wednesday 1 to Sunday 5 September 2021. The festival will run in accordance with COVID guidelines in place during September. More information can be found at here, and by following Screenplay on Facebook by searching ScreenplayFilmFestival.