The Pulse of Life

Reminiscent of Margaret Tait’s impressionist films of the 1950s, Four Seasons paints an affectionate portrait of children growing up in rural Orkney told in play, songs, lessons and leisure as the seasons turn in the timeless landscape of the island. The absence of children underscores the poignant We are our dead, And the trees? in which a man’s voice describes the stillbirth of his son while the camera lingers on the cuts and striations of bark, the tangled branches of trees in his native Brazil, stark emblems of his grief. The fragility of existence, its physiological pulse runs through Farsi Seme with its focus on blood transfusion, life flowing from donor to patient. Interludes depicting nature’s networks emphasise the interdependence of all life. Silk Stone Stream completes the cycle of life and death with a tribute to the artist’s late grandfather told as reminiscences supported by a show and tell of photographs and stones gathered on shared walks along the river banks. These films slow to the pace of “waving and gathering” that mark out the passage of a human life.

The session will feature a Q&A with xxx, chaired by festival programmer Catherine Elwes.

Four Seasons

Louise Barrington / 2023 / UK / 24:22

Four Seasons observes the shifting colours and textures of Orkney's landscape, attuned to the voices that rise from it. As we move through each year, we echo the characteristics of the changing seasons over time, spring – planting seeds, summer – growth, autumn – harvest, and winter - the oldest season.

We are our dead. And the trees?

João Albuquerque / 2025 / Brazil / 14:13

A meditation on the relationship between grief, nature, and fatherhood.

Farsi Seme

Anna Marziano / 2024 / Italy / 10:30

Arms stretched out like branches. A needle finds the vein. Blood is collected for others. This fluid runs from one being to another, showing us our fundamental interdependence, through the blood donation. A continuous visual flow connects human and non-human beings: the camera pan becomes a sensitive form of horizontal transcendence, encouraging us to discover and to experiment with alliances and forms of brutes goodness. Some drops touch the filmstock: these are pigments of hematite and madder roots, resembling to circulatory blood and menstrual blood. This apparent duplicity of blood evokes the power of life, both its generative and destructive dimensions.