Scottish Plant Names reveals amusing and sometimes absurd names given to common plants throughout history

The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh publishes dictionary demonstrating the important connections between plants and language 

If you heard someone talking about stink Davie, witch gowan or doon-head clock would you know what they meant? These are just three of the many different names found across Scotland for the humble dandelion.

In his book published at the end of the month by the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, botanist Dr Gregory J Kenicer explores the brilliant, descriptive and often amusing ways in which language has influenced plant names through the ages.

Scottish Plant Names is a small book of wondrous plant names presented in dictionary form and covers a variety of flower, fungi and mosses. From the almost completely forgotten Pictish, to the North East dialect Doric, Scotland’s vocabulary is as varied as its flora.

Released on Thursday 22 June, this book delves in to the botany of language, and although the focus is very much on Scots, Gaelic and English, the influences of many other tongues can be seen throughout. 

Beautifully illustrated by Hazel France, artist and horticulturist at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Scottish Plant Names depicts some of the plants as they appear in the wild, and other drawings are a literal take on some of the weird and wonderful names that they have been given throughout history.

Marsh-marigold as ‘demon water-horse’s shoe’, foxgloves as ‘witches thimbles’, bluebell as ‘crows toes’, and the rose as ‘itchy coos’, some names are descriptive, while others speak of the use of the plant and some are poetic and poignant.

Some names have religious origins or roots in wider folklore, whilst others are very recent inventions. Scottish Plant Names demonstrates the power of observing, classifying and naming, and gives us an insight into the past, people’s relationships with plants and ways of looking at the world. 

Speaking about the publication of Scottish Plant Names, Greg Kenicer said, “It has been a joy to research this book. The diversity and evolution of plant names is intricate, so delving in to the etymology and uncovering the stories behind them has been fascinating.

“Over the years, plants have been named in a variety of ways – from the simple changes in spelling from existing names to naming for similarity – for example the slender, curving stems of bramble are one of several plants called ‘leddy’s garters’ in Scots, or ‘lady’s garters’ in English.

“I came across some scurrilous names in my research too, often with political undertones For example, there are several smelly plants called ‘stinking Billy’ in ‘honour’ of William of Orange.

“Names are very powerful things. They are a crucial part of the way that we see and classify the world around us. Humans instinctively group things, compare them and identify them, but it is only by giving these things a name that we can truly communicate them to others.  

“These common names are wonderfully varied even across short geographic distances, hence we use scientific names to help keep things standard wherever you are in the world.” 

Scottish Plant Names  is published by The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh on June 22 and is available on pre-order now at rbgeshop.org

Kimpton Charlotte Square hosts Pride tour

On Friday 23 June, to mark this year’s Pride month, local tour guide Hannah Mackay Tait will take Kimpton Charlotte Square guests on an exclusive whistlestop tour of the city’s rich queer heritage. 

Guests will be surprised by just how much queer history is held in our ancient streets!

This year, Kimpton Charlotte Square is the main sponsor of Pride Edinburgh. The five-star hotel proudly celebrates individuality and fiercely embraces diversity.

It welcomes varying perspectives, honours different backgrounds, learns from differing beliefs and grows from the multitude of talents, contributions and experiences of all people. It has created spaces where every person can feel welcome and free to be their true selves. 

To celebrate Pride month, guests will discover hidden stories on the 90-minute walking tour learning about the lesbian sex scandal that rocked Edinburgh high society in the early 1800s and about the trans magician hosting Scotland’s first queer rights rally in the 1980s.

Guests will then head into Pride Edinburgh on the 24 June with a new appreciation for the generations of queer folk who came before.

Accessibility info: The route covers approximately 3km on paved paths, starting from Kimpton Charlotte Square and finishing on George Street with frequent stops in between, some of which have seating available.

The route has no steps or stairs, with dropped kerbs at crossings throughout, but will involve going up and down some moderate slopes. Some areas are likely to be loud and busy, although we’ll always stop somewhere as quiet as possible.

Hannah will not be wearing a mask to facilitate lip reading, but you are welcome to wear one or not as you prefer.

