Inspired by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris's beloved book The Lost Words, the film soars across Britain's landscapes, rallying its subjects around precious nature rituals.
Synopsis
Lost for Words is a sensory odyssey across Britain’s four seasons, an immersive chorale that asks what we lose when words like "magpie", "willow", "bluebell", and "conker" slip from our tongues.
Inspired by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris's beloved book The Lost Words, the film soars across Britain's landscapes, rallying its subjects around precious nature rituals: children paint foxgloves from memory, elders trace forgotten words in fallen leaves, poets whisper "otter" beside misty rivers, scientists listen for starling murmuration under dusk skies.
Fusing art and science, each gesture—a wildflower brushed on canvas, a tide pool gently turned—becomes a living word, binding language to landscape and sparking wonder. In an age of erasure and climate reckoning, Lost for Words offers a gentle, but powerful rebellion, reminding us that naming the world is itself an act of care, and that every word saved keeps the wild alive.
Directors: Hannah Papacek Harper | Country: UK/France | Year: 2025 | Running Time: 93 min | Language: English and Gaelic | Rating: PG
Distributor: Hannah Papacek Harper
Screening Details
- Festival Screening: 12 September 2025 (Opening Night)
- Premiere: Scottish Premiere
- Festival Guests: Director Hannah Papacek Harper, producer Gabriela Sawaya, and visual artist/writer Amanda Thomson.
- Festival Awards: North Light Award 2025
Trailer
About the filmmaker:
Hannah Papacek Harper is a writer and director with a background in Aesthetics and Cinema Practice from La Sorbonne Panthéon, France, and Universidad de Lima, Peru. Formerly a Steadicam operator, she now creates films exploring ecology, science, displacement, and transgenerational memory. Rooted in experimental video, her shorts Just Listen to the Storm and Vegetative screened internationally from 2021–2023. She is passionate about sensory, empathetic storytelling and making complex ideas accessible. Lost for Words is her feature documentary debut.