Celebrated local singer songwriter Sophie Bancroft’s short film Old Mother Blackbird has recently been chosen as part of a dementia-responsive programme of short films, screening on Virgin Atlantic flights over the next six months.
Old Mother Blackbird, which will also be highlighted in Virgin’s onboard magazine Vera as a ‘Vera Loves’ highlighted film, is a story about maternal love, caring for your children as they grow up, and the emptiness often felt when they finally leave home.
It was first screened at the Women Over Fifty Film Festival (WOFFF) in 2023, and was inspired by a mother blackbird who nested in Sophie’s own garden in Pathhead, a village situated 12 miles south of Edinburgh, during lockdown.
The music and words are written and performed by Sophie with her duo Bancroft & Lyne, and her collage used to illustrate the story, is hand-made.
Sophie works as a solo artist, collaborator, and as part of duo Bancroft & Lyne with bass player and partner Tom Lyne.
She has released nine albums to date and plans to release the song from Old Mother Blackbird as a track on the duo’s forthcoming album.
Sophie’s first short film (S)kin about a mother’s hands and the generational love between mothers, grandmothers, and their children, won best documentary short at the 8 & HalFilm Awards and was screened at the Women Over Fifty Film Festival – WOFFF in 2021 and Italian film festival Cinema D’Idea in 2022.
Sophie’s creative work has often reflected her own personal story. Her current work is inspired by the perspectives of middle age. She has recently collaborated on creative ageing projects with her local choir and with arts organisation Deepness Dementia Media, who are based in the Isle of Lewis.
Deepness Dementia Media provide help for people with dementia to ‘live well’, become autonomous and get the most out of life, and Sophie is currently working with them as music director, songwriter and composer for Dementia: The Musical written by Ron Coleman, which will tour major theatres around Scotland this autumn.
Sophie said: “I am thrilled that my short film Old Mother Blackbird is part of this dementia-responsive programme.
“Inspired by an extraordinarily brave and loyal mother blackbird that set up nest in my garden in a wee village south of Edinburgh, Scotland, it is wonderful to see her universal story of maternal love and family taking flight across the world.”
Sophie Bancroft is a singer and songwriter with a unique blend of jazz and folk influences. She has released nine CDs to date including Songs which was listed as one of The Herald’s top 50 Scottish albums of 2015.
Monday Nights, the most recent release from her duo Bancroft & Lyne was listed in Jazzviews top jazz albums of 2020.
Her music has been used on HBO’s award winning TV series Six Feet Under and recorded by top jazz vocalists including Liane Carroll with the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.
In 2019 she was awarded a Masters with distinction in Creative Writing and more recently she has expanded her creative practice to include creative writing, photography and film-making.
Sophie also co-leads The Pathhead Choir, is a founder member of the award-winning Pathhead Music Collective, and of Jazz Forward, a new collective music organisation representing and showcasing some of the original jazz being written in Scotland.
Old Mother Blackbird is available to watch on YouTube and as part of Virgin’s inflight entertainment package from now until December 2024.
The film has also been made into a children’s book and a series of greeting cards which are available to order online.
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