Young Films has secured a deal with Altadena Films, an international sales agent, to sell Gaelic feature film Seachd - The Inaccessible Pinnacle, around the world. Altadena will represent the film at the Berlin Film Festival then at markets and festivals around the world thereafter. For the international market the English title will be Seachd - The Crimson Snowdrop.

Altadena Films (previously Inframe Films) specialises in acquiring rights to exceptional independent feature films by talented directors. The company is part of Hollywood Classics, which represents the classic film libraries of MGM/UA, Universal, 20th Century Fox, Columbia Pictures, Warner Bros., Canal Plus and Carlton International, as well as a number of films from independent producers.

So we hope Seachd will be coming to a country near you soon!

We're delighted to announce that Seachd: The Inaccessible Pinnacle is now available to buy or rent on DVD. The film is currently available in Region 2 (European) format with English, Scottish Gaelic, Irish Gaelic and Welsh subtitles.

The DVD also includes:
* The original short film - "Foighidinn: The Crimson Snowdrop" - from which Seachd grew
* Director's commentary with Simon Miller and Angus Peter Campbell
* Deleted scenes
* Interviews with cast and crew
* Footage from the Ceilidh after the premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival

You can buy the DVD right now at these online stores:

Buy from Amazon:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Seachd-Inaccessible-Pinnacle-Simon-Miller/dp/B000Z9ED2W

Buy from Play:
http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/4-/3516745/Seachd-The-Inaccessible-Pinnacle/Product.html

Buy from HMV:
http://www.hmv.co.uk/hmvweb/displayProductDetails.do?ctx=280;-1;-1;-1&sku=743963

Buy from Zaavi:
http://www.zavvi.co.uk/seachd-Seachd-The-Inaccessible-Pinnacle/826425/q.r10.1/p.jsf

And also from Borders, Moviemail and Blockbuster

Moran moran taing! Many many thanks for the overwhelming support we have received after BAFTA strangely neglected to put any non-English language British films for the Best Foreign Language Film category of the Oscars.

We have been inundated with messages of support from around the world and the debate has even made it in to the Scottish Parliament. We do not know whether it is still possible for BAFTA's decision to be overturned, but regardless we sincerely hope that BAFTA will change their system such that every British film has a chance to enter the Oscars whatever the language spoken within it.

A quick summary some of press articles from around the world:

"BAFTA attacked over Oscars"
Variety, 04-0ct-07
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117973511.html?categoryid=19&cs=1

"Protests spread over BAFTA snub"
Scotland on Sunday, 07-Oct-07
http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/entertainment.cfm?id=1600992007

"Oscar controversies in Britain and China"
The Envelope
http://goldderby.latimes.com/awards_goldderby/2007/10/oscars-controve.html

"Gaels force the issue"
Sunday Herald, 07-Oct-07
http://www.sundayherald.com/arts/arts/display.var.1741499.0.0.php

"MSPs query lack of Oscar nomination"
The Press Association, 05-Oct-07
http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5jaWlgflC1yKrjuaP3JiBp2cINw-g

"Film Producer quits BAFTA in Oscar row"
Netribution, 04-Oct-07
http://www.netribution.co.uk/2/content/view/1314/182/

"Row as Gaelic film is overlooked for Oscar"
The Herald, 03-Oct-07
http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/news/display.var.1734091.0.0.php

"Producer quits BAFTA over Gaelic film snub"
Scotland on Sunday, 30-Sep-07
http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/entertainment.cfm?id=1560962007

"And the Oscar will not go to..."
Scotland on Sunday, 16-Sept-07
http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/entertainment.cfm?id=1482232007

http://www.seachd.com

30th September 2007

A LEADING figure in the Scottish movie industry has resigned from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in protest at their refusal to nominate a highly rated Gaelic movie for Oscar glory.

Producer Chris Young's shock announcement came just hours after the American Academy criticised Bafta for failing to submit his film Seachd - The Inaccessible Pinnacle in the Best Foreign Language category.

"Bafta is there to support British film. Not only are they not supporting a British film and a British film producer, but they are actively putting obstacles in our path," said Young, whose previous films include Venus Peter, Gregory's Two Girls and the award-winning comedy-drama Festival.

"What actually is the benefit of being a member of Bafta? I have decided to quit."

Meanwhile, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the American organisation that administers the Oscars, has contacted its British counterpart demanding an explanation.