Record number of school leavers in work, training or study

Gap narrows between most and least deprived areas

A record number of young people were in work, training or further study less than a year after the end of the school term.

The latest Follow-up Leaver Destinations statistics show 93.5% of those finishing school in the last academic year (2021-22) were progressing their studies or careers after nine months – up from 93.2% the year before.

The number of school leavers in work has also reached a record high of 31.8%.

The gap between those from the most and least deprived areas in work, training or further study  has also narrowed to a record low of seven percentage points – down from 18.7 percentage points in 2009-10.

Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth said: “I am greatly encouraged to see we have a record number of young people in work, training or further study less than a year after leaving school. These figures are testament to the hard work of learners across the country.

“We know the pandemic had a significant impact on our education system, but Scotland’s teachers and support staff are clearly preparing young learners for the next stage in life very well, whether that be work or further study.

“This Government has prioritised tackling the gap in achievement between the most and least deprived areas, so I am heartened to see this gap continuing to close.

“As we start to embark on a programme of education reform in the months ahead, it is clear that we will be building on a very strong platform.”

The annual Summary Statistics for Follow-up Leaver Destinations publication  provides a snapshot of the destinations of 2021-22 school leavers from publicly funded mainstream schools approximately nine months after the end of the school year.

Calls for capital’s LGBTQ+ community to take part in pioneering campaign

A HISTORIC new project is calling on young people from the LGBTQ+ community to share their life experiences for a first of its kind project.

The campaign, (Un)Seen (Unheard), a pioneering social history project to capture young people’s lived experience and preserve it in the national archives, comes to Edinburgh Pride on 24th June and Porty Pride on 8th July.

LGBT Youth Scotland working in partnership with the National Library of Scotland, will be hosting Past, Present and Proud workshops across the country during pride which aims to encourage people from a range of different generations to share messages of hope to their younger or older selves.

Ali Kerr, Head of Partnerships at LGBT Youth Scotland believes that this project is an important way for young people to be a valuable part of history in the making. She said: “It has never been more important to give LGBTQ+ young people hope and a sense of pride in who they are.

Writing a message to their past or future self will allow them. to communicate their lived experiences on a national level and feel like an equal part of Scotland’s heritage.

“Bridging the past and present through stories will not only place LGBTQ+ experiences at the heart of local communities, but it will also help us all make Scotland a place where all young people can flourish and thrive.

“Our hope is that this project will not only connect with a new audience but will also inspire not-so-young people to get involved and foster intergenerational relationships within Scotland’s LGBTQ+ community.”

This year marks LGBT Youth Scotland’s 20th anniversary as an independent charity, priding itself in playing a leading role in the provision of quality youth work to LGBTQ+ young people, promoting health and wellbeing.

The campaign will have presence at three other pride events in Scotland over the coming months: Mardi Gla (Glasgow), Highland Pride (Inverness) and Pride Outside (Glasgow). Each with stalls and opportunities to engage with the archive project.

Along with collating stories from these pride events, the charity launched a campaign video on 1st June that showcases conversations between young and older members of the community, reflecting on what has changed and what we could still do better.

LGBT Youth Scotland is Scotland’s national charity for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer & Questioning and Intersex (LGBTQ+) young people aged 13-25. LGBTQ+ young people face unique and additional barriers to realising their potential and that is why LGBT Youth Scotland exists.

They believe Scotland can be a place where all young people can thrive and flourish, and they work alongside young people to remove those barriers; working with young people individually, and amplifying their collective voices to influence change.

If you are interested in submitting your story to the (Un)seen, (Un)heard archive or would like to know more about the project, email unseenunheard@lgbtyouth.org.uk.

For more information on LGBT Youth Scotland, visit: https://www.lgbtyouth.org.uk/

A different kind of Friday night out

Looking for an alternative Friday night out?

The Bongo Club are hosting an evening of yoga, dance and music with Dee McQueen Yoga – Breath & Movement.

Join them for DUSK, where you can experience a new wellness movement. Move your body through a glorious yoga practice to a DJ, reclaim the dancefloor, and still be home in time to pop your feet up on the sofa and get up early the next day. Or if you’re really feeling it, you could continue to party the night away!

