A Pilgrimage
I’ve been to a few film festivals, some small that involve just a few viewing treats and others large and anonymous that require a lot of queuing with the inevitable pushing and shoving. I have, however, never been to a festival where I was greeted (along with a handful of other film enthusiasts) at a remote Highland train station by a crowd of people cheering and holding signs. That is, until this weekend. Not only that, but the welcoming party included the festival organisers –actress Tilda Swinton and filmmaker/critic Mark Cousins who kicked off their Highland film festival, A Pilgrimage, with a personal touch on Saturday.
Last year the duo held a similarly unique festival in Nairn where bean bags, fairy cakes and an eclectic programme of films created an entirely different film festival experience. Relaxed, unpretentious and just a little ramshackled it provided an antidote to the large film festivals that most of us are used to. This was about the experience of cinema, the magical world of film filled with wonder and fantasy. They called it the Cinema of Dreams.
This year their creation is just as dreamlike. You can imagine the conversation… “Wouldn’t it be great to pull a cinema across the Highlands, stopping off at places on the way to watch films?” And well, that’s what they’ve done but with a few extras thrown in. The cinema in question is the Highlands’ Screen Machine, a huge articulated lorry that extends to form an 80 seat indoor cinema. As pulling such a beast is slow work they’ve designated sections of their route (which starts at the Bridge of Orchy and finishes in Nairn) for the pulling to take place. For the rest of the route there’s a big old red double decker bus to carry the ‘pilgrims’ between stops.
It all sounds slightly insane but then this should be the stuff of dreams, so what were you expecting? The first day went surprisingly smoothly, even pulling the Screen Machine with huge tug-of-war ropes was easier than expected, and everyone arrived at the first stop, Kinlochleven, in one piece and ready for the first films. We were treated to Norman McLaren’s early sixties short film Flicker, a series of white flashing squares accompanied by rhythmical beats, which we were told would ‘cleanse our eyes’ before the film viewing commenced.
Later that evening Burden of Dreams was screened, a documentary about the making of Werner Herzog’s Fitzcarraldo. For the shooting of the film Herzog attempted to pull a huge river boat over a steep hill using a system of pullies and ropes. Ah, now I see why this film is being shown. Cinema has always been about attempting the impossible and whilst the Screen Machine is no river steamer this is certainly similar terrain. After the film the biggest disaster of the festival strikes: the Kinlochleven chippy is shut. I’m forced to have a dinner of pork scratchings, a pie left over from lunch and a swig of a whisky miniature my friend handily has in her purse. Oh well, worse things happen at war, or indeed in the Amazon when you’re trying to film the near-impossible.
The next day Mohammad Ali Talebi’s beautiful film Bag of Rice is shown. It’s a journey movie of sorts, seen through the eyes of a young girl who travels with her neighbour across Tehran to buy a bag of rice. Talebi’s sensitive capturing of the world of a child is reminiscent of Spanish director Victor Erice’s film Spirit of the Beehive; it’s a wonderfully gentle film that seems perfect for a Sunday morning.
Unfortunately, the beautiful red bus is having technical problems, which means we’re all aboard a gleaming modern version for the next part of the journey. No one minds though, “ramshackle rolls” is the festival tagline and it’s being embraced with open arms. The next stop, however is where my pilgrimage ends, work on Monday means that I have to head back to the big smoke. I leave the other pilgrims behind, a varied bunch from all over the world (including one person who’s come as far as Abu Dhabi) and of all ages who seem to be getting on through their shared love of films and adventure. It’s with a heavy heart that I go and hope that next year there will be something equally fantastical awaiting us.
A Pilgrimage runs from the 1 – 9 August 2009. More information can be found at www.a-pilgrimage.org