"I do not understand why they would refuse to submit the film," said Sandy Lieberson, chair of the US Academy's London committee and himself a member of Bafta and a vastly experienced producer. "I have never known a country refuse to submit a film.

"The merit of a film's worthiness is totally subjective and the experts are continually making grave errors of judgment about movies. Therefore it would seem only logical for Bafta to have chosen one of the films to represent the fact that Britain is a multi-language country." Bafta also had a Welsh film up for consideration.

Lieberson, whose films include Performance and Jabberwocky and who was president of production at 20th Century Fox, was also critical of Bafta's Scottish branch and of the Scottish Government for not intervening.

"What I don't understand is why Bafta Scotland did not take a more proactive position on this. This is an issue not just for the producer, but for Scotland. In the future perhaps the choice should be left to Scotland and Wales and not Bafta in London.

"I think this is an issue that should be raised with the Department of Sports and Culture and the minister for film. There is a Scottish Parliament - don't they have any interest in these issues?"

The original decision was made by a six-strong Bafta sub-committee, but it horrified some members. The full film committee of 10 top producers and others met to review the decision last week and after a lengthy debate could not reach agreement, so the original decision stands.

Each country is allowed to submit one foreign-language film to the US Academy, which whittles the submissions down to the final list of five nominations. In the UK it is up to Bafta to decide which film to submit.

Seachd - The Inaccessible Pinnacle has been promoted as Scotland's first genuine Gaelic feature film, has garnered positive early reviews, has secured a commercial release next month and was considered hot favourite to go forward as a UK Oscar submission.

The film, shot on Skye, is a fantasy movie and has been compared to the classic The Princess Bride. An old man (played by Gaelic poet Angus Peter Campbell) tells his grandchildren a series of stories involving a magic horse, a man who has lived for 1,000 years and shipwrecked sailors.

Bafta refused to give a reason for the decision not to put forward either Seachd or the Welsh film. But Douglas Rae, producer of Mrs Brown and Becoming Jane and a member of the sub-committee, said they "didn't merit being put forward".

The decision came under attack earlier this month from various organisations and individuals, including Scottish Screen, the national film agency, which contributed about £170,000 towards a budget of £700,000.

Jude MacLaverty of the Gaelic Media Festival, said it was "hugely important" for Gaelic culture. "Wales and Ireland have a huge culture where their minority language is concerned, but Scotland needs to keep pushing. It's a shame."

The news caused uproar, not just within Scotland, but among senior members of Bafta, who knew nothing about it before it was reported by Scotland on Sunday two weeks ago.

Louise Beasley, Bafta's film awards officer, said the decision was irreversible. But Finola Dwyer, who has just recently taken over as chair of the film committee, subsequently indicated that the organisation might well review the controversial decision. She said: "This is a decision that I have inherited. I've just literally stepped into the chair of film. We totally understand the concern and I'm dealing with it."

The film committee met in private last week and decided to stick with the original decision. "There was a great deal of discussion, but it was a majority decision," said Dwyer. "I am unable to add anything more because of the Bafta code of confidentiality."

Young said: "I feel I have been treated with total disrespect, as has the film. They've made my life hell for the past two weeks. I'm trying to shoot a comedy at the moment and I've spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to get a decision and get an explanation for the decision."

Young feels Bafta in London has been entirely negative and has been disappointed by the lack of support from Bafta in Glasgow. "Maybe Scotland should have its own film academy," he said. "It's certainly something I would like to talk to Alex Salmond about."

Hong Kong submits a film independently of China, but Alison Forsyth, director of Bafta Scotland, said: "I've never dealt with the Oscars. I'm a branch of Bafta UK."

Bafta Scotland organised a preview of Seachd for its members earlier this month.

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: "Scottish Screen leads on issues relating to film for the Scottish Government. We, like Scottish Screen, are, of course, extremely disappointed that the Seachd has not been forwarded for an Oscar nomination, particularly given the wide critical acclaim that the film has had at its limited showings to date, including at the Edinburgh International Film Festival.

by Brian Pendreigh

http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/entertainment.cfm?id=1560962007

http://www.seachd.com

30th September 2007

The movie is called Seachd. No, that's not a misprint for "searched", but Gaelic for seven. The first Gaelic feature film to make it to the cinema, it comes out in Scotland on Friday, then in England, at a scattering of art houses, later in October.

