In February, CinemaAttic focuses on diversity of languages in film. This programme is timed to coincide with the early stages of the UN International Decade of Indigenous Languages (2022 – 2032) and the annual celebration of linguistic diversity, International Mother Language Day (21 February). Building connections between these events, this timely programme offers a selection of special short films that have been screened around the world, including several Scottish premieres. The shorts foreground Scottish Gaelic (“And So It Was”), Dulegaya and Wayuunaiki (“Mu Palaa”), British Sign Languages (“Signs and Gestures”), Mixtec (“Kii Nche Ndutsa”), and Yanomae (“Mãri H” and Thuë pihi kuuwi”) and invite us to consider the presence, representation and rights of languages in fostering diverse cinematic cultures.

Accessibility:  captioning + English subtitling

EDINBURGH Screening + Q&A with Niall Morison MacRae (director) and Armando Bautista García (screenwriter)

When: Saturday 17 February 2024 – Doors open at 19:30pm Screen starts at 20:00

Where: St Peter’s Church  (Lutton Pl, Newington, Edinburgh, EH8 9PE)

GLASGOW Screening + Q&A with Itandehui Jansen (director) and Niall Morison MacRae (director)

When: Wednesday 21 February 2024 – Doors open at 19.30, starts at 20.00

Where: CCA: Centre for Contemporary Arts (350 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow G2 3JD)

Short Film Selection:

-Mãri Hi – The Tree of Dream (Scottish premiere)
Dir. Morzaniel Ɨramari
Brasil / 2023 / 17´
Language: Yanomami

When the flowers of the Mãri tree blossom, dreams arise. The words of a great shaman guide an oniric experience through the synergy between cinema and the Yanomami dream, presenting poetics and teachings of the forest people.

*

-Thuë pihi kuuwi – A Woman Thinking (Scottish premiere)
Dirs. Aida Harika Yanomami, Edmar Tokorino Yanomami & Roseane Yariana Yanomami
Brasil / 2023 / 9´
Language: Yanomae

A Yanomami woman observes a shaman during the preparation of the Yãkoana, the food of the spirits. Through the narrative of a young indigenous woman, the Yãkoana that feeds the Xapiri and allows shamans to enter the world of spirits also proposes a meeting of perspectives and imaginations.

*

-Kii Nche Ndutsa – Time and the Seashell
Itandehui Jansen (Director); Armando Bautista García (Screenwriter)
México, Scotland / 2020 / 13´
Language: Mixtec

A young Indigenous boy imagines his future while listening to the sounds of a seashell. An Indigenous man recalls his past listening to the same shell. The man remembers birds and fireflies in his childhood, that are no longer there. The short film is invites an audience to consider past, present and future of a changing landscape and vanishing biodiversity.

*

-Muu Palaa – Grandmother Sea (Scottish Premiere)
Dirs. Olowaili Green Santacruz & Luzbeidy Monterrosa
Guna and Wayuu Territories (Colombia) / 2022 / 13´
Languages: Wayunaiqui and Dulegaya

Curious about the songs of Werwel and Ulepala (symbolic birds in Guna and Wayuu cosmologies), Ina and Siruma lose their grandmothers, while they are guided to an unfamiliar space, where they manage to share their cultures on a dreamlike journey in front of the sea.

*

-Signs & Gestures
Dir. Itandehui Jansen / Scotland / 2022 / 12´
Languages: British Sign Language and English

Florist Clara relies on smell, touch and sound. She has recently been chatting with Art student Simon through a dating app. They arrange to meet in person. However, during their first date an unexpected situation arises.

*

-And So It Was
Dir. Niall Morison MacRae / Scotland / 2023 / 15´
Languages: Scottish Gaelic and English

An observational meditation on grief, time and what we leave behind; “And So It Was” paints a vivid monochrome portrait of loss – of a loved one, a village, a post office.