📆 Friday 16th June

⏰ 7pm

📍The Bongo Club | 66 Cowgate | Edinburgh

Find out all about it on The Bongo Club website. ↩

➡thebongoclub.co.uk/event/dusk/

Another Minister joins the payroll as Scottish Cabinet roles revised

Changes ‘ensure policy plans of this Government can be pursued with vigour’

The Transport portfolio will be restored as a Cabinet position as First Minister Humza Yousaf changed Màiri McAllan’s Cabinet Secretary remit to ‘Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition’.

Alongside this change, experienced former Cabinet Secretary Fiona Hyslop re-joins government as the new Minister for Transport. The range of experience Ms Hyslop brings to the role extends across the era of the Scottish Parliament, having held multiple ministerial roles, including responsibility for the economy.

The move will see Ms McAllan take a greater day-to-day role in the transport brief. Responsibility for the Green Economy will move from Ms McAllan to Richard Lochhead, who will report to her for these issues, freeing Ms McAllan to take on a greater role in transport.  Mr Lochhead’s new title will be Minister for Small Business, Innovation, Tourism and Trade.

In addition, the First Minster has also amended the role of Gillian Martin, adding responsibilities to her remit and changing her title to ‘Minister for Energy and the Environment’. She will report jointly to the Cabinet Secretary for the Wellbeing Economy and to the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands.

Subject to agreement by Parliament and approval of His Majesty The King Ms Hyslop will, on appointment will be reporting to the revamped Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition.

The First Minister said: “I am pleased to announce that I am strengthening the ministerial team on transport.

“I have taken two steps: first, by changing Màiri McAllan’s remit, I am freeing her to take a direct day-to-day role in transport, effectively bringing transport explicitly back into Cabinet.

“Second, I am bringing one of the most experienced politicians in the Scottish Parliament – Fiona Hyslop – into the role of Minister for Transport. Her return to government means she can bring her decades of experience across government to bear on the challenges that exist, not least around ferry services.

“Finally, I am using this opportunity to also bring some extra support to the rural portfolio by expanding Gillian Martin’s role, and ensuring that Richard Lochhead’s title reflects his responsibilities supporting business across Scotland. This will ensure that the significant policy plans of this Government can be pursued with vigour.”

Police seek witnesses to Jane Street fire incident

Detectives in Edinburgh are appealing for information and witnesses following a fire near to a property and a vehicle in Leith.

The incident took place on Jane Street, at around 10.35pm on Sunday, 11 June, 2023.

Officers assisted their partners at the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service at the scene. Whilst significant damage was caused, no injuries have been reported.

Enquiries to establish the cause of the fire are ongoing.

Detective Sergeant Christina Yeoman, from Gayfield CID, said: “We can be thankful that no one was hurt as a result of this fire.

“As our investigation continues, we are keen to hear from anyone who may have information, or potential CCTV or dashcam footage from the area.

“If you believe you can assist our enquiries, please call police on 101, quoting incident 4183 of 11 June, 2023.”

Read more – https://ow.ly/fjTk50ON6yV

The Joy of Words: Edinburgh International Book Festival announces its 2023 programme

The Edinburgh International Book Festival today announces its 2023 programme which celebrates The Joy of Words and its 40 years as the world’s leading celebration of the written word.

From 12 – 28 August 2023, the Festival invites the world’s greatest writers, artists and thinkers to help create positive conversations that will celebrate the world’s best new fiction, spoken word and non-fiction.

From events that take audiences outside on excursions led by stars of endurance sport including Emily Chappell, to a climate positive strand featuring the world’s best-known climate activist Greta Thunberg – or from deep dives into comedian Sara Pascoe’s first novel, and the memoirs of Judy Murray, Rob Delaney and Munroe Bergdorf, to Festival Late Nights featuring Damian Barr, there is something for everyone this August. 

Nick Barley, Director of the Edinburgh International Festival, said: “This year’s Book Festival programme is called The Joy of Words, and it’s been truly a joy to bring it together.

“My team and I have aimed to build an uplifting festival that is packed with exceptional thinkers from all over the world. At a time of polarised opinion and deep divisions, we hope to rediscover the pleasure of conversation; the satisfaction of spending time with people who can offer positive insights into the world today.

