The eleventh edition of the World’s first film festival devoted to folk cinema, celebrating the lived experiences of communities worldwide, will run at Edinburgh’s Cameo Picturehouse and Scottish Storytelling Centre 2 - 11 May
Fusing new cinema from across the World and rare archive screenings with live music and storytelling, FFG25 opens with rarely seen films from BBC ALBA’s Geur Ghearr shorts and closes with a day-long celebration of the life and work of pioneering independent Scottish filmmaker Douglas Eadie
Other highlights include Fertile Memory, the first full-length film to be shot within the occupied Palestinian West Bank ‘Green Line’, introduced by Scottish-Palestinian poet Nada Shawa; The Enchanted Desna, a magical-realist exploration of the childhood of Ukraine’s greatest filmmaker, Alexander Dovzhenk with a special mini-concert by Edinburgh’s Ukrainian Choir; the Scottish premiere of a new restoration of cult Irish folk horror classic The Outcasts with Irish fiddle music from Benedict Morris and a rare showing of the first horror film to be made in the Welsh language, O'R DDAEAR HEN with live music from Welsh harpist and singer Gwen Màiri Yorke
FFG25 April preview events at North Edinburgh Arts Centre include a Surprise Film screening and the return of Tyneside’s Amber Collective
Tickets are on sale now
The full programme for the eleventh edition of Edinburgh’s Folk Film Gathering has been announced, with tickets to all events going on sale today. Bringing new world cinema and rare archive film to the big screen, all festival screenings feature unique live music and storytelling elements.
The festival - the World’s first devoted to folk cinema, celebrating the lived experiences of communities worldwide- will kick off with two preview events at North Edinburgh Arts Centre. A Surprise Film, chosen by NEAC’s community film group, will screen on 26th April and Tyneside’s Amber Collective present Shooting Magpies, a powerful exploration of the impact of heroin on the communities of East Durham after the closure of the mining pits, on 30th April.
Folk Film Gathering 2025 will then officially open on 2nd May with a rare screening of Emma Davie’s 1997 road movie Flight, exploring Scottish traditions from Cape Breton to Nova Scotia. An important document of Scottish diaspora, Flight explores how Scottish customs continue to be expressed in Canada, long after families have left Scotland. The screening will be introduced with a special mini-concert from piper Finn Moore, and followed by a discussion with the film’s director Emma Davie and piping expert Hamish Moore. The festival will then close on 11th May with a day-long celebration of the life and work of pioneering independent Scottish filmmaker Douglas Eadie. Across the day a selection of Douglas's work will be shared and discussed including Haston: A Life in the Mountains, analyzing the brilliant and brutally short career of Scottish mountaineer Dougal Haston; An Cesnachadh – An Interrogation of a Highland Lass, a docu-drama about the taking of the Stone of Destiny from Westminster Abbey on Christmas morning of 1950 by a band of Scottish nationalists and Down Home, in which Aly Bain explores connections past and present between Scottish fiddling traditions across the United States. Aly himself will introduce the screening with other special guests throughout the day including An Cesnachadh cast Kathleen Macinnes, Dolina MacLennan and Kenny MacRae, poet Jim Mackintosh and novelist James Robertson.