It's excellent, a family saga directed by an Englishman, although Simon Miller grew up in Scotland and has recently learnt Gaelic. But few in England are likely to see it, partly because cinemas say they can't show a film the public can't pronounce. Actually, Seachd is pronounced "shack".

There will be no amusing Oscar speeches in Gaelic for Seachd, either. After the high praise it received at the Edinburgh film festival last month, it seemed a shoo-in as a contender in the foreign-language category. But Bafta, which oversees these matters, has this year decided not to offer any non-English-language British-made film, which counts out Seachd. Daft. Nor will Bafta explain its reasoning.

by Richard Brooks

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article2541216.ece

http://www.seachd.com

"dramatic, funny and spectacular...and steeped in Gaelic mythology"
Miles Fielder, The List
http://www.list.co.uk/article/2539-seachd/

"worth shouting about"
Alistair Harkness, The Scotsman
http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=909&id=1288032007

"tender, graceful"
Allison Rowat, The Herald
http://www.theherald.co.uk/filmfestival/display.var.1620938.0.seachd_the_inaccessible_pinnacle.php

"breathtaking"
Adrian Hennigan, BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/filmnetwork/A25623902

"glows with warmth and humanity"
Jonathan Coe, The Observer
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/7days/story/0,,2156344,00.html

"a magic, mystical tale of landscape, myth and storytelling"
The Telegaph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/08/24/bf-edinburgh.xml

"a little piece of film-making history"
Kirsty Scott, The Guardian
http://film.guardian.co.uk/features/featurepages/0,,2177934,00.html

"a superb film filled with tons of passion and pride"
Richard Bunton, Filmstalker
http://www.filmstalker.co.uk/archives/2007/09/seachd_the_inaccessible_pinnac.html

"an astonishing production"
Andrew Robertson, Eye For Film
http://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/reviews.php?film_id=12605

"visually compelling"
J S Hatcher, Cinema Minima
http://cinemaminima.com/world/2007/08/14/seachd-the-inaccessible-pinnacle/


www.seachd.com

27th September 2007

They found their lead actor up a tree and they held the premiere in a cinema on wheels. Kirsty Scott travels to the Western Isles to catch a little piece of film-making history

It's a blustery morning on the northern edge of the small island of Grimsay and 11-year-old Padruig Moireasdan has just settled himself into one of his favourite positions: hanging upside-down from a tree in his back garden. There are few trees in this part of the Western Isles. The land is low-lying, dwarfed by loch and sea, and flayed by wind.

But Padruig's house is next to a small copse, and he likes to take to the trees when he has important decisions to make. He swings his legs over a makeshift trapeze and lets himself fall back. "I was like this when the director and the producer came to tell me about the film," he says. "The director told me the whole story while I was up in the tree."

Film-maker Simon Miller and producer Christopher Young had been looking for a boy to play the lead in Seachd: The Inaccessible Pinnacle, the first ever contemporary Scots Gaelic feature film. They had already cast most of the other characters but needed someone to play young Angus, who is sent to live with his grandfather, an inveterate storyteller, after his parents die in a climbing accident.

Then the two men heard about this boy from Grimsay, which is connected to North Uist whenever the tide goes out. He came from a family with great storytelling traditions, was fluent in Gaelic and as nimble on the accordion as he was on the PlayStation. On the way to his home, they got lost and Padruig was dispatched on his bike to find them. He spoke to them in Gaelic, guided them to the house, then took to his tree.

"Padruig is such a find," says Miller, a genial former Wall Street banker turned writer and director. "We went to every school we could find. Then we heard about this boy. When we got there, I was sold in five seconds. He was in the tree the whole time, and we talked about the script and he challenged parts of it and said what he thought might happen. He was totally unfazed, exactly the kind of kid you need."

Miller and Young are back in the Western Isles for the first public showing of the film. It featured at Cannes in May and Edinburgh in August, and will play at film festivals in Vancouver and Rome in the next few weeks. But both wanted its British public premiere to be in the heart of the Gaelic community, before it goes on release across Scotland, with arthouse appearances in England later in the month. The Screen Machine, Britain's only mobile cinema, has parked up outside the Benbecula hotel where Miller is staying, and later that evening will expand into a 102-seat auditorium.

For Young, the film and its themes are close to home. His previous works include Venus Peter, Gregory's Two Girls and Festival, for which he won a British Comedy Award for best film, and a Bafta nomination for best British film. He relocated to Skye in the 1990s with his family and his company, Young Films.