“This is my fourteenth and final programme for the Book Festival and I’m very excited by the prospect of 18 days in August with such a cornucopia of brilliant writers.”

This year the Book Festival returns to the Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) with a programme of nearly 600 live events featuring more than 470 authors, writers and thinkers from 49 countries. 

More than 100 events will be live streamed and Festival Late Nights will return for the first time in three years, including special salons hosted by Damian Barr and Gemma Cairney.

As ever, there will be free children’s events and workshops across the site and everyone’s favourite authors, as well as rising stars, will be on hand to sign books at the Book Festival Bookshop brought to audiences by Waterstones. 

Think Tanks encourage people to have robust conversations over food, wine (or soft drink) e and the Festival gears up to host the “Loud Poets Grand Slam Final” run in partnership with I Am Loud Productions.

Bernardine Evaristo, Jackie KayVal McDermidElif Shafak, and Ali Smith talk about how their experiences have informed their writing careers in a series called What Makes a Writer and, in its 40th year, the Festival has selected 40 writers for New Writers, New Worlds.

This strand highlights 20 emerging Scottish authors including Heather Parry and Em Strang, and international writers like Jenny Erpenbeck and Leila Slimani. 2023 also sees the return of three authors who attended the first ever Festival in 1983  — Alastair MoffatMichael Rosen, and A.N. Wilson.

Seven Booker Prize winners also join the lineup including 2022 winner Shehan KarunatilakaEleanor CattonBen Okri, James Kelman, Ian McEwan, and Anne Enright with her brand new novel The Wren, The Wren.

Former International Booker winner David Diop will also appear, as will this year’s winners, the Bulgarian author Georgi Gospodinov and translator Angela Roden. Other international stars include the Prime Minister of Iceland, Katrin Jakobsdottir, who joins Ragnar Jonasson to discuss their crime novel Reykjavik.

A stellar lineup of Scotland-based authors feature heavily, with established names such as Irvine Welsh, Jenny Colgan, Denise Mina, Chris Brookmyre and Alexander McCall Smith discussing their books.

They are joined in the festival by leading British authors including Deborah Levy, Sebastian Faulks, and Katherine Rundell; and writers from further afield including Colson WhiteheadChika UnigweEileen MylesIsabella Hammad, Ayobami Adebayo, Yiyun Li, Iman Mersal, Clemens Meyer, and Raja Shehadeh

Laura Cumming’s Thunderclap, Raynor Winn’s Landlines and Malorie Blackman’s Just Sayin’ are three of a series of memoirs to be demystified by their authors on stage this year, alongside Jenni Fagan who was part of the first Book Festival Outriders project in 2017. Twenty years in the making Ootlin is Fagan’s highly anticipated memoir, offering a very personal insight into her experiences of growing up in the care system. 

Chaired by writer and broadcaster Gemma CairneyIt’s Not Too Late to Change the World features Greta Thunberg and takes place at the Edinburgh Playhouse on Sunday 13th August and is one of the Climate Positive series events that looks at the health of our planet.

Featuring writers who offer an energetic call to action and ideas about how humanity can, and must, step back from the brink, it includes an event with Mikaela Loach, activist and author of It’s Not That Radical, who is also a medical student at the University of Edinburgh. 

To mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement – Irish foreign correspondent Fergal Keane (who reported on The Troubles) will be joined by Aoife Moore and Jan Carson to discuss the fragility of peace.

Continuing in a political vein, heavyweights including former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Labour front-bencher Wes Streeting MP, Conservative peer Ruth Davidson, and former Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale discuss the options for this country’s political future.

Continuing the tradition of the Scottish leader conducting an interview at the Book Festival, First Minister Humza Yousaf will interview Hashi Mohamed, who arrived in Britain as an unaccompanied child refugee from Kenya – and is now one of Britain’s leading housing barristers. 

Also in 2023, the NHS marks its 75th anniversary and Sarah Brown will lead a conversation about the challenges facing the system, while Devi Sridhar and Gavin Francis will discuss the cost of the cure.

