Jen Skinner clearly thinks that travel broadens the mind. And, even if that means living on a small Hebridean island, which is a four-hour boat trip from the nearest cinema, she views that not as a problem, but an opportunity.
Why else would she be the driving force behind Sea Change, Scotland’s only annual festival dedicated to celebrating female film making talent, which will take place on the Isle of Tiree from September 22 to 24 and features a packed weekend of films, workshops, family activities and special guests?
Local venues will open their doors to film-makers, students and cineastes of all ages as they come together to watch, talk, walk, swim and share ideas and inspiration.
A century of 16mm film
The programme highlights include a celebration of 100 years of 16mm film, sneak previews of Typist Artist Pirate King and Smoke Sauna Sisterhood, a focus on landscape, ecology and place, a look at contemporary Irish Celtic cinema.
There’s also the chance to see some recent hit films directed by female auteurs – including Women Talking and the controversial Cocaine Bear – in addition to a variety of sea swims, beach exploration walks, workshops and eclectic family activities.
Supporting a network of cinemas
It has been a peripatetic journey for artistic director Jen, who used to teach in Leeds and Bradford and has always been fascinated by art, graphics and cinema.
She said: “We had the opportunity to relocate my family to my grandparents’ house on Tiree. Once here, we – my husband was a freelancer and delivered the animation and film making workshops at the National Media Museum – continued working freelance and developed work, first here on the island, mainly through the support of Into Film.
“As this grew out to different islands, we connected with Alasdair Satchel on Mull and created Screen Argyll. We now support a network of cinemas across Argyll and the Isles, run education programmes and a festival and development laboratory.”
Welcoming the wider world to Tiree
In such a far-flung location, travel and weather are never guaranteed, but Jen is convinced that sharing the magic of film within the local community and welcoming the wider world to Tiree makes the whole experience worthwhile.
Even during Covid, she and her colleagues organised a range of myriad activities, benefiting on new resources such as Zoom, and quickly grew accustomed to serving up entertainment on a regular basis to a remote – in all senses – audience.
The lessons learned have proved invaluable, but Jen insists there nothing like being involved on the island, which is 12 miles long and three miles wide with a year-round population of 700 people, which increases to 2,000 with tourists during the summer.
As she said: “We run a weekly film club, online, using our site called Watch Along Wednesdays, and we have a different practitioner lead the discussion every week who picks one of the films off the site, from November through to February.”
But, hopefully, it will person-to-person contact when Sea Change starts next month. After all, these beautiful beaches and the douce venues, ranging from An Talla community hall to Hynish Heritage Centre and the local gin distillery in Balephuil, are a reminder of why some festivals are worth going the extra few hundred miles.
Tickets to individual events are on sale at www.screenargyll.co.uk