The fifteenth edition of the UK’s leading global change film festival will run in Edinburgh (16-18 Sep); Glasgow (23-25 Sep); Aberdeen (21-23 Oct); and Inverness (28-30 Oct) together with special screenings on Tiree and Lochgilphead in the Screen Machine.
With the theme of ‘the land beneath our feet’ the in-person and digital festival charts connections between Scottish, UK and international communities to unearth networks of solidarity across all kinds of borders.
Taking on a different format for 2022, the festival will run as four weekends of in-person screenings, workshops and conversations taking place in Edinburgh (16-18 Sep); Glasgow (23-25 Sep); Aberdeen (21-23 Oct); and Inverness (28-30 Oct) – with an additional selection of online events and digital opportunities for engagement.
Examining ‘land’ as material, as power, and as terrain for violence and resistance, this year’s Take One Action programme looks to the earth beneath our feet – while dreaming of new ways to inhabit it. Charting connections between Palestinian foraging practices and Filipino land defence, migrant justice in the UK and radical mycology, the line-up invites audiences – across Scotland and online – to unearth networks of solidarity across all kinds of borders – and envisioning our embeddedness within them.
Highlights across the programme include:
● The Scottish premiere of Jumana Manna’s Foragers, exploring how foraging for has become a radical act in occupied Palestine as Israel criminalised the picking of native plants. The Edinburgh and Glasgow screenings will be followed by a spoken word performance by Scottish-Palestinian writer and performer Amira Al-Shanti. (Edinburgh Filmhouse 16 Sep; Tiree Screen Machine 17 Sep; CCA Glasgow 23 Sep; Lochgilphead Screen Machine 24 Sep; Belmont Filmhouse Aberdeen 21 Oct; Eden Court Inverness 28 Oct)
● The Scottish premiere of Delikado, a captivating journey into the El Nido forest, where a group of Filipino land defenders risk their lives fighting for environmental justice. (Edinburgh Filmhouse 17 Sep; Glasgow Film Theatre 24 Sep; Belmont Filmhouse Aberdeen 22 Oct; Eden Court Inverness 29 Oct)
● The Scottish premiere of The Mushroom Speaks, an enchanting exploration of what mushrooms can teach us about being in the world: in solidarity, adaptability, and ways of imagining otherwise. Accompanying the Edinburgh premiere is a free radical mycology workshop by Edinburgh urban farmers Rhyze Mushrooms. (Edinburgh
Filmhouse 17 Sep; Glasgow Film Theatre 24 Sep; Belmont Filmhouse Aberdeen 22 Oct; Eden Court Inverness 29 Oct)
● Ten years after then-Home Secretary Theresa May introduced the ‘Hostile Environment’ policies, Sonita Gale’s new feature documentary Hostile is both an exposé of the policies’ devastating impacts, but also a galvanising call for care, solidarity, and action. (Grassmarket Community Project Edinburgh 18 Sep; CCA Glasgow 24 Sep; Belmont Filmhouse Aberdeen 22 Oct; Eden Court Inverness 29 Oct).
● The world premiere of Coming Down To Earth – a new online audio documentary by Scotland-based artist Tanatsei Gambura. Drawing on knowledge advanced by indigenous communities, land defenders and social justice activists, the work combines historical land protests, memorable speeches, and environmental field recordings to create a soundscape of resistance that invites the listener to ground themselves in an awareness of their relationship with place and reimagine a new landscape for a liberatory future. Available to download and experience between 16 September and 30 October.
● An online programme of short films interrogating women’s relationships to (home)land, featuring two films from Scotland – Caitlin McMullan’s wild swimming journey First Step Swim and Born in Damascus, Syrian-Scottish filmmaker Laura Wadha’s story of a family separated by war – alongside films from Tanzania and Colombia. (Screening exclusively online 21-30 October)
Each in-person screening is presented alongside a live or pre-recorded conversation. Bonus online content includes campaigning resources and specially-commissioned reflections on films in the programme from young / aspiring writers.
Xuanlin Tham, Take One Action 2022 Programmer said: “It’s with so much joy, excitement, and hope that we share our 2022 festival programme with you. In these years of increasing chaos, we find solace and inspiration in the power of storytelling: in the way that a dark room and a bright screen can bring us closer to the people we share this earth with, in that spark of feeling we hope you leave our festival with, in the possibilities for connection, transformation, and togetherness that spark could bring to life. Our new festival format sees us spending one weekend each in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, and Inverness – each weekend nurturing a vibrant ecology of films, conversations, workshops, and arts performances to cross-pollinate a network of connections and solidarities new and old, within borders and transcending them.”
Daisy Crooke, Take One Action Events & Communities Officer, said: “Take One Action was set up in 2008 to bring people together and nurture the conversations and questions at the heart of positive social change. At a time when the notions of solidarity, equality and justice seem increasingly under threat, it feels more vital than ever to find connection and unearth optimism through shared cinematic experiences. This year’s programme explores terrains of hostility and oppression, spotlighting bold stories of resistance and inviting us to come together in uprooting systems of injustice to make space for planting seeds of community, dynamism, and hope.”
Take One Action Film Festivals 2022 are funded by Screen Scotland and supported by Film Hub Scotland (part of the BFI’s Film Audience Network, and funded by Screen Scotland and National Lottery funding from the BFI), Oxfam Scotland, and Christian Aid Scotland. Take One Action is also proud to partner with Scottish Documentary Institute, The Skinny, Global Justice Now and Lighthouse Books.
All tickets are available on a pay-what-you-can basis, whether in person or online, across all venues (£0-10). More details at www.takeoneaction.org.uk
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