LandxSea is where films ignite action. 🌊

We are Scotland’s environmental film festival — a long weekend of cinema, conversation, and community in the Northeast, based in the coastal town of Montrose, where shifting dunes, rising seas, and rich wildlife make the climate story feel very close to home.

At the LandxSea Film Fest each September, we curate a small, powerful selection of films about climate, nature and place-based stories, with a strong interest in Indigenous perspectives, land rights, and communities on the frontline of environmental change. Our audiences come ready to think, feel, and get involved, and our aim is that the work stays with them long after the credits roll.

Alongside screenings, the Festival brings together:

• ground-breaking environmental films and inspiring guest speakers
• local assemblies, community conversations, and beach swims
• schools screenings, creative workshops, and family events

Since launching in 2023, we’ve presented over 80 international films, welcomed 100+ filmmakers and speakers from across Scotland and around the world, supported 5,000+ audience interactions, collaborated with 35+ communities, grown a year-round LandxSea Monthly strand and Schools at the Festival programme, and doubled film submissions while keeping the programme intimate, thoughtful, and audience-focused.

Why Montrose?

LandxSea is hosted at the Montrose Playhouse, a former public swimming pool transformed into a community-owned, state-of-the-art cinema and arts venue, with excellent projection, sound, and accessible facilities. The Playhouse was a finalist for BIFA's UK Cinema of the Year (2025).

But Montrose isn’t just a beautiful backdrop. It’s a living front line for the questions LandxSea exists to explore. Here, the North Sea is both livelihood and horizon: a coastline shaped by decades of oil and gas supply chains, now navigating the energy transition, with the port supporting offshore activity and renewables, including the Seagreen Offshore Wind Farm (Europe’s largest) just off the Angus coast.

It’s also a place where nature, food, and climate impacts collide in close proximity. Angus is one of Scotland’s most productive farming regions. Minutes from town you’ll find the Montrose Basin, an internationally protected wetland and a vital stop on bird migratory routes, plus wild stretches like St Cyrus National Nature Reserve and Lunan Bay, and with the edge of the Cairngorms within easy reach.

And the stakes are visible. Coastal erosion along Montrose Bay’s dunes, and ongoing flood-risk planning in the River South Esk area, make climate change feel immediate, and make Montrose an ideal home for a festival rooted in environmental storytelling.

With ongoing town regeneration and direct rail links across Scotland, Montrose offers a welcoming, accessible setting for creatives, changemakers, and curious minds to come together, to watch films, share stories, and imagine possible futures.

Local Roots, Global Reach

LandxSea is the first UK member of the international Green Film Network (GFN), a coalition of 30+ environmental film festivals across 23 countries. Through this collaboration, we connect with global partners — from Turin to Toronto, Tokyo to Tehran — aligning with our mission to bring global stories to Montrose and share Scottish voices with the world. We also nominate Scottish films to the annual GFN Awards (the "Green Oscars").

LandxSea is the first Scottish member of the UK Green Film Network, working with fellow exhibitors to bring environmental stories to screens across the country.

Supported by our Partners

We are supported by Screen Scotland (part of Creative Scotland/Scottish Government) and Film Hub Scotland (part of the BFI Film Audience Network, awarding funds from Screen Scotland and National Lottery funding from the BFI).

Montrose LandxSea Film Festival SCIO is a Registered Charity in Scotland (SC053626).

Want to Learn More?

• Read the story behind the festival
• Check out our Fest FAQ
• Explore the 2025 Impact Report
• Contact Us

photo at top courtesy of Paul Tomkins/Visit Scotland.