Accessible Programme Guide

 

Programme Guide for the

Montrose LandxSea Film Festival 2025

 

 

Scotland’s Environmental Film Festival at the Montrose Playhouse

 

 

Friday 12th to Sunday 14th September 

 

 

Table of Contents

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome to the 3rd Annual Montrose LandxSea Film Festival!

 

More than Movies. A Movement.

 

Each September, our coastal town becomes a gathering place for filmmakers, artists, scientists, and audiences to face the climate crisis through powerful storytelling.

 

In just three years, LandxSea (“Land by Sea”) has grown from a grassroots weekend into Scotland’s national platform for environmental film, ideas, and action.

 

This year's theme, Creative Ground: Artists Respond to the Climate, celebrates artists as truth-tellers and change-makers. Inspired by Sea Change, Montrose's new embedded artist project, our programme showcases painters, musicians, poets, and performers making sense of a changing world and inviting us to do the same.

 

We're thrilled to present 22 new films from around the globe, including the Scottish premiere of Lost for Words, a stunning exploration of language and landscape; Tracing Light, a luminous meditation on science and perception; and When Fish Begin to Crawl, an awe-inspiring orchestral triptych. Also premiering are two powerful international features: Lowland Kids, about America's first climate refugees, and Yanuni, a love story of resistance in the Amazon.

 

This year brings collaborations with Havana-Glasgow Film Festival, Angus Climate Hub, and Culture for Climate Scotland; and expanded family programming like The Enchanted Cinema, a joyful event where kids and grown-ups create live soundtracks to animated classics.

 

But LandxSea is more than what's on screen. It's about participation. Community. Sparking change. So speak up in a Q&A. Get your hands dirty in a workshop. Jump in the sea. Bring your curiosity, your questions, your family.

 

Heartfelt thanks to our brilliant volunteers, partners, artists, audiences, and sponsors — especially Screen Scotland, whose two-year support helps us grow a welcoming, creative home for environmental storytelling  on Scotland's northeast coast.

 

We can’t wait to share this weekend with you.

 

Warmly,

Rachel Caplan, Co-Founder and Festival Director

Anthony Baxter, Co-Founder and Trustee

 

Tag us on social media @landxseafest

 

 

Festival Schedule

 

Friday 12th September

10:00am        Free Schools Programmes

Contact us to bring your class at [email protected]

 

Opening Night

7:30pm          Opening Night Premiere: Lost for Words

Until Late        Opening Night Drinks in the Playhouse bar

 

Saturday 13th September

10:00am         The Enchanted Cinema: Where the Wild Things Are

10:30am         From Havana with Hope: Climate Shorts from Cuba

12:00pm         The Enchanted Cinema: My Neighbour Totoro

12:30pm         In Conversation: David Macpherson — Stories from The Rig

2:00pm           The Pickers, with short film Headland

2:30pm           In Conversation: Amanda Thomson — Belonging, Language & the Living World

4:40pm           Tracing Light, with short film Animal Eye

7:30pm           Centrepiece Premiere: Lowland Kids, with short film In the Flame We Reveal Ourselves, plus live music with Afterlands

 

Sunday 14th September

9:30am          Montrose Beach Dook

11:45am        North Sea, Nature Untamed, with short film The Pine Hunters

2:00pm          Sea Change Workshop: Climate, Community, and Creativity

2:40pm          Itu Ninu, with short film The World We Make is Shaped by the Stories We Tell

5:15pm          When Fish Begin to Crawl, with short film Chasing Whales

 

Closing Night

7:30pm               Closing Night Premiere: Yanuni

Until late             Closing Night Wrap Drinks

 

Please check www.landxsea.org and @landxseafest on socials for event updates and additions!

 

Box Office

 

Address:                 

The Montrose Playhouse

The Mall

Montrose

Angus

DD10 8NN

Scotland, UK

 

Online:                montroseplayhouse.co.uk

Phone:                07395 071 636

Email:                  [email protected]

In Person:           at the Montrose Playhouse box office

 

Tickets

 

All seating is reserved — please book online, call, or visit the box office.