This event is part of the Outside the Box strand which introduces audiences to the innovators whose ideas genuinely offer new approaches to resolving humanity’s challenges and also includes an event with David Farrier and Karine Polwart in which they interrogate how to transform planning for the future.

This year’s poetry lineup features stars from the USA including Claudia Rankine and Eileen Myles, as well as Canadian poet Dionne Brand. From Britain Zaffar Kunial and Alice Oswald come together on stage to present not-yet-published new work, while Liz Lochhead reads from her New and Selected Poems. Carol Ann Duffy presents poems from her new collection Politics, and Don Paterson will discuss his memoir of growing up in Dundee.

There’s also multilingual poetry from Marcas Mac an Tuairneir, who writes in Gaelic and English, alongside Sam O’Fearraigh, who writes in Irish and English. 

Gerda Stevenson will present poetry in a variety of languages and formats in her event with JL Williams, and audiences will enjoy events featuring spoken word from Leyla Josephine and Michael Mullan

Many authors appearing this year have been inspired by human rewilding: getting close to the earth and playing their part in restoring its ecosystems. Whether it’s Raynor Winn’s stories of her hikes with partner Moth or Merryn Glover walking the Cairngorms in the footsteps of Nan Shepherd, audiences can join those who are not only getting out into nature, but who are also exploring the sustainability of humanity. 

Embracing the convivial spirit of this year’s programme, Think Tanks is a series of events offering audiences the chance to ‘deep-dive’ into topical issues such as the ethics of AI, with leading scholar Kate Crawford, or how the law can improve government with The Good Law Project’s Jolyon Maugham KC, whilst also enjoying food and wine (or a soft drink).

A new study, The Edinburgh Readerbank, is the product of a major new long-term research partnership between the Book Festival and Durham University. This study asks the question: ‘what is the relationship between reading, imagination, and mental health?’

Audiences can hear from experts as they share perspectives on belief, perception, and the imagination, and can also participate in this potentially game-changing study by contributing their data at a special drop-in data centre on site. 

In the festival’s unique Outriders Europe project, four pairs of authors undertook intrepid journeys across Europe, travelling in the mountains of Transylvania and along the contested border of the island of Cyprus.

In two special events, audiences can hear from authors like Scottish storyteller Mara Menzies who, alongside Sami playwright Rawdna Carita Eira, trekked across the Sápmi lands of northern Finland, Sweden and Norway, and from other writers with connections to Scotland – Dean AttaCal Flyn, and Victoria McNulty – who join to talk about their own amazing journeys with writers from elsewhere in Europe.

Throughout the year the Citizen programme provides a space for conversation and creativity in North Edinburgh, Musselburgh, and Tollcross. As part of the programme writers in residence Eleanor Thom and Ryan Van Winkle deliver everything from zine-making to podcasting.

Continuing the Festival’s 40th anniversary celebrations, Our City, Our Stories will take place on the three weekends of the Festival and invites writers from across the Citizen programme (and other community-based groups including Intercultural Youth Scotland and Open Book) to perform brand new stories helping to create a love letter to Edinburgh.  

As part of its commitment to increasing the accessibility of the Book Festival for the people of Edinburgh, the Festival has developed a long-term partnership with The Alternative School at Spartan’s Community Football Academy, and since August author Chris Barkley has been based at the club three days a week working with young people.

Chris has helped these young people explore their local area, how adults perceive them and what they want for the world, and they have recently written their own film script and worked with filmmaker Rory Easton to make it a reality.

Audiences are invited to join them for Letters of Hope, which will feature the world premiere of their film and words from Chris and the young people about their dreams for the future. 

Culture Minister Christina McKelvie said: “Without words there would be no books so the theme for this year’s Edinburgh International Book Festival is well chosen. With the world’s greatest writers and thinkers gathered in Edinburgh, there really is something for everyone. 

“The Scottish Government is proud to support the festival as it celebrates its 40th anniversary with £182,500 from our Expo and PLACE Funds.”

Iain Munro, CEO of Creative Scotland said: “Huge congratulations to Nick and the team at EIBF on an outstanding programme for their 40thanniversary year. Featuring an impressive range of international and homegrown talent, this year’s programme provides an opportunity for people from all walks of life to experience the joy of words. 