Other highlights across the festival’s packed ten days include:
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A special event celebrating some rarely seen films from BBC ALBA’s Geur Ghearr shorts programme of the 1990s. Based on one of the oldest songs in Gaelic tradition, a jealous sister enacts a devious plan in A Bhean Eudach, whilst the past haunts the present for a tense group of whalers in Roimh Ghaoth a' Gheamhraidh; and, finally, a dark tale of love and revenge ends with tragic consequences in Keino, written by the late Gaelic polymath Norman Maclean. The films will be introduced by a bilingual storytelling session from Edinburgh-based Gaelic storyteller Martin McIntyre. (Cameo, 3 May)
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The Scottish premiere of a new restoration of cult Irish cinema classic The Outcasts. Originally released in 1982, it tells the story of Maura, a young woman whose powers are awakened by an encounter with the mysterious fiddler Scarf Michael, whose music causes fear and hallucinations wherever it is heard. Directed by seminal folk horror filmmaker Robert Wynne-Simmons (Blood on Satan’s Claw), this special FFG screening will be introduced with Irish fiddle music from Benedict Morris and followed by a pre-recorded interview with the film’s director. (Cameo, 4 May)
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A rare showing of the first horror film to be made in the Welsh language, O'R DDAEAR HEN, where a mysterious stone head is unearthed in a council house garden in Bangor. The film will be introduced with a special mini-concert from Welsh harpist and singer Gwen Màiri Yorke. (Cameo, 5 May)
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A compelling early performance from Björk in The Juniper Tree, a 1990 Icelandic adaptation of a Brothers Grimm fairy tale. When their mother is burned for witchcraft, sisters Margit and Katla take shelter with John and his young son Jonas. However, as a delicate new family unit starts to take shape, Katla’s own powers of sorcery begin to awaken. The film will be introduced with a special mini-concert from celebrated Scottish musicians Rachel Newton and Alasdair Roberts. (Cameo, 6 May)
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The Nouba of the Women of Mount Chenoua, a haunting Algerian film from 1977 which mixes drama and documentary to explore the intergenerational histories of women in Algeria. Celebrating the power of grandmothers passing down traditions of anti-colonial resistance to their granddaughters, Nouba is a powerful exploration of speech and silence, where the past and present coexist. (Cameo, 7 May)
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A rare chance to see one of the foundation stones of Lebanese cinema, and the first Lebanese film to screen at Cannes. George Nasser’s Ila Ayn (1957) tells the story of a poor family in the Lebanese mountains whose father leaves to travel the world, seeking Eldorado. Many years later, a ragged old man arrives in the village. Will those who remained learn from his experiences before it is too late? This special FFG screening will be introduced by traditional Middle Eastern music from Bashir Saade. (Cameo, 8 May)
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A powerful mix of documentary and drama, Fertile Memory is the first full-length film to be shot within the occupied Palestinian West Bank ‘Green Line’. Released in 1981, the feature is a powerful portrait of two Palestinian women whose individual struggles both define and transcend the politics that have torn apart their lives. Introduced by Scottish-Palestinian poet Nada Shawa, and followed by a discussion led by Falastin Film Festival’s Nehad Khader. (Cameo, 9 May)
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The Legend of the Anonymous Poet (Or a 20th Century Barbarian Account) blends historic events, Moroccan popular myths and magical fiction, in a special live performance from Casablanca-based filmmaker/storytellers Nadir Bouhmouch and Soumeya Ait Ahmed. Combining film, lecture and storytelling, the event showcases the Tizintizwa collective’s field recordings of ancestral oral poems, epic ballads and women's work songs to create a folktale-like account of the 20th century ‘Roman’ conquest of Morocco from a ‘barbarian’ perspective. (Scottish Storytelling Centre, 9 May)
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The cinema premiere of Paper Portraits, the playful new documentary from renowned Scottish filmmaker and writer Gerda Stevenson, celebrating the history and working people of Penicuik’s paper mills. Featuring a bustling cast of local community members, and filmed with a keen sense of cinematic poetry, Paper Portraits is a powerful celebration of community, past and present. The film will be introduced with a special mini-concert from musicians with ties to the film, including Penicuik-based musicians Mary and Ailsa McInroy, and followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers. (Cameo, 10 May)
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The Enchanted Desna, a magical-realist exploration of the childhood of Ukraine’s greatest filmmaker, Alexander Dovzhenko, directed by the filmmaker’s widow, Yuliya Solntseva. Much-praised by Jean-Luc Godard and drawing on the unique qualities of Ukrainian poetic cinema, the film is a rhapsodic invocation of the natural world, and of a childhood spent along the banks of the Desna river in Chernihiv. The screening will be introduced with a special mini-concert by Edinburgh’s Ukrainian Choir. (Cameo, 11 May)
Jamie Chambers, Folk Film gathering producer, said:
“We're excited to be back for the 11th edition of the Folk Film Gathering, which ones again looks to explore Scotland's place in the world, whilst reaching outwards in solidarity to the experiences of communities in Algeria, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine and Ukraine.
Drawing on cinema, live music, storytelling and discussion, our programme explores both the hyper-local - in Gerda Stevenson's brilliant new documentary Paper Portraits about the workers and communities who drove Penicuik's paper-making industry - and the global, with exciting new work from Morocco's Tizintizwa Collective, and rare chances to see Assia Djebar's The Nouba of the Women of Mount Chenoua celebrating postcolonial resistance between different generations of Algerian women, and The Enchanted Desna, exploring the magical childhood of the filmmaker-poet Alexander Dovzhenko on the banks of the Desna river in Chernihiv.
We hope to see you there!”
Folk Film Gathering will once again take place alongside Edinburgh’s Tradfest, a celebration of the very best traditional music from Scotland and around the world.
Folk Film Gathering is produced by Transgressive North and funded by Screen Scotland.