ORKNEY — HOLLYWOOD’S LATEST SHINING STAR
Orkney is set to hit the silver screen this year, in the highly anticipated movie adaptation of Amy Liptrot’s bestselling, The Outrun. The memoir, released in 2016, became a publishing sensation, selling over 110,000 copies in the UK alone, and receiving modern classic status.
The movie, of the same name, transforms Amy of the book into the fictional Rona, but is still a brutally honest drama about strength and survival, charting the voyage from hedonism to healing.
Starring, and produced by, Hollywood A-lister and four-time Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan, the film cuts between her character’s wild and selfdestructive life in London, and her search for healing here in Orkney.
Very much a collaboration between three women — writer Amy Liptrot, critically acclaimed German director Nora Fingscheidt, and star and producer Ronan — the film, premiered at the star-studded Sundance Film Festival, to rave reviews.
Now, as the movie starts to leave a lasting impression on its audience, Ronan has revealed how Orkney has left a lasting impression on her.
“I’ve never met anyone like an Orcadian,” said Ronan. “Their warmth, and this feeling of just getting on with it — everyone has at least three jobs on the island, they’re doers — it was inspiring to be around that from the beginning.
“Discovering Orkney and the people, it’s something that I’ll carry with me always, so it’s been a gift of a film, it really has.”
Her character’s name, chosen by Amy, was inspired by North Rona, the uninhabitated and remote island that lies on the outer reaches of the Outer Hebrides.
For the part of Rona, Ronan immersed herself in Orkney’s community and culture, including helping with lambs being born.
“That was a huge challenge, because I’d never done anything like that before,” she said.
“Suddenly after a couple of days of being on Orkney Mainland, I was helping to bring little baby lambs into the world, and trying to look like I knew what I was doing. Being thrown in at the deep end was the first stage!”
For the film’s director, Nora Fingscheidt, who first made her name in the world of documentary, being true to Orkney was vital.
She said: “We shot mostly in the original locations that featured in Amy’s life, and included as many locals as possible to create an almost documentary feel.”
Much of the final section of the movie was filmed at Rose Cottage, on the island of Papa Westray, in the very house where Amy lived when she wrote much of the book.
“We had incredible support in Orkney — everyone was very helpful and open and curious, especially in Papay,” Fingscheidt added.
“It was quite a big disruption for a tiny community, to all of a sudden almost double in size for a few weeks. It turned out to be a
wonderful experience for both sides.”
Fingscheidt was also insistent that locals should take up roles as extras.
She said: “We were shooting in a lot of real places where Amy grew up, so we wanted to find locals who could bring an Orcadian sensibility too.”
That islander sensibility clearly impressed Ronan, the film’s leading lady.
“Everyone who came on set was so open and willing,” she said.
This was especially true when they moved out to Papa Westray.
Ronan continued: “We were also living in people’s homes, because there wasn’t a hotel on Papay.
“There’s the hostel, but these people took us in for four weeks, and I’ve never experienced support like it before.
“There was some trepidation, because this is a haven for them, and the majority of the world doesn’t really know that Papay exists.
“It’s an untouched part of the Scottish islands, so for them to allow us to essentially expose it was a huge thing, and we really needed to gain their trust.
“It was essential that they were involved in every step of that Orcadian journey.”
While the film charts a voyage from hedonism to healing, it seems the process of making te film has had a profound effect on the three women involved.
“I think I found a joy in work that I’d lost for a little while,” explained Ronan.
“I was so much more involved than I had been in anything else prior, and the pride that you get from working in that way is like nothing else.
“To have people involved that personally I really love, and to have met new, wonderful people along the way, has been the greatest gift.”
Her sentiments were heartily echoed by Fingscheidt.
“For all of us, it’s a film that went beyond a professional line,” she said.
“It was very personal in many ways, and a journey into unknown territory, being together on this tiny island.
“It has changed my life, and was a wonderful experience.”
Alongside praise for Ronan’s performance and that of Stephen Dillane, who plays Rona’s father, Orkney’s landscape and people has captivated reviewers, with Vanity Fair suggesting that viewers of the film may be inspired to explore the islands for themselves.
TA SPECIAL NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: Amy Liptrot
hese are words I never dreamed I would type: The movie adaptation of my book was filmed in summer 2022.
The team, led by brilliant German director Nora Fingsheidt, filmed in London, Edinburgh, Mainland Orkney and the island of Papay. There were also a couple of earlier shoots in the spring to get seasonal footage of lambing time and breeding seabirds.
The book is a memoir, so it was a very weird experience to see scenes from my life recreated by star actress Saoirse Ronan.
They used some real locations from my life, including my Dad’s farm on the West Mainland’s coast, and Rose Cottage in Papay where I lived when I wrote the book. Many Orkney folk were included as extras, caterers, drivers, providing locations and for local and farming knowledge.
Some local people were cast in speaking roles, including former KGS drama teacher Gillian Dearness, and beachcomber Martin Gray, and it was important to include some genuine Orcadian accents. The whole film is a strange mix of fact and fiction.
In Papay, the crew increased the island’s population by half. Nearly every spare bed on the island was used to house them all for the three-week shoot, and the team became part of the community, joining a dance with the islanders, and having many of the same experiences I wrote about in the book.
I spent a few days at the filming in Kirkwall and Papay. This was my first experience on a film shoot, and I was highly impressed with how the team operated — each member focused on their role, working long days retaking scenes again and again.
We are so grateful to people in Orkney who helped and accommodated making the film, and are looking forward to people being able to see the finished movie later this year.