He knew some people would think he was taking a risk in making his film in Gaelic. According to the 2001 census, only 1.2% of the population of Scotland speaks the language, some 58,600 people; and that's a 15% decline over the previous decade. Most are in the Western Isles. That said, the language is enjoying a status it has not been afforded for many years, with concerted efforts at a political level to sustain this ancient tongue, first introduced to Scotland from Ireland in the fifth century. Less than 100 years ago, children were beaten into speaking English at school. Now, Gaelic-medium education is championed. A national plan has been launched, aiming to stabilise the number of speakers over the next few years, and increase them to 100,000 by 2041. There has been an increase in funding for education, media and development, and moves to create the first dedicated Gaelic TV channel.

"For me, the question is not why make a film in Gaelic but why not make a film in Gaelic?" says Young, who is self-taught in the tongue and whose children are fluent. "It seemed strange that a culture so full of storytelling didn't particularly have a tradition of cinema. I have never been to a cinema to see a film in Gaelic. There is plenty of Gaelic drama but it does seem to have suffered from stereotype. It tends to have been period works. There is a feeling that Gaelic is old-fashioned. I wanted to tackle that head-on."

"Film is the kind of thing that, if you get it right, it does not matter what language it is in," says Miller. "Mel Gibson has proved that more than anyone in recent years. You don't have to know the language to experience the film." For both men, authenticity was the key. So they collaborated with Gaelic writers, co-directors and a local Gaelic amateur crew and actors. The soundtrack features noted Gaelic musicians, and the whole thing was shot on the island of Skye for £650,000.

Subtitled and set in the present day, it centres on the relationship between Angus, played by Padruig, and his grandfather, played by the renowned Gaelic poet and writer Angus Peter Campbell. The old man uses storytelling to try to connect with his grandson, allowing flashbacks to different periods of Gaelic history. Seachd translates literally as "seven", and stems from the number of stories that were originally to have been told by the grandfather. It was given the alternative English title The Inaccessible Pinnacle, the name of one of the most treacherous peaks in the Cuillin mountains that dominate Skye and provide a magnificent backdrop for some of the film's most dramatic scenes.

It is worth pointing out that there was actually a previous Gaelic feature film. But few people took Hero - a fifth-century medieval epic, made 25 years ago - seriously. Time Out called it "a clumping village pageant".

Seachd has been warmly reviewed. Comparisons have been drawn with works such as Big Fish, even The Princess Bride. There has been particular praise for young Padruig, who gives a compelling performance as a bereaved youngster struggling to come to terms with unfathomable loss.

For Gaels like Ishbel Maclennan, the film's great merit lies in its celebration of Gaelic as a living language and its depiction of young people and their connection to the language. Maclennan, commissioning editor of BBC Alba, one of the co-funders of the film, has been heartened by the response, among Gaelic and non-Gaelic speakers alike: "It is very difficult to overestimate its importance. Gaels are surprised by it - the sense that it is culturally rooted yet contemporary. It's not TV on the big screen. What they are seeing is filmic. People are responding to a film. They are not just saying, 'This is Gaelic so I should like it.'"

Padruig has been nervous about how the film will play to his friends and fellow islanders. "It's always harder with the home crowd," he says, just before attending the Benbecula screening. But there is instinctive applause when the credits roll and lots of backslapping at the ceilidh afterwards.

Padruig himself had just one problem with the film. At one point, the script required him to turn to his grandfather and shout angrily in English: "I hate Gaelic!" He didn't think he could do that, and had to be persuaded by Young. So he said it, but didn't mean it. In fact he hopes the film might lead to more, and help sustain the language that he loves. "It is quite important," he says, "because it needs to keep alive".

· Seachd: The Inaccessible Pinnacle is now showing in the Highlands and Islands, will open in the rest of Scotland on October 5, and nationwide in November.

by Kirsty Scott

http://film.guardian.co.uk/features/featurepages/0,,2177934,00.html

http://www.seachd.com

16th September 2007

Initially I decided that I should see this film because there was a gap in my schedule and the film was the first Gaelic feature with high production values, and since I was born a Highlander, I couldn't not.

It's often these gap fillers and "almost didn't see" films that can turn out to be surprises of the festival, and this year was no exception. Seachd is a superb film filled with tons of passion and pride, and it is almost entirely in Gaelic.

