Margaret Tait: Film Makar

I don’t have to know what it’s all about.
That’s not what I’m trying to know.
It’s the looking that matters,
The being prepared to see what there is to see.

Margaret Tait, ‘Seeing’s Believing and Believing’s Seeing’

This programme will provide an introduction to Margaret Tait’s life, work and legacy. Dr Sarah Neely will present a selection of Tait’s films alongside readings of Tait’s poetry and writing, including rare recordings of Tait reading her own poetry. Margaret Tait (1918-1999), the pioneering Orcadian filmmaker, painter and poet, was one of the most visionary and independent filmmakers to have emerged from Scotland, yet her work has until recently remained relatively unknown and its significance undervalued.

Structured chronologically, the programme will explore the way in which Tait’s work developed over time and in relation to the places she lived and worked (Italy, Edinburgh and Orkney). Come along and enjoy the calm and shrewd observation of someone prepared to see what there is to see. There is a twenty-minute interval and refreshments will be served.

This event is a collaboration between Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival, Margaret Tait 100 and Berwick Educational Association.