Environmental Film Festival LandxSea Announces Ambitious 2026 Programme

Rachel Caplan, Director of LandxSea; filmmaker and LandxSea co-founder Anthony Baxter; and David Paton, Chair of Montrose Playhouse, on Montrose Beach. Photograph: Lesley Martin.

Montrose LandxSea Film Festival

11–13 September 2026

10 feature films · 12 short films · 3 UK premieres · 8 Scottish premieres

The fourth annual LandxSea Film Festival takes place in Montrose from 11–13 September and features films from Scotland, Greenland, Iraq, Croatia, Indonesia and the United States.

Held at Montrose Playhouse, an award-winning three-screen community cinema converted from a former swimming pool, the festival also includes seaweed tasting, knot tying and the annual Montrose Beach Dook, when filmmakers and audiences plunge into the waters of Montrose Bay.

Festival Director Rachel Caplan said:

“When I talk to people, they are sometimes surprised that a major international film festival is taking place in a small town in Angus. But Montrose is right at the epicentre of all these conversations about climate, energy and agriculture. It’s home to the biggest offshore wind farm in Europe. It’s where the land meets the sea.”

“This year’s programme is very emotionally charged. It’s going to make you laugh. It’s going to make you cry. And it’s going to remind you that the world is a wonderful place.

“Every year, the LandxSea programme seems to find its own shape. This year, one phrase kept returning: Hold Fast. This year’s programme tells the stories of people tightly bound to land and sea: fishermen, farmers, artists, voices young and old, and unexpected protectors.”

Caplan, originally from Edinburgh, previously founded and directed the San Francisco Green Film Festival.

A PROGRAMME ROOTED IN LAND AND SEA

The Opening Night film is Derek vs Derek, a warm and humorous documentary about a culture clash between two Devon farmers who share a name but have very different approaches to the countryside.

Derek Banbury runs an intensive dairy farm, while his neighbour Derek Gow has transformed his fields into a haven for beavers, wild boar and other native species. What begins as a feud develops into a revealing portrait of a countryside under pressure.

Derek vs Derek

Expressing the Earth, screening on 12 September, is the debut feature from Scottish director Glenda Rome. The film takes a lyrical journey through Scotland’s landscapes and the philosophy of geopoetics, combining the work of geologist James Hutton with the ideas of writer, philosopher and poet Kenneth White. The screening coincides with the 300th anniversary of Hutton’s birth.

Among the international features is Materia Prima, which examines the global race for lithium and its social and environmental impact on communities in the Bolivian Andes.

Materia Prima. Photograph: Börres Weiffenbach.

Hope Is a Word, a Norwegian-Nigerian documentary, follows environmental justice campaigner Nnimmo Bassey and a new generation confronting the legacy of oil extraction in the Niger Delta.

Jean Epstein’s 1929 French silent film Finis Terrae, which follows a dispute among young seaweed harvesters off the Breton coast, will be presented in collaboration with Cinetopia with a new live musical accompaniment.

David Paton, Chair, architect and founder of Montrose Playhouse, said:

“It’s amazing to have all these international filmmakers coming to a town the size of Montrose. The festival brings people together and starts conversations, and that’s really important.”

Paton said coastal erosion is a significant issue in Montrose, which lost between seven and ten metres of sand dunes last year. The local economy combines industry, fishing and farming, and the town is also a hub for sustainable energy.

Kate Munro, Co-ordinator of the Montrose-based Angus Climate Hub, said:

“Something like the LandxSea Film Festival is the perfect place to have these conversations, and I think they are really needed. We need more people to understand the climate reality.

“There’s something about being on the edge of things that allows a freedom of expression and freedom of thought. The stories we tell ourselves show us what is possible — and that’s really important.”

SCOTTISH PREMIERES AND NEW VOICES

Among the films receiving their Scottish premiere is All Rivers Spill Their Stories to the Sea, which investigates why thousands of dead crabs and lobsters washed ashore on the north-east coast of England.

Directed by Jeanie Finlay, whose films include Your Fat Friend, the documentary is a David-and-Goliath story told through the eyes of fisherman Stan Rennie and the coastal community fighting to be heard.

All Rivers Spill Their Stories to the Sea

The full programme features 10 feature films and 12 shorts. Each feature is paired with a short film, and many screenings are followed by live Q&As with filmmakers and guests.

The festival’s North Light Award is presented annually to an outstanding environmental film made in Scotland.

Young people from local schools will attend a free preview screening of North Sea, Nature Untamed, which follows diver and underwater cameraman Peter van Rodijnen on a cinematic journey beneath the waves.

For younger wildlife lovers, the festival will present a Sunday-morning screening of the animated classic Watership Down in a new 4K restoration.

One of LandxSea’s most popular annual events, the Montrose Beach Dook, returns on Sunday 13 September.

Rachel Caplan said:

“Visitors to the festival have fallen in love with the town and the remarkable natural environment of Montrose. The festival dates coincide with the arrival of the pink-footed geese at Montrose Basin. Last year, there were around 300 at the beginning of the festival and over 30,000 by the end.”

Sambrooke Scott, Head of Audience Development at Screen Scotland, said:

“LandxSea is a festival from the heart, one that showcases passionate, urgent, brilliant filmmakers and filmmaking that shine a light on the pressing issues of our day, but which never leaves audiences feeling helpless or maudlin. The filmmakers, speakers and events provide perspectives and potential solutions, ensuring audiences feel part of a community that believes in and is motivated by the idea that change is possible. It is fantastic to be able to support LandxSea, Rachel Caplan and the team behind the festival. Its creative excellence, necessary and important theme, and connection to its geographic place all make it one of Scotland’s key emerging film festivals.”

Explore the 2026 Festival Programme →

LANDxSEA 2026 PROGRAMME

Friday 11 September

Saturday 12 September

Sunday 13 September

Guest appearances and event details are subject to change. Further activities will continue to be announced.

ABOUT LANDxSEA

LandxSea — pronounced “Land by Sea” — was founded in 2022 by film producer Rachel Caplan and Montrose-based filmmaker Anthony Baxter.

All festival films are shown at the community-owned Montrose Playhouse, a three-screen cinema and arts centre converted from a former public swimming pool and opened in 2021.

LandxSea has become internationally recognised as a celebration of environmental filmmaking, bringing together films, artists, campaigners, community organisations and audiences in a distinctive coastal setting.

The Festival presents the North Light Award each year to an outstanding environmental film made in Scotland.

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; Film Hub Scotland, part of the BFI’s Film Audience Network, awarding funding on behalf of Screen Scotland and the BFI National Lottery; and the British Council in partnership with the Independent Cinema Office.

LandxSea’s Lead Sponsors are Montrose Rope and Sail and Montrose Bag Company. Additional generous support is provided by Montrose Playhouse.

landxsea.org  ·  @LandxSeaFest

MEDIA CONTACT

Claire Smith
Festival Publicist

Email: [email protected]
Phone: 07913 752 649

Rachel Caplan and David Paton are available for interview.

High-resolution film stills and press photography by Lesley Martin are available free for editorial use on request.