Take One Action Film Festival has announced the full programme for its 2021 festival which will run in Edinburgh and Glasgow cinemas and also online 22-26 September, before heading to Aberdeen (22-24 October) and Inverness (29-31 October)
The 14th edition of the UK’s leading global change film festival will be taking place across Scotland and online as the country prepares to host the UN Climate Conference (aka COP26)
Take One Action - the UK’s leading global change film festival - has announced the full programme for its 14th annual edition. As Scotland gears up to host the UN Climate Conference (aka COP26) the festival will host 20+ international, UK and Scottish film premieres, inspiring conversations and exclusive digital content in Glasgow, Edinburgh and online from 22 - 26 September. In-person festival editions will also take place in Aberdeen (22-24 October) and Inverness (29-31 October).
The festival opens with the World
Premiere of Living Proof: A Climate Story - a brand new feature-length exploration
of Scotland’s complex relationship to the global climate crisis, told through
archive footage from the National Library of Scotland. Curator and director
Emily Munro searches for the roots of the climate crisis in an evocative
portrayal of a country shaped by demands for energy and economic growth.
Featuring corporate voices, news reporters, protestors, and the general public,
the footage spans the geography of Scotland, taking in the central belt, the
rural South, the Highlands and the North sea, and looks at the most treasured,
most contested and most exploited parts of the country. Part found-footage
mash-up and part archive collage, Living Proof features a soundtrack
that traverses space and time, with contemporary Scottish artists Louise Connell,
Brownbear and Post Coal Prom Queen sitting alongside composers Ian Whyte, Frank
Spedding, John Maxwell Geddes and David McNiven. (Edinburgh Filmhouse 22 Sep;
Glasgow Film Theatre 23 Sep; Aberdeen Belmont 22 Oct; Inverness Eden Court 29
Oct). Living Proof is supported by Film Hub Scotland and will tour
Scottish cinemas following its Take One Action World Premiere.
Take One Action 2021 will close on 26 September with the Scottish premiere of The New Corporation. Joel Bakan and Jennifer Abbott’s ‘unfortunately necessary’ sequel to their seminal 2003 documentary The Corporation investigates how the corporate takeover of society is being justified by the sly rebranding of corporations as socially conscious entities. From gatherings of corporate elites in Davos, to climate change and spiralling inequality; the rise of ultra-right leaders to Covid-19 and racial injustice, the film looks at corporations’ devastating power. Countering this is a groundswell of resistance worldwide as people take to the streets in pursuit of justice and the planet’s future. (Glasgow Film Theatre 26 Sep; Edinburgh Filmhouse 26 Sep; Aberdeen Belmont 24 Oct; Inverness Eden Court 31 Oct plus online 22-26 Sep).
Other TOA21 festival highlights announced include:
- The UK Premiere of On the Line (Edinburgh Filmhouse 23 Sep; online 22 - 26 Sep)
- The Scottish premiere of The Ants and The Grasshopper (Glasgow Kinning Park Complex (Climate Fringe Week) 24 Sep; Edinburgh Filmhouse 24 Sep; Aberdeen Belmont 23 Oct; Inverness Eden Court 30 Oct)
- The Scottish premiere of The Last Forest (Glasgow Film Theatre 25 Sep; Edinburgh Filmhouse 25 Sep; Aberdeen Belmont 23 Oct; Inverness Eden Court 30 Oct; online 22-26 Sep)
- The UK Premiere of Zinder (online only 22 - 26 Sep) (The director, Aïcha Macky, will be in conversation with Moroccan director Meriemme Addou for an online Masterclass hosted by Scottish Documentary Institute.)
Tamara Van Strijthem, Executive Director of Take One Action, says: “After so many months apart, we are excited and grateful to be inviting audiences to celebrate the power of community and connection through world-changing cinema. COP26 in November represents such a crucial moment for our planet’s future and our programme offers a much-needed opportunity to pause and reflect – and to question just how we’ve arrived at the topsy-turvy reality we call our own. To truly build back better, we need to both engage with and dream up different realities. Our excitingly diverse selection of documentaries, and the audience conversations we nurture, can inspire our way into a new story – one that centres care, community, equity, accountability and sustainability.”
All films are available on a pay-what-you-can basis, whether in person or online, across all venues. All films are available to watch online (excluding Living Proof). Tickets to all screenings are on sale now at www.takeoneaction.org.uk .