Now you may not know that Gaelic was not the majority language of the Scottish people. Head for head it was Doric, but since Gaelic is the more romantic sounding and further removed from English, it seems to be the one enjoying all the focus.

I'm not complaining as I love anything that brings a sense of pride and belonging to being Scottish, and in the context of Seachd it hardly seems to matter as hearing the language on screen soon becomes like watching any other foreign language film, just closer to home.

Seachd is the story of a Highland boy and his strained relationship with his Grandfather. When he was younger a series of events starting with the death of his parents atop the Isle of Skye mountains, saw them grow apart and his boyhood idolisation of his Grandfather turn to feelings of betrayal and bitterness.

These feelings have stayed with both of them and as he has grown to adulthood he moved to the City and began a career, breaking contact with him.

Now the film opens at his bedside, he is obviously very ill, perhaps dying, and his Grandson sits, fulfilling his obligation.

However as they sit their memories return to the past and revisit the events that created the gulf between them, we start to understand them and they way they feel about each other.

If you've seen Tim Burton's Big Fish then you'll have an idea of the way this story is going, although here there's nothing so fanciful. This is more down to earth and builds more on the relationships of the characters who are well developed from the script to the screen.

The relationship is still based on a series of tales that the adult tells the boy, but the Grandfather here tells more fables of Scottish folklore than of his own fantastical stories, and we see them play out on screen. That's not where the similarities end either; the emotional impact of both films is very similar, although Big Fish hit me harder.

The relationship between the boy and the Grandfather is very well built through the fables that he tells. These stories make up a large part of the film but never detract from the heart which remains the relationship between the Grandfather and the boy and how the feelings from the death of his parents build up this resentment within him.

The stories are well created and entertaining, not just distractions or vehicles to bring across some point in the film, and serve as short stories on their own. For the most part they are serious and convey some point that the Grandfather is trying to make to the children, often with a hint of Scottish history added in, for instance the tale of the Highland clearances. One story though changes the tone of the film, and when it first begins it feels out of place.

The Grandfather tells a tale about a Scotsman stranded on an island alone who one day is joined by a shipwrecked Spaniard. With him he brings a feast of potatoes and black pudding, and the story leads to a few hilarious jibes against the Scottish way of life, one of the only places where clichés are used. I loved the chip shop moment.

It is something refreshing as well, a Scottish film about Scotland that doesn't have clichés of perceived Scottish life throughout. It could be said that the film goes too far out of its way to avoid these clichés when we see the ceilidh scene, a ceilidh with no tartan in sight.

Still I think this is one of the films strengths, because it concentrates on great characters and relationships, it just happens to be in Gaelic and filled with some of the most stunning scenery you can imagine.

It is beautifully filmed, filled with amazing scenery and backdrops that reminded me why I love the country I was born and live in so much. It is a gorgeous country that looks amazing on film and was captured wonderfully and seamlessly woven into the story as a character itself.

Overall the film had two turning points, and at both times I felt a slight surprise at the change of direction which I hadn't expected. It turns from being the film I expected to something a little more, and a little different, and both changes were strong story choices.

The script is very good, with the actors who play the Grandfather and boy providing great performances. In fact the whole cast is good, and when you start out expecting a cast of Gaelic speaking Scottish actors to be made from a small slice of Scottish television actors, you end up surprised.

For a start I didn't recognise any from Scottish television, and none of them give a television performance. Their delivery and emotion is natural and strong, and they all feel like real feature actors. I was impressed, particularly by Aonghas Padruig Caimbeul, who played the Grandfather, and Padruig Moireasdan who played young Aonhgas.

There was one moment where I thought all could be lost. As the boy is driving back to Glasgow he sees characters from the tales his Grandfather had told him, as vividly as we had seen them on film, in the woods and fields to his side.

To me this felt like some internal moment of recognition or realisation, except it was shown too vividly, too plainly in view, and altogether too real. With the subtle handling of some of the questions regarding the reality of these tales and of his Grandfather, it felt like this moment was too real, and was like a sledgehammer slamming home a moment to the audience.

However the film recovers quickly from this and returns back to the relationship between the Grandfather and the boy and the past concerning the death of the parents.

The ending, and in fact the final sequences leading up to the ending, are very good without anything too predictable or twee. Once again it avoids clichés and expected endings and keeps in focus the main plot and the characters.

