As part of True North 2021, Aberdeen Performing Arts commissioned four North-East based poets to produce new work inspired by the festival’s theme Rise Up. We then paired each poet with a filmmaker and commissioned the duo to create a new artistic short film based on the poem.  These films were screened for the first time at the Belmont Filmhouse in February 2022.  Thematically, the films speak to a variety of important and timely topics: social justice movements, the climate crisis, and life the aftermath of the pandemic. Each film has closed captions provided by Collective Text.

Aftermathematics by Lucas Chih-Peng Kao and Mae Diansangu

Aftermathematics fuses spoken word, film and movement to explore human connection and resilience during recent “unprecedented” times.  This piece pairs the poetry of Mae Diansangu and the visual storytelling of filmmaker Lucas Chih-Peng Kao, to communicate feelings of loss and hope.

One Night on the Screens by Gavin Gilmour and Jo Gilbert

One Night on the Screens is a collaboration between spoken word artist Jo Gilbert and filmmaker Gavin Gilmour. The poem explores our relationships with social media and politics, as well as their effects on our mood and mental health.

Content warning: strong language, swearing.

Protest by Martina Camatta and Noon Salah Eldin

Protest is a 5 minute short film based on a poem by Noon Salah Eldin. It depicts the infinite cycle of violence on women, the attempt to heal it, and the apparent impossibility to stop it, while the voice in the background, both in English and Arabic, invites us to continue fighting for equality and respect.

Eventually, though, we will need to ask ourselves the question, ‘why can’t we get rid of it?’

Content warning: themes of domestic violence, violence against women.

The Freedom Lands and the Common Good by Sara Stroud and Molly McLachlan

The Freedom Lands and the Common Good is a collaboration between poet Molly McLachlan and filmmaker and visual poet Sara Stroud. Both poem and film were inspired by the boundary stones and the land gifted to the people of Aberdeen by Robert the Bruce. Nature and the city itself are strong themes in this work, as are the past and the legacy it leaves in the present.

Content warning: strong language.