“I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank Nick, as he steps down later this year, for everything he has achieved during his time as Director of the EIBF. 

“Nick and his book festival team have been instrumental in bringing people together from around the world to explore and debate contemporary issues of our time, underlining the fundamental role that literature in all its forms plays in influencing and shaping public debate.”

Headlining this year’s Young Adult offering is Alice Oseman who will be talking about her bestselling Heartstopper series with Benjamin Dean. We also welcome poet Nikita Gill, Scottish authors David FenneEmma Grae and Catriona Child, as well as fantasy sensation Samantha Shannon and a special event with playwright Alan Bissett, novelist Holly Bourne and screenwriter Emma Dennis-Edwards who will discuss the thorny issues around consent.

Alongside the Baillie Gifford Schools Programme unveiled earlier in the year, firm FREE favourites return in 2023 including Are You Sitting Comfortably in The Storytime Yurt every morning and workshops in the Creation Station with partners Craigmillar Books for Babies, Edinburgh Libraries and Dad’s Rock.

Also returning in 2023 is an animated outdoor space with Sprog Rock once again rocking the courtyard on the first Sunday of the Festival alongside beatboxer Bigg Taj, and everyone’s favourite costume characters (including a brand new addition – the mighty Supertato!) visiting the Festival Village every Saturday and Sunday morning. On the final weekend there will also be a Dragon Hunt, where 10 dragons illustrated by Cressida Cowell will be placed around ECA for families to find, to celebrate 20 years of How to Train Your Dragon.

Leading children’s authors including long standing Book festival fan Julia Donaldson and Children’s laureate Joseph Coelho also return, alongside events featuring Dapo Adeola and Nathan Bryon, Tracey Corderoy and Steven Lenton

Rachel Fox, Edinburgh International Book Festival Children’s Programme Director, said: As well as our animated courtyard performances and character appearances we have an array of interactive workshops with leading authors, illustrators and comic book creators again this year.

“Children will have the chance to learn how to draw manga, preserve plant specimens, make explosions with food, and write the story of their life (so far!) and much, much more.”

Once again, while the Festival gears up to welcome audiences and visitors on site at ECA, it will also be taking lots of authors off site to spread the joy of the Book Festival to those who can’t join in person.

Award-winning author and illustrator Rob Biddulph will visit children on the wards of the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People and poet Leyla Josephine will run a workshop with the hospital’s youth group. For the third year in a row, a programme of events will be live streamed to The Birks Cinema in Aberfeldy and the Festival continues its work in prisons with authors visiting six across Scotland. 

Once again the Festival seeks to make events more open and easier to attend, and offers a range of Pay What You Can, BSL interpreted, and Live Captioned events.

A series of free events across the adults, childrens and communities programmes run throughout the festival, and a brand-new £10 ticket concession for under 26s has been introduced

In 2023 the Book Festival Bookshop is brought to audiences by Waterstones.

For more information on Edinburgh International Book Festival visit: 

https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/   

Edinburgh International Film Festival 2023 announce Opening Night film

  • Silent Roar is a teenage tale of surfing, sex and hellfire set in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides 
  • The film is the debut feature from BAFTA nominated Scottish writer and director Johnny Barrington and produced by Scottish producer Chris Young 
  • Cast of emerging talent includes Louis McCartney, and rising star Ella Lily Hyland soon to be seen Amazon Prime’s Fifteen Love 
  • The film’s score is created by award-winning composer Hannah Peel (Game of Thrones: The Last Watch, The Midwich Cuckoos
  • Edinburgh International Film Festival runs from Friday 18 to Wednesday 23 August 2023 with full programme details released on Thursday 6 July 2023 
  • Press Accreditation for this year’s Festival will open soon 
  • Download the Silent Roar lead image here
  • All tickets for Edinburgh International Film Festival go on sale at midday on 7 July via eif.co.uk/edfilmfest

Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) which this year is hosted by Edinburgh International Festival, is delighted to announce that the Festival will open on Friday 18 August 2023 with the world premiere of Silent Roar, the debut feature from Scottish writer and director Johnny Barrington.  