The film is moving and really made me proud to be a Highlander and Scottish, living in this gorgeous country. It is a wonderful, warm and personal story with some superb performances and I hope there are many more of these films to come from Scotland.

However make no mistake, this isn't one of these films that's for Scottish people only, much like The Flying Scotsman (Filmstalker review) this is a world contending feature film, and in the case of Seachd it's a superb foreign film, not just for Scottish consumption.

by Richard Bunton

http://www.filmstalker.co.uk/archives/2007/09/seachd_the_inaccessible_pinnac.html

http://www.seachd.com

Cò às a tha thu, càil thu a' fuireach 's ciamar a thàinig thu gu bhith nad chleasaiche ann an Seachd? Where are you from, where do you live and how did you become an actor in Seachd?

[APC] Rugadh is thogadh mi ann an UIbhist-a-Deas, a bha làn de dheagh dhaoine agus tràighean àlainn. Tha mi nise a' fuireach san Eilean Sgitheanach,làn de dheagh dhaoine eile agus beanntan àlainn! Thug an Stiùiriche, Sìm Miller, agus an Rochdaire, Chris Young, cuireadh dhomh feuchainn air: chriochnaich mi mar sheanair aois 700 anns am film! I was born and brought up on the Island of South Uist - great people and great beaches! I know live on the Island of Skye - great people and great mountains! I became an actor in Seachd when the Director, Simon Miller, came to my back door and asked me to come for an audition. I was persuaded by my friend Chris Young, the Producer who lives locally, and so ended up growing my own beard and taking one of the two lead-roles!

Dè an diofar a tha eadar cleasachd agus sgrìobhadh? How does acting compare with writing?

[APC] Ann an sgrìobhadh tha thu a' cruthachadh saoghal tro do mhac-mheanmna fhèin. Ann an cleasachd tha saoghal air a thoirt dhut son a' chruthachadh às ùr na do mhac-meanmna. In writing, you tend to create a multi-layered world on your own. In acting you do the reverse: take a multi-layered world and make it your
own.

An do rinn thu gin dhe na loidhneachan suas? Did you help with any of the lines?

[APC] Bhruidhinn mi cho nàdarra sa b' urrainn dhomh - mar sin nochd grunn rudan nach robh san scriopt idir an toiseach. Hopefully each line became my own through interpretation, diction, accent and voice. Some I invented, or at least emerged naturally in terms of what my character, The Grandfather, would actually say.

Dè an sgeulachd aig Seanair as fheàrr leat? Which story told by Grandfather is your favourite?

[APC] Sgeulachd a' ghràidh, far a bheil Seanair diùltadh leigeil leis an ogha, Aonghas Òg, gach nì a thrèigsinn. The 'untold' one: the story of the Prodigal Son, where Grandfather refuses to let his grandson lose the most precious things.

An do rinn thu fhèin gach cleas ann an Seachd? Did you do all your stunts for Seachd?

[APC] Rinn. Eadar leum a-steach dhan uisge, gu seinn! Yes. Agreed to be covered in baby-powder. Jumped into the freezing water. Fought. Wept. Danced. Sang. And grew my own beard.

Eil sgeulachdan cudromach? Does storytelling matter?

[APC] Tha: chan eil againn ach an deagh sgeul. There is nothing else: bad news and good news.

Dè an rud a b' fhearr mu bhith an sàs ann an Seachd? What was the best thing about making Seachd?

[APC] Dìreach a' dearbhadh gu bheil a Ghàidhlig cho freagarrach son meadhan sam bith anns an 21mh linn. Bha na seann sgeulachdan againn riamh cho dealbhach, agus chan eil mise faicinn adbhar carson nach biodh sinn fada nas misneachaile na tha sinn mu bhith a' cleachdadh ar cànan ann am meadhan ùr sam bith a thilgeis an linn seo oirnn. Affirming, at least to myself, that Gaelic and Cinema (the ancient and the modern) are no strangers. Traditional Gaelic oral story-telling was always a hugely visual process and medium, and it was great to step forth in these pictorial shoes. And the relationships on set were great: lots of fun as well as lots of midgies!

Dè as fhèarr leat - leabhar no fiolm? So which do you prefer - a book or a film?

[APC] Leam fhèin, film. Le sluagh, film. There - the best of both worlds! On my own, a book. With a crowd, a film.