 

£9.50                  Adult

£7.75                  Senior

£7.25                  Student

Free                    Age 18 and under / Carer / Essential Companion

£47.50                6-Ticket Pack (6 tickets for the price of 5)

 

Special Event: The Enchanted Cinema

£5.00                 Adult

£3.00                 Age 18 and under

 

Price includes £1 admin fee per ticket to support Montrose Playhouse Project SCIO.

 

Community Tickets

We believe cinema should be for everyone. If cost is a barrier, free tickets are available, no questions asked. Just choose the option online, call us, or speak to the box office.

 

More ticket and screening details:

  • Print or scan: Individual tickets can be printed at home, scanned from your phone, or collected at the box office, which opens 30 minutes before the first show daily.
  • Punctual start: Films start on time. No trailers or ads; doors open 15 minutes before each screening.
  • Guest Q&As: Most screenings include intros or guest Q&As. Check the programme. Filmmaker and guest attendance is never guaranteed.
  • 6-Ticket Pack: Add 6 Festival tickets to your cart; discount applies automatically at checkout. (Can also be redeemed via phone or in person at the box office)
  • One Pass: LandxSea Film Festival is exempt from all Montrose Playhouse memberships — a separate ticket is required.
  • Final sales: All ticket sales are final — no refunds, exchanges, or replacements. Unused tickets convert to donations supporting year-round programming.

If you have further questions, please contact the Box Office by phone at 07395 071 636 or email [email protected]

 

Access

 

  • Montrose Playhouse is fully accessible with step-free entry, a lift to all floors, accessible toilets on every level, and a Changing Places facility.
  •  Each screen has wheelchair spaces.
  • There are four disabled parking bays (two at the front, two at the rear).
  • Free tickets are available for carers and essential companions.
  • Captioned and subtitled screenings are noted in the website and box office listings.
  • Q&As and speaker events include live captioning (CART - Communication Access Realtime Translation).
  • Quiet spaces are available and our friendly team is here to help.
  • If you have specific access needs, just ask at the box office or email us in advance.

For more information, please:

 

 

Big Nights

 

Opening Night Premiere: Lost for Words

Friday 12th September at 7:30pm

Scottish Premiere. What happens when nature's names vanish from our tongues? Lost for Words unfurls across Britain's landscapes as children, elders, poets, and scientists fight to save the vanishing words that shape our environment. Inspired by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris's The Lost Words, this is a manifesto on the power of language.

Plus Q&A with: film’s director Hannah Papacek Harper and film’s producer Gabriela Sawaya and visual artist and writer Amanda Thomson.

 

Film Details:

Director: Hannah Papacek Harper

Countries: UK, France

Film length: 93 minutes

Languages: English, and Gaelic with English subtitles

Rating: PG

 

Opening Night Drinks from 10:00pm

Raise a glass! Join us in the Montrose Playhouse Bar after the screening of Lost for Words to meet Festival filmmakers and special guests as we kick-off a weekend of storytelling, ideas, and connection.

 

 

Closing Night Premiere: Yanuni

Sunday 14th September at 7:30pm

Scottish Premiere. In the beating heart of Brazil’s Amazon, Indigenous leader Juma Xipaia and her partner Hugo risk everything to defend their land and unborn child. A rallying call to action, and stirring portrait of resistance, courage, and the sacred bonds that unite a people in crisis.

Plus Q&A with: film’s director Richard Ladkani and film’s producer Anita Ladkani.

 

Film Details:

Director: Richard Ladkani

Countries: Austria, Brazil, USA, Canada, Germany

Film Length: 112 min

Languages: English, Portuguese with English subtitles

Rating: 15

 

Closing Night Wrap drinks from 10:00pm

It's a Wrap! Gather with filmmakers, guests, and fellow festivalgoers in the Montrose Playhouse Bar after the screening of Yanuni for a celebratory nightcap to close the 2025 Festival.

 

 

Feature Films

 

Future Council

Friday 12th September at 10:00am

part of the Festival’s free Schools Programme

Scottish Premiere. Eight school kids—including ‘CC’ from Edinburgh—go on a biofuelled bus trip across Europe to confront the giants behind the climate crisis. From boardroom challenges to grassroots innovation tours, they form a ‘Future Council’ to hold powerful companies to account and shape environmental policy.

