Dùthchas

2022 UK Documentary, Dir Kirsty MacDonald & Andy Mackinnon, Classification: BBFC: U | FilmDuration: 88 mins | Language: Gaelic (subtitled) & English

For many of us there are two places we can call home – where we were born, where we still feel we belong, and where we now live. The film features previously unseen Kodachrome 8mm archive film of everyday life on the Isle of Berneray in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland through the 1960s and 1970s, intercut with interviews with people from the island including many featured in the archive film which reveals repeated iconic scenes of leaving the island, friends and relatives on the pier waving as they recede into the distance. Although the film is silent, you can almost hear the keening.

A specially composed soundtrack by Donald Shaw (Capercaillie, Celtic Connections) draws on the rich tradition of traditional Gaelic songs from Berneray, sung by Linda MacLeod, Karen Matheson, Duncan Mackinnon and Catriona Watt, and their compelling melodies as inspiration.

Thanks to UistFilm.