Preview interviews:

An interview with Pàdruig Moireasdan (Aonghas, 9)
An interview with Ian Dodds (Cinematographer)
An interview with Jo Cockwell (Co-Writer)
An interview with John L Cobban (Sound Designer)
An interview with Aonghas Macneacail (Co-writer)
An interview with Aonghas MacAoidh (Editor)
An interview with Vidal Sancho (The Spaniard)

www.seachd.com

Co as a tha thu? caite bheil thu fuireach? de an aois a tha thu agus ciamar a fhuair thu bhi na d'chleasaiche? Where are you from? where do you live? how old are you and how did you become an actor in Seachd?

[Pàdruig] Tha mi a Griomsaidh, Uibhist a Tuath, tha mi fuireach ann an Griomsaidh, tha mi deich agus fhuair mi bhi nam cleasaiche ann an Seachd an deidh dhomh a bhi air m'fhaicinn air program telebhiseon comhla ri caraidean dhomh, agus an uair sin chaidh mi gu na 'auditions' airson a phairt aig Aonghas anns a fhilm. I'm from Grimsay, North Uist, I live in Grimsay, I am ten ( 11 on the tenth of July) and I became an actor in Seachd after being seen in a Gaelic TV program with some of my class friends and I was then auditioned for the main part of Angus in the film.

An do cleas thu riamh agus an deanamh tu e a rithist? Have you ever acted before and would you do it again?

[Pàdruig] Chan eil mi air cleasadh ron a seo ach dheanain cleasadh a rithist. Bi mise a deanamh drama Gaidhlig aig Fèis tir a Mhurain on bha mi coig bliadhna de dhaois. I haven't ever acted before but I'd definitely act again. I have been doing Gaelic drama at the 'Feis' summer school since I was 5 years of age.

An robh an t-eagal ort nuair a dh'fhaighnich iad dhuit an streap thu Sgùrr Dearg agus de bha e coltach ris? Were you scared when you were asked to climb Sgurr Dearg for the film and what was it like?

[Pàdruig] Rud beag aig an toiseach, ach bha e neonach a bhith cho ard ach le na casan air a
talamh. A tiny bit at first but it was strange being so high with my feet on the ground.

Bheil thu nad rionnag sa bhaile agad fhein? Are you now a star in your home town?

[Pàdruig] Chan eil fhathast, chan eil na daoine ann an seo air fhaicainn fhathast, ach tha iad a
coimhead air adhart ri fhaicinn. Not yet, people here haven't seen it but are looking forward to seeing it.

A bheil ag innseadh sgeul a cùnntais? Does storytelling matter?

[Pàdruig] Tha, tha e a cuideachadh dàoinne gu tighinn comhladh. Yes, it helps people to socialise.

De rud a b'fhearr mu dheadhinn a deanamh Seachd? What was the best thing about making Seachd?

[Pàdruig] A deanamh caraidean ùr. Making new friends.

De rud as miosa mu dheadhainn a deanamh Seachd? What was the worst thing?

[Pàdruig] A fàgail na caraidean ùr a rinn mi, aig an deireadh. Leaving all my new found friends at the end of filming.

An uirinn dhuit rud no dha ìnntineach/air cùl na seallaidhean innseadh dhuinn? Can you tell us a couple of interesting/little known/behind the scenes things about the making of Seachd?

[Pàdruig] Ged a tha an fhilm anns an Eilean Sgitheanach, tha mise (Aonghas), Aonghas-Pàdraig (Seanair), Crisdean (Donnchadh), Colla (Aonghas na dhuine òg), Daibhidh ( streapadair) agus Morag (Iar-Riochdaire) a Uibhist. Even though the film was set in Skye, Me (Angus), Angus-Peter (Grandfather), Christopher (Duncan), Coll (Angus the young man), Davy (climber) and Morag ('Casting Director') are all from Uist.

An do chord e riut a deanamh an fhilm ann an Gaidhlig? Did you enjoy doing the film in Gaelic?

[Pàdruig] Chòrd e rium gu mòr. I enjoyed it very much.

Previous interviews:

An interview with Ian Dodds (Cinematographer)
An interview with Jo Cockwell (Co-Writer)
An interview with John L Cobban (Sound Designer)
An interview with Aonghas Macneacail (Co-writer)
An interview with Aonghas MacAoidh (Editor)
An interview with Vidal Sancho (The Spaniard)

www.seachd.com