Plus Q&A with: film’s director Damon Gameau (joining virtually online from Sydney) and film’s subject, youth activist Clemence “CC” Currie (in person).

 

Film Details:

Director: Damon Gameau

Country: Australia

Film length: 81 minutes

 

 

The Pickers

Saturday 13th September at 2:00pm

with short film Headland

Behind every supermarket orange or strawberry lies a hidden cost. Across Europe’s fields, migrant workers pick the food we eat whilst living on the margins, exposing a network of exploitation and igniting a movement for a ‘Fair Pick’.  A necessary interrogation of our food system.

Plus Q&A with: ‘Meet The Pickers’ campaign producer Ben Kempas and Catriona Fraser from the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre.

 

Film Details:

Director: Elke Sasse

Country: Germany

Film length: 80 minutes

Languages: English, and Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic, Bambara, and Urdu with English subtitles

Rating: 12A

Content guidance: contains reference to sexual harassment

 

 

Tracing Light

Saturday 13th September at 4:40pm

with short film Animal Eye

Scottish Premiere. From the mist-swept Scottish isles to cutting-edge German labs, Tracing Light is a luminous exploration of ecosystems forged by light. Fire, photon pulses, and marble reflections reveal the secrets of the universe, reminding us that the planet’s health hinges on the ineffable nature of light itself.

Plus Q&A with: film’s producer Sonja Henrici and film’s executive producer Leslie Hills.

 

Film Details:

Director: Thomas Riedelsheimer

Countries: Germany, UK

Film length: 99 minutes

Languages: English, and German with English subtitles

Rating: PG

 

 

Lowland Kids

Saturday 13th September at 7:30pm

with short film In the Flame We Reveal Ourselves

also showing as part of the Festival’s free Schools Programme

Scottish Premiere. As rising seas swallow Louisiana’s Isle de Jean Charles, two Indigenous teens and their uncle face the painful decision of leaving their ancestral home. Lowland Kids paints a vital, urgent portrait of America’s first climate refugees, capturing a family's hope and struggle to remain whole as the ground disappears beneath their feet.

Plus Q&A with: film’s director Sandra Winther, joining virtually online from New York.

 

Film Details:

Director: Sandra Winther

Countries: USA, Denmark

Film length: 94 minutes

Rating: 15

Content guidance: contains references to addiction and death

 

 

North Sea, Nature Untamed

Sunday 14th September at 11:45am

with short film The Pine Hunters

Scottish Premiere. Plunge beneath the waves through the eyes of underwater cameraman Peter van Rodijnen. From the wild blue waters of the Scottish islands to the shallow delta of the Low Countries and the dramatic coastline of the Norwegian fjords, North Sea, Nature Untamed is a thrilling, cinematic, underwater adventure that showcases the North Sea in all its glory.

Plus Q&A with: underwater cameraman Peter van Rodijnen.

 

Film Details:

Director: Mark Verkerk

Country: Netherlands

Film length: 88 minutes

Languages: Dutch with English subtitles

Rating: PG

 

 

Itu Ninu

Sunday 14th September at 2:40pm

with short film The World We Make is Shaped by the Stories We Tell

Indigenous sci-fi, green-produced in Leith. In 2084, in a high-surveillance smart city, climate migrants Ángel and Sofia defy authority by swapping handwritten Mixtec letters, igniting kinship, intimacy, and hope. A quiet reflection on language, migration, and the human need for unfiltered connection. It champions sustainable filmmaking and indigenous futurism.

Plus Q&A with: film’s director Itandehui Jansen and film’s producer and starring actor Armando Bautista García.

 

Film Details:

Director: Itandehui Jansen

Countries: Mexico, UK

Film length: 72 minutes

Languages: English, and Mixtec with English subtitles

Rating: 12A

 

 

When Fish Begin to Crawl

Sunday 14th September at 5:15pm

with short film Chasing Whales

 

An orchestral odyssey through time, climate, and the Flow Country in this awe-inspiring triptych, with an original score by Jim Sutherland, performed by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. From primordial seas to climate emergency, this epic synthesis of music, science, and art offers a stirring vision of hope and interconnection.

