British Council Logo UK Films Database
Project Detail

Blackbird

Synopsis

Young ballad singer Ruadhan watches in distress as the traditional fabric of life in his Scottish village is inexorably eroded. With fish dying and no jobs on land, the young people are escaping to the cities. Meanwhile, the old people of the town, to whom Rhuadan feels closest and whose traditions he wants to preserve, are dying off. A rich, delicate and powerful film with superb cinematography and a stirring soundtrack filled with traditional ballad song (EIFF).

Details

Year
2013
Type of project
Features
Running time
90 mins
Director
Jamie Chambers
Producer
James Barrett
Executive Producer
Margaret Glover, Alasdair Robertson
Editor
Martin McEwan
Screenwriter
Jamie Chambers, John Craine, Robyn Pete
Director of Photography
John Craine
Principal cast
Andrew Rothney, Scarlett Mark, Patrick Wallace, Sheila Stewart, Norman Maclean, Margaret Bennet

Categories

Fiction

Production Status

Complete

Page updates

This page was last updated on 12th May 2025. Please let us know if we need to make any amendments or request edit access by clicking below.

Suggest amendments

See also

You may also be interested in other relevant projects in the database.

When the Song Dies When the Song Dies

Director: Jamie Chambers

Year: 2012

When the Song Dies is a poetic documentary that weaves stories, songs and memories from across Scotland, and places their testament in counterpoint to the richly evocative landscape of Galloway. Exploring the theme of change, the film brings the audience under the captive spell of the old ways.

Scottish
Untitled Beatrice Gibson First Feature (La Nuit) Untitled Beatrice Gibson First Feature (La Nuit)

Director: Beatrice Gibson

Year: 2026

After an abortion, a woman wanders the streets of Paris, engaging in a series of silent encounters under the neon lights of Chinatown. Taking place over the course of a single night and drawing inspiration from the writings of cult literary figures Kathy Acker, Bernadette Mayer, and Alice Notley, the film intertwines dream and reality. Shot in the reddish glow of karaoke bars, cinemas, and clubs - a collective, feminist autofiction with a cast of artists, poets, and actors.

Experimental Literary Adaptation Woman Director
Ancestors Ancestors

Director: David Turpin

Year: 2026

A love story, a noir mystery and a metaphysical fable, ANCESTORS follows Beau as he searches 1980s London for his missing friend, Tiny. Dream, reality, memory and history entwine, forcing Beau to come face-to-face with truths beyond life and death.

Drama LGBTQIA+