Cult-pop raconteur Aidan Moffat sets out to explore Scotland’s past by rewriting and touring its oldest songs. But he doesn’t count on running into 79-year-old force of nature Sheila Stewart – a travelling balladeer who upturns Moffat’s folk assumptions. He believes the old songs are ripe for updating. She does not.
With Stewart’s wrath ringing in his ears, Moffat embarks on a road trip that finds him dressed for battle in a Highland graveyard, caught between feuding monster-hunters at Loch Ness, and singing in a dismissive farmer’s kitchen – before facing Stewart in his home-town of Glasgow for an unlikely final showdown, in this funny wee film about music and death.
A Better Days production with the Scottish Documentary Institute
Highlights:
NOMINATED – Best Breakthrough Producer – BIFA 2016
WINNER – Silver Hugo for Best Documentary – Chicago Int’l Film Fest 2016
Screenings:
OFFICIAL SELECTION – Glasgow Film Festival 2016
OFFICIAL SELECTION – Sheffield Doc/Fest 2016
OFFICIAL SELECTION – UK Picturehouse Week long run 17th June 2016
OFFICIAL SELECTION – Edinburgh International Festival 2016
OFFICIAL SELECTION – IDFA 2016
OFFICIAL SELECTION – Buenos Aires Independent Film Festival (BAFICI) 2017
OFFICIAL SELECTION – Indie:lisboa 2016
OFFICIAL SELECTION – Southside Film Festival Glasgow 2016
Reviews:
★★★★ – The List
“… this funny, moving, and occasionally cringeworthy viewing experience serves both Stewart and Moffat wonderfully well.”
★★★★ – The Guardian
“This diverting documentary about Aidan Moffat’s mission to reinterpret the music of folk singer Sheila Stewart leaves one wanting more.”
“His modern re-interpretations of old folk songs are suitably filthy, blackly humorous, and thanks to those age-old tunes, full of melody.” – The Press
“It feels like a celebration of the real Scotland in all its messy, joyful chaos.” – The Arts Desk
★★★★ – The Sunday Times
★★★★ – The Skinny
★★★★ – Time Out
★★★★ – The Evening Standard
★★★★ – Total Film
Supported by: Creative Scotland
Links:
Official Website
Better Days Film Production
For general enquiries, please contact: paulfegan@betterdays.co.uk for UK screenings: ellen@screenpmd.com and for festival enquiries: finlay@scotdoc.com
This film was developed with the support of SDI Consultancies , an ongoing service for filmmakers in Scotland.
@ScottishDocInst
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