Film-maker comes to Fort
Residents of Lochaber will need no introduction to the subject of American film-maker Julia Haslett’s new documentary, Pushed up the Mountain, writes Mark Entwistle.
Award-winning Haslett is coming to Scotland to tour the documentary, a poetic and personal film about plants and the people who care for them with a specific focus on the much-loved and equally hated rhododendron.
Shot on location in Scotland and China, the film tells the story of the ancient and controversial rhododendron, now endangered in its native China.
The film begins in a rhododendron garden in Argyll, owned by the film-maker’s godfather, and features nature conservationists from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and the Scottish Forestry Commission, among others.
Ultimately, it reveals how high the stakes are for all living organisms in this time of unprecedented destruction of the natural world.
The film has screened in festivals around the world and was sponsored by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art.
Due to the pandemic, all these screenings have been virtual. However, this tour of Scotland marks the first time Pushed up the Mountain will screen before an in-person audience with the director present.
Haslett has worked for WGBH-Boston, the Discovery Channel, and as a film-maker-in-residence at Stanford University’s Centre for Biomedical Ethics.
Currently, she teaches documentary film-making at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Pushed up the Mountain will have its Scottish Premiere on tomorrow (Friday May 20) at the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh, followed by screenings at the Highland Cinema in Fort William on Sunday (May 22). All screenings will be followed by an in-person Q&A with the director.
For more information/ booking visit website highlandcinema.co.uk.