A teenage tale of surfing, sex and hellfire set in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides, Silent Roar stars newcomer Louis McCartney as Dondo, a young surfer struggling to accept his father’s recent disappearance at sea. Caught up in grief, he is brought to his senses by rebellious crush Sas (Ella Lily Hyland), a high achiever who dreams of escaping the island. When an oddly-behaved new minister arrives on the island, Dondo begins to have cosmic visions …   

Silent Roar is the first feature film from BAFTA-nominated writer and director Johnny Barrington, and has been produced by Scottish producer Chris Young (The Inbetweeners Movie).

The film was shot in the beautiful surroundings of Uig, on the Isle of Lewis, and draws inspiration from Barrington’s teenage years on the Isle of Skye.  

The cast includes Louis McCartney (Hope Street), Ella Lily Hyland (Fifteen Love), Mark Lockyer (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince), Fiona Bell (The Nest, Shetland), Victoria Balnaves (Trust Me), Anders Hayward (Looted) and Chinenye Ezeudu (Sex Education). 

Hosted by Edinburgh International Festival in 2023, Edinburgh International Film Festival will present a bold, hand-picked programme celebrating the work of exceptional local and global filmmakers and ensuring the flame of EIFF burns bright for future generations of passionate cinema fans. 

Writer/Director of Silent Roar, Johnny Barrington has said: “I’m delighted for Silent Roar to have its world premiere at EIFF, and start its life from a festival and a city so close to my heart.

“The film is a fun ride into surfing, death and the cosmos and awkward high school memories from the 90’s. The shoot was the best time of my life, with the best cast and crew in the world sweating creative blood… (and partying hard at weekends – or so I have been told).

“What formed is a story well wadded with ineffable nonsense, tears and laughter. So, if you like staring into sea caves, the human soul and cement mixers, then you’ll love Silent Roar.” 

Kate Taylor, Programme Director, Edinburgh International Film Festival, said: “Silent Roar is a very easy film to fall in love with. From the idiosyncratic charm of Louis McCartney’s performance, to Ella Lily Hyland’s turn as crisp-chomping cool girl Sas, to Hannah Peel’s soaring score, the film is infused with mystic charisma.

“Johnny Barrington renders the Hebridean landscape, shot on film, as something strange and elemental: a place where we can see transgressive explorations of mourning exist alongside witty forays into religion and teenage hormonal curiosity. 

“Stylistically, Silent Roar is the kind of bold, vivid and highly absorbing cinema that EIFF wants to champion, and we can’t wait to give the film a beautiful launch into the world.” 

Isabel Davis, Executive Director at Screen Scotland said: “It is so exciting that Johnny’s hotly anticipated debut feature will first meet its audience at Edinburgh. As one of Scotland’s most distinctive and beguiling new voices, it’s been a privilege to have supported his creative journey.”   

Silent Roar was made with the participation of Screen Scotland, BBC Films, and BFI.  

Edinburgh International Film Festival 2023 programme including participating film festival venue information launches on Thursday 6 July 2023. 

Edinburgh International Film Festival runs from Friday 18 to Wednesday 23 August 2023.  

All tickets for Edinburgh International Film Festival go on sale at midday on 7 July via eif.co.uk/edfilmfest 

Sign up for all the latest EIFF news on the newsletter here.

#EdFilmFest 

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FIX OUR HOMES!

NORTH EDINBURGH COST OF LIVING CAMPAIGN GROUP MEETING

The Cost of Living Campaign Group for North Edinburgh are meeting on Tuesday 20th June, 10.30am until 1pm at Royston Wardieburn Community Centre:

“We are the Cost of Living Campaign Group, we are residents of North Edinburgh concerned with the cost of living. A major issue contributing to the cost of living is the state of housing. Our homes are filled with damp and aren’t well insulated. Reporting repairs to Repair Direct and other services doesn’t seem to solve the issues.

“Structural lack of investment in the existing housing stock is undermining the human rights of residents, impacting on health, wellbeing and our personal finances.

“We invite you to listen to our stories and contribute to our campaign to improve homes across North Edinburgh and demand Repair Direct be made fit for purpose and a comprehensive response to dampness.”