 

Plus Q&A with: film’s co-director Morag Mckinnon, and film’s co-director and composer Jim Sutherland.

 

Film Details:

Directors: Morag Mckinnon and Jim Sutherland

Country: UK

Length: 65 minutes

Rating: PG

 

 

Short Films

 

 

Shorts Programme: From Havana with Hope — Climate Shorts from Cuba 

Saturday 13th September at 10:30am

Enjoy an inspiring collection of Cuban short documentaries marking ten years of Havana-Glasgow Film Festival. Meet farmers pioneering agroecology, eco-friendly car wash entrepreneurs, recycled paper artisans, and revolutionary cyclists! These shorts showcase everyday people solving environmental problems creatively in their own backyards, but making an impact far beyond Cuba's shores.

Short films in the programme include:

  • Designing a Different Kind of Car Wash
  • A Labour of Love (Trabajo de Amore)
  • The Magic of Mending
  • A Modern Agrarian Future: The Life & Work os Agroecologist Fernando Funes Monzote
  • Promoting Cycling, Empowering Women
  • Turning Old Paper into New Opportunities
  • The Woodland (El Monte)

Plus Q&A with: Havana-Glasgow Film Festival co-founder Eirene Houston and filmmaker Daniesky Acosta and film’s subject Julia Harriman.

 

Film Details:

Rating for all films: PG

 

 

Headland

Saturday 13th September at 2:00pm

before feature film The Pickers

A nature reserve on the English Channel is a place of wonder and solace, shaped and haunted by violence. Headland is an intimate look at life on a pebble beach reclaimed from the ocean, interweaving the tradition of sea rescues with recent Channel crossings, as witnessed by the last of the Dungeness fishermen.

Plus Q&A with: film’s director Mariana Duarte

 

Film Details:

Director: Mariana Duarte

Countries: UK

Film length: 13 minutes

Rating: 12A

 

 

Animal Eye

Saturday 13th September at 4.40pm

before feature film Tracing Light

Scottish premiere. Shattering the boundaries between science and wonder, this spectacular documentary blends scientific images with ultraviolet capture, infrared imaging, and 16mm texture to bring to life the world as seen through animal eyes. A kaleidoscopic encounter that challenges what we know about vision, consciousness, and connection.

 

Film Details:

Director: Carlo Nasisse

Countries: USA, Costa Rica

Film length: 13 minutes

Languages: English, and Spanish with English subtitles

Rating: 12A

 

 

In the Flame We Reveal Ourselves

Saturday 13th September at 7:30pm

before feature film Lowland Kids

World Premiere with live music! A haunting ode to our burning, beautiful world, paired with Afterlands’ soundtrack. Destruction and devotion burn together, inviting us to feel both climate grief and the hope that emerges when we face the flames.

Plus Q&A with: film’s director Virginia Heath and film’s producer Grant Keir.

Plus Live Music with: Rick Anthony, singer with the band Afterlands

 

Film Details:

Director: Virginia Heath

Country: UK

Film length: 15 minutes

Rating: PG

 

 

The Pine Hunters

Sunday 14th September at 11:45am

before feature film North Sea, Nature Untamed

In the Scottish Highlands’ hidden glens ecologists James and Jane of the Wild Pine Project set out to find the last wild Scots pines. The Pine Hunters is an evocative short film following their map-led quest to protect these ecological relics, living links to a primeval forest and vital lifelines for Scotland’s biodiversity. Both a visual meditation on ecological loss and a call to remember our cultural ties to native woodland

 

Film Details:

Director: Ted Simpson

Country: UK

Film length: 15 minutes

Rating: PG

 

 

The World We Make is Shaped by the Stories We Tell

Sunday 14th September at 2:40pm

before feature film Itu Ninu

BAFTA-winning Mark Jenkins crafts a “recycled” short from past films, archive footage, and local collaboration, mapping energy from sunlit seas and peat bogs through coal, nuclear, and wind. Created in response to the Orkney Creative Landscape Futures workshop, it’s a reflection on place, process, and how small stories—rooted in land and sea—can shape what comes next.

Plus Q&A with: film’s director Mark Jenkins.

