An international broadcaster’s new film has put a global spotlight on depopulation in the Hebrides.
Al Jazeera recently released the short Saving Paradise: The Scottish islanders trying to preserve their vanishing population.
The film is part of a series covering heavyweight topics such as gang crime and gender violence around the world.
The film features local people such as the ‘Hebridean mermaid’ Kate Macleod and crofter Domhnall Macsween, and their views on what makes the Outer Hebrides such an important community.
Statistics show, however, that it’s under dire threat. Saving Paradise captures one of the most worrying cases of depopulation in the Highlands and Islands.
But the film’s reach goes far beyond Scotland.
‘Depopulation is a global issue’
It’s the last in a series of short films, A Sense of Community, showcasing the issues facing communities from around the world.
In the other episodes, the filming team travelled to investigate violent crime in Mexico City; gentrification in Toronto; and gender-based violence in the small Kenyan town Iten.
For series producer Drew Ambrose, who is based in Australia, it was important that each of the episodes’ themes touched on a worldwide problem.
“Depopulation is a global issue,” says Mr Ambrose. “In many corners of the world, the population is decreasing.”
He says the team decided to focus on the Hebrides after looking for a strong “real life moment” that highlighted the struggle against depopulation.
The proposed Bays of Harris community buyout struck them as exactly that.
It’s a bold example of a community “trying to get their land back into their hands,” he says.
Despite its worldwide reach, Saving Paradise remains rooted in Hebridean culture.
For the episode’s co-producer, Fiona MacGregor, the project was a little closer to home.
“My grandpa was from Wester Ross and my granny was from Skye,” the Edinburgh-based journalist says.
They’re both Gaelic speakers but, as is all too common, the language didn’t make the generational jump to her.
She did, however, pick up some later in life, spending a year at the Gaelic college Sabhal Mòr Ostaig in Skye.
Although it was “very rusty” by the time she was arrived in the Western Isles to make Saving Paradise, she says that “it was lovely to be back in a Hebridean community”.
‘Quite a responsibility’
For Ms MacGregor, it felt like “quite a responsibility” to be telling the world about “a community that [she] feels a connection with.”
“People are trusting you with their stories.”
It was important to make sure those stories were told as authentically as possible.
“There’s no reporter or presenter,” said Mr Ambrose. Instead, it features the voices of local people speaking directly to the audience.
The film, he says, is also about affirming to the community that their stories are important.
“A lot of the residents didn’t think that their experience was special or unique.”
But for the filmmakers themselves, their visit certainly was.
Ms MacGregor said that it was “interesting” to work with a crew who mostly “hadn’t been in Scotland before.”
They quickly learned just how fickle weather in the Hebrides can be.
“We would be in the car and see this amazing light and we’d stop and get out — and, of course, by the time we got things set up, the clouds would have changed again.”
“In one way that made things challenging,” she says. But the constantly shifting weather also “created lots of opportunities.”
And the finished film has made all the rain worth it.
‘Moving and inspiring’
Saving Paradise has had a “great response” from both viewers and the community itself, says Ms MacGregor.
Looking back on the project, she says that “it was both moving and inspiring to be involved with.”
“It was a real privilege to be able to have that opportunity to spend time with people, and then to help share that story with people all over the world.”
More local reporting from the Western Isles:
- Finding a home in the Hebrides: the couple who came back to care for Uist’s animals
- ‘A wee yarn in a warm place’: The busy opening week at the Western Isles’ first community fridge
- ‘We stayed up till midnight to get tickets!’: Cosplayers, superfans, and special guests on Stornoway’s first comics convention
Conversation