The Divine Isle (2021)
The Divine Isle is a film exploration of Isle Maree (Eilean Ma-Ruibhe), on Loch Maree, located in Wester Ross. The film attempts to capture ungraspable aspects of place that surface together in a hybrid 16mm and digital film, existing in peripheries, in glimpses, a site rich in folklore and of vying narratives. A site of healing at the holy well, of curing madness, a site visited by Queen Victoria, an island that contains a dying wishing tree.
The soundtrack is arranged with Bodhrán instrumentation from musician Clive Powell. The film’s base rhythms are derived from well-known English-language songs of the Wester Ross area, initially scored by musician Robert Newth on piano, made into a drumtrack by Powell, then made harmonic, and resampled. Arrhythmic beats, glimpses of foggy villages spinning, cars going past in the night.
The Divine Isle wonders on the 'divine', positing what might be there, and what is not. Here is a place that's meaning has morphed over time. Adapted into film from a chapter of Apophanies and A Bay of Spent Stars (2021), by the artist.
The Divine Isle, Alchemy Film & Arts, 30th April - https://alchemyfilmandarts.org.uk/festival-2022-shorts-building-a-fort/