 

Film Details:

Director: Mark Jenkins

Country: UK

Film length: 16 minutes

Language: English with subtitles

Rating: 12A

 

 

Chasing Whales

Sunday 14th September at 5:15pm

before feature film When Fish Begin to Crawl

Scottish Premiere. This experimental short takes us from fjord-wrapped inlets to the open ocean in search of whales. Shimmering visuals and dreamlike narration collide to explore how our bond with these giants has morphed from song and wonder to industrial hunting, and remind us of the urgency to bear witness.

Plus Q&A with: film’s director La Fille Renne

 

Film Details:

Director: La Fille Renne

Country: France

Film Length: 5 minutes

Language: French with English subtitles

Rating: 12A

 

 

For Kids and Families

 

Age 4 and up: The Enchanted Cinema

Saturday 13th September at 10:00am and 12:00pm

in the Activity Room at the Montrose Playhouse

 

10:00am         Where the Wild Things Are

12:00pm         My Neighbour Totoro

 

What if you became the soundtrack to your favourite films? In these joyful, hands-on shows, children and families create live sound effects and music for animated favourites. Perfect for ages 4 and up, this is family cinema as you’ve never seen, or heard, it before.

 

 

Free Schools Programmes

Friday 12th September at 10:00am

 

LandxSea is pleased to present two special preview screenings for young audiences.

 

Age 9 and up     Future Council       (description as in film listings above)

Age 15 and up   Lowland Kids        (description as in film listings above)

 

Want to bring your class or group to our Schools Programme or other shows? Contact us at [email protected] for details.

 

 

Other Events

Beyond the cinema screen, discover our diverse lineup of stimulating events, conversations and workshops!

 

In Conversation: David Macpherson — Stories from The Rig

Saturday 13th September at 12:30pm

Join screenwriter David Macpherson of TV hit The Rig for a behind-the-scenes look at bringing North Sea oil stories to the screen. Through clips and conversation, explore how climate and class currents shape compelling narratives, and discover what Scotland’s new Leith film studios mean for storytelling’s next chapter. Hosted by Gemma Bradshaw of the Edinburgh TV Festival.

 

 

In Conversation: Amanda Thomson — Belonging, Language, and the Living World

Saturday 13th September at 2:30pm

in the Activity Room at the Montrose Playhouse

Free event. Join artist and nature writer Amanda Thomson (books include Belonging and A Scots Dictionary of Nature) for a reflective conversation on language, place, and environmental change. Tied to our screening of Lost for Words, this session uncovers how naming and noticing the natural world can deepen our connection to it, and to each other.

 

 

Sea Change Workshop: Climate, Community, Creativity

Sunday 14th September at 2:00pm

in the Activity Room at the Montrose Playhouse

Free event. Join us on Montrose’s shifting shore for a collaborative workshop and conversation led by Sea Change embedded artist Eve Mosher with Culture for Climate Scotland and Angus Climate Hub. Together, we’ll map personal connections to our coastline, imagine collective responses to erosion and climate change, and co-create actions to shape Montrose’s future shoreline.

 

 

Montrose Beach Dook

Sunday 14th September at 9:30am

on Montrose Beach off Traill Drive

Free event. Our beloved Beach Dook returns! Join fellow festivalgoers for a bracing dip in the North Sea —  a chance to celebrate together, whether you're diving in or cheering from the dunes. This LandxSea tradition is the perfect way to kick off your festival Sunday. The dook is free, open to everyone, and guarantees a whole lot of fun.

 

 

LandxSea Monthly Screenings

Can’t get enough of that festival energy? Our LandxSea Monthly programme of Powerful Films about People & Planet brings you a new, hand-picked film to enjoy on the big screen every month at Montrose Playhouse. From stunning nature documentaries to thought-provoking feature films, we’ve got something for everyone. Find out more www.landxsea.org/monthly 

 

 

Lights! Camera! Take Action!

Let the energy of the festival ripple outward. Visit www.landxsea.org/takeaction to connect with local partners, make your Green Pledge, explore our online film archive, and discover year-round ways to protect the places we love.

 

 

Festival Awards

 

Audience Award

You decide the audience award winner! Which film inspired you the most? Which one will you tell your friends about? Cast your vote!

Return your ballot slip to the usher at the end of the show.

