by Luna Issa
From ocean to moon, in Take Arms Against A Sea, six films wrestle with nothing less than life, death, birth and self-expression.
Calming visuals of seascapes are punctuated with the continuous sound of sighing in Duncan Cowles’s Sighscape – a contemplation and articulation of fatigue amidst an endless sea of content created with deceptively simple wit.
Kaplana Subramanian’s Incantation begins with similar imagery to achieve a different, more solemn effect. Footage of water is combined with archive film footage of 1950s and 1960s New Delhi. The film flows between old military footage, peaceful scenes of water and beautifully haunting song, touching on history and notions of belonging in a way that feels deeply personal and reflective.
Water is also a significant symbol in Emma Dove’s Hankyō, a meditative interrogation of sound, image, text and voice created as a response to a University of Glasgow project researching end of life care in the UK and Japan. Abstract images and a rich, evocative soundscape underpin poetry in voiceover and onscreen text.
In Owain Train McGilvary’s I’m finally using my body for what I feel like it is made to do, the theme of belonging continues. This 26-minute short presents the experiences of people involved in a wrestling group in Glasgow for women and non-binary people. McGilvary combines interview footage with playful animation and sketch performance to create a film about the importance of community spaces where people are welcome to express themselves.
Lewis Teckkam’s Camlet is made in a similar DIY style. Using stop-motion to reflect existential uncertainty, Teckkam – a former participant in Outwith, Alchemy’s 2021-22 filmmaking academy for young people in the Scottish Borders – presents a playful response to Shakespeare’s most famous soliloquy.
Lana Z Caplan’s A Thousand Sighs illustrates the intensity and borderline otherworldly joy experienced by the filmmaker through pregnancy during the pandemic. Psychedelic colours and upbeat music are paired with ultrasounds and images of a dancing, pregnant body to convey the range of conflicting emotions felt during that period.
