Scotland’s environmental film festival returns from 11–13 September with 10 Scottish and 3 UK premieres, live filmmaker conversations, a 100th-film celebration and guests travelling from across Scotland and around the world
With less than one month to go, filmmakers, artists, campaigners and environmental storytellers are preparing to travel to Montrose for the fourth annual LandxSea Film Festival.
Taking place at the community-owned Montrose Playhouse from 11–13 September, the festival will bring together 22 films and a packed programme of live Q&As, musical performances, workshops, community activities and conversations exploring the future of land, sea and the living world.
DUNDEE REWILDER AT THE HEART OF OPENING-NIGHT STORY
The festival opens on Friday 11 September with the Scottish premiere of Derek vs Derek, a warm and humorous documentary about two neighbouring Devon farmers—both called Derek—who find themselves on opposing sides of a debate about farming, nature and the future of the British countryside.
One of the film’s central characters is prominent rewilding advocate Derek Gow, who grew up in Dundee. Gow has transformed his Devon farm into a haven for beavers, wild boar and other native species, bringing a strong Scottish and northeast connection to the festival’s Opening Night.
Director James Dawson will be in Montrose for a post-screening Q&A. Derek Gow is also available for advance interviews about the film, his Dundee roots and the increasingly urgent debate around farming and rewilding.
SCOTTISH LANDSCAPES THROUGH “DEEP TIME”
The 2026 programme also connects with the 300th anniversary of the birth of James Hutton, the Edinburgh-born thinker widely regarded as one of the founders of modern geology.
Scottish director Glenda Rome’s debut feature, Expressing the Earth, journeys through Scotland’s coastlines, forests, islands and ancient rock formations. Bringing together geology, landscape, poetry and the philosophy of “deep time”, it explores Hutton’s continuing influence on how we understand the planet.
Rome will attend the screening on Saturday 12 September and take part in a live Q&A.
The event will also mark a significant milestone for LandxSea: the accompanying short film, Iso Attrill’s Paradise, will be the 100th film presented by the festival since it began in 2023.
Paradise is a poetic portrait of trans and non-binary artist and gardener Mol Benge, whose relationship with the natural world becomes a compass for growth, identity and belonging. Director Iso Attrill will also join the post-screening conversation.
ONE FILMMAKER’S FOUR-DAY ODYSSEY TO ATTEND THE FESTIVAL
Among those making the “migration” to Montrose is Australian-born, Arctic-based filmmaker Adam Sébire, who is travelling entirely by train and overland from his home in the far north of Norway—a four-day journey—to attend the UK premiere of his Greenland-set short film Sikoqqinngisaannassooq.
Filmed in Uummannaq in north-west Greenland, the film follows local children carving Indigenous words into the sea ice, naming what is being lost and imagining a future without ice. Sébire will join audiences for a live discussion following the screening.
Festival Director Rachel Caplan said:
“The films may come from every corner of the world, but the questions they raise have deep connections to life here in Montrose, our coast, our changing industries, our relationship with the land and sea, and what we choose to protect for the future.
“The filmmakers and guests are an essential part of LandxSea. Audiences don’t simply watch a film and go home: they have the opportunity to meet the people behind these stories, ask questions, share local perspectives and continue the conversation together.
“It means a great deal that guests are travelling from across Scotland and around the world to be with us, including one filmmaker making a four-day overland journey from the Arctic. We can’t wait to welcome everyone to Montrose.”
FISHING HERITAGE, COASTAL COMMUNITIES AND THE NORTH SEA
Fishing heritage and the pressures facing coastal communities run throughout this year’s programme.
Jeanie Finlay’s All Rivers Spill Their Stories to the Sea receives its Scottish premiere at LandxSea ahead of its wider cinema release. The film follows fisherman Stan Rennie and a northeast England coastal community seeking answers after thousands of dead crabs and lobsters wash ashore.
The story has strong resonances for communities along Scotland’s east coast, where fishing heritage, industrial development and the changing use of ports and coastal waters continue to shape local life.
Aberdeen-based artist and filmmaker Marie-Chantal Hamrock will attend the festival with Bone a Cod, an inventive exploration of Aberdeen’s fishing history, oral memory, labour and extraction.
On Closing Night, Edinburgh filmmaker Eilidh Munro will present The Herring Queen, which follows a cherished tradition in the coastal village of Eyemouth while reflecting on memory, identity and the uncertain future facing Scotland’s fishing communities.