 

 

North Light Award

Our annual juried award shines a light on bold Scottish filmmaking that reimagines our relationship with the natural world. With a £500 cash prize, it honours originality, impact, and creative vision in environmental storytelling. Finalists screen throughout the weekend, with the winner announced at Closing Night. 

 

North Light Award 2025 Jury:

  • Daniesky Acosta, DaniFilms
  • Katherine Bruce, Executive Director, Planet in Focus, Canada
  • Karen Ridgewell, Climate Emergency & Sustainability Lead, Creative Scotland

 

Films in Competition for the North Light Award 2025:

  • In the Flame We Reveal Ourselves
  • Itu Ninu
  • Lost for Words
  • The Pine Hunters
  • Tracing Light
  • When Fish Begin to Crawl
  • The World We Make is Shaped by the Stories We Tell

 

Thanks to our generous North Light Award Sponsor, Lisa Kentgen.

The festival awards are handmade in Montrose by Irene Hughes Pottery and The Clay Half.

 

 

2025 LandxSea Team

 

Festival Director

  • Rachel Caplan

 

Core Team

  • Emma Jamieson, Marketing & Communications Manager
  • Holly Muse, Guest Manager & Assistant Festival Producer
  • Anthony Baxter
  • Fiona Guest
  • Graham Black
  • Rebecca Taylor

 

Pre-Screeners for festival film submissions

  • Graham Black
  • Holly Muse
  • Michelle Rodley
  • Mick Muse
  • Nadia Ward
  • Rachel Caplan
  • Rebecca Taylor
  • Scott Gray

 

Montrose LandxSea Film Festival SCIO Charity Trustees

  • Anthony Baxter
  • Fiona Guest
  • Gemma Bradshaw
  • Kenny Alexander

 

Montrose Playhouse Project SCIO Team

  • Claire Carle
  • Jenna Henderson
  • Stewart Buchanan

 

Creative & Publicity

  • Festival Trailer – Montrose Pictures
  • Festival Photographer – Graham Black Photography
  • Graphic Design – Kati Woods, Katypical Ltd
  • Publicist – Ruth Marsh PR

 

LandxSea Monthly

  • Mandy Kean - Mustard Studio

 

Thank you to our many passionate and dedicated volunteers!

 

 

Thank You 2025 Sponsors & Partners!

 

Presenting Sponsors

  • Montrose LandxSea Film Festival is pleased to have exceptional two-year support from Screen Scotland, part of Creative Scotland, delivering services and support with funding from the Scottish Government and The National Lottery;
  • and Film Hub Scotland, part of the BFI’s Film Audience Network, awarding funding on behalf of Screen Scotland and the BFI National Lottery.

Venue Partner

  • The Montrose Playhouse

Lead Sponsors

  • Angus Climate Hub
  • GSK Community Grants
  • Montrose Rope & Sail and Montrose Bag Company

North Light Award Sponsor

  • Lisa Kentgen

Contributing Sponsors

  • @BGS_Photography_Scotland
  • Culture for Climate Scotland
  • Graham Black Photography
  • Irene Hughes Pottery and The Clay Half
  • Montrose Pictures
  • Park Montrose and The Links Hotel

Special Thanks to

  • Angus Council
  • Cinetopia
  • David Paton
  • Eirene Houston
  • Eleanor White
  • Eve Mosher
  • Ink & Quill
  • Kate Munro
  • Kieron Chissik
  • Kontiki at Roo’s Leap
  • Lewis Coenen-Rowe
  • Mandy Kean
  • Montrose Polar Bears
  • New Docs
  • ProMo, Montrose Improvement & Development CIC
  • Sarah O’Hare
  • Scottish Documentary Institute
  • Together Films
  • and everyone on the Montrose Playhouse team!

Member of

  • Green Arts Initiative
  • International Green Film Network
  • UK Green Film Network

LandxSea is proud to be the first UK representative of the Green Film Network, a prestigious international alliance of over 30 film festivals across 23 countries. This partnership allows us to showcase the best global environmental films, connect with international partners, and promote Scottish filmmaking talent worldwide. To learn more, visit www.greenfilmnet.org 

 

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

 

Get in touch at [email protected]

 

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