CLEAN WATER, COMMUNITY POWER AND THE GREEN TRANSITION
Other guests include swimmer and clean-water campaigner Jo Bateman and director Pip Piper, who will present the Scottish premiere of Jo in the Water. The film follows Bateman’s transformation from passionate sea swimmer to reluctant activist as she takes on one of the UK’s largest water companies.
A representative from Surfers Against Sewage in Scotland will also contribute local context to the post-screening discussion.
The film screens with Will the People Possess the Wind, which asks who should benefit from renewable energy and whether wind power can become a source of public good and community ownership.
The global politics of the green transition are explored further in the UK premiere of Materia Prima. Set in the Bolivian Andes, the film examines the race for lithium and asks who bears the social and environmental costs of the move away from fossil fuels.
Impact producers Marcela Lizcano and Tatiana Vila will travel from Colombia to Montrose, joining Scotland-based impact producer Ben Kempas for the screening and a free workshop exploring how documentary films can help turn awareness into action.
MORE THAN MOVIES
LandxSea extends beyond the screen with events including:
- A newly restored presentation of Jean Epstein’s 1929 silent classic Finis Terrae, accompanied by an original score performed live by musicians Dan Abrahams and Philippe Boudot
- A free schools screening of the visually spectacular North Sea, Nature Untamed
- The annual Montrose Beach Dook
- A singing workshop exploring songs of land, sea and community
- A relaxed “Dram of Science” evening with researchers from the James Hutton Institute
- A free workshop exploring how films can inspire social and environmental action
- Community artwork, environmental organisations and an Ink & Quill pop-up bookshop throughout Montrose Playhouse
Young people aged 18 and under can attend festival screenings free of charge, subject to film age ratings and ticket availability.
The festival’s North Light Award will recognise outstanding Scottish environmental filmmaking, with the winner announced on Closing Night by the international jury. Audiences will also select the recipient of the 2026 Audience Award.
Rachel Caplan added:
“LandxSea is about remarkable cinema, but it is also about bringing people together. Whether someone comes for a premiere, a filmmaker conversation, a live musical performance, a family film or a dip in the North Sea, we want them to feel part of something shared.
“At a time when so much can feel uncertain, this year’s theme Hold Fast! asks what matters to us, what we want to protect and how we keep moving forward together.”
Montrose LandxSea Film Festival takes place at Montrose Playhouse from Friday 11 to Sunday 13 September 2026.
Tickets, the complete schedule and the full list of festival guests are available at:
INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITIES
Filmmakers, campaigners, artists and festival representatives are available for advance interviews, including:
- Adam Sébire – Arctic climate change and his four-day overland journey from northern Norway to Montrose
- Derek Gow – Dundee roots, farming, rewilding and Derek vs Derek
- James Dawson – director of Opening Night film Derek vs Derek
- Glenda Rome – James Hutton’s tercentenary, deep time and filming Scotland’s landscapes
- Jo Bateman and Pip Piper – clean-water campaigning and Jo in the Water
- Marie-Chantal Hamrock – Aberdeen’s fishing heritage and Bone a Cod
- Eilidh Munro – Scotland’s Herring Queen tradition and the future of coastal communities
- Marcela Lizcano, Tatiana Vila and Ben Kempas – lithium, the green transition and using film to create change
- Rachel Caplan – LandxSea, environmental filmmaking and bringing an international festival to Montrose
Additional filmmakers and guests may be available on request.
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
Press enquiries and interview requests:
Hannah Bradley Croall
[email protected] | 07580 041 899
Festival dates: 11–13 September 2026
Venue: Montrose Playhouse, The Mall, Montrose, Angus
Programme and tickets: www.landxsea.org
Festival guests: www.landxsea.org/guests2026
Social media: @LandxSeaFest
Press images, film stills, filmmaker photographs and film screeners are available on request.
ABOUT LANDxSEA
LandxSea (pronounced “Land by Sea”) was founded in 2023 by environmental film programmer and producer Rachel Caplan and Montrose-based filmmaker Anthony Baxter.
Based at the community-owned Montrose Playhouse, the festival brings together international cinema, Scottish filmmaking, live conversations and community activity exploring our relationship with land, sea and the living world.
LandxSea is supported by 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 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 support is provided by Montrose Playhouse.
Montrose LandxSea Film Festival SCIO is a Registered Charity in Scotland (SC053626).