Cromarty Arts Trust is proud to announce the screening of a new documentary film about the experiences of the Polish community living around Inverness and Easter Ross. From mid-April to the end of July 2007, the Trust hosted a film-maker in residence, Anna Jones, to work with Polish people in the area and to produce a film which will be shown at the Eden Court Cinema on Wednesday 16th January at 8.30pm.

The participants, who speak frankly about their lives in a new country, range from World War Two veterans who opted to remain in Scotland at the war’s end to families with young children who have come here to work since Poland joined the European Union. Film-making was a genuinely collaborative process, and involved workshops with Polish teenagers in Alness as well as extensive interviews with older residents – documenting their memories and their own photographs.

Anna  Jones is a graduate of the National Film School with a background in community video. She originally trained on the job with Pilton Video, a community video project in Edinburgh, where she worked with a wide variety of people including teenage asylum-seekers, elderly people and young anti-war activists. Her first short ‘Sky High’ won Best New Scottish Documentary at the Edinburgh International Film Festival and led to a commission from STV for a half hour documentary. Other credits to her name are ‘Old enough to know better’, ‘Then and Now’, and a ‘3 Minute Wonder’ series for Channel 4.  Anna says: On a purely creative level, this film allowed me to explore what it means to try to ‘give a voice’ to what is described as a ‘community’.

The residency was funded by the Scottish Arts Council ‘pARTners Programme’ and by Highland 2007. During the residency, Anna was based in Cromarty in the Cromarty Arts Trust’s accommodation for artists in residence. Trustee Sandy Thomson was one of those who attended a private screening of The Lion and the Eagle on 19th August at the Screen Machine in Inverness. This was attended by the Polish participants plus their families and friends who gave it an enthusiastic reception. Sandy says: Cromarty Arts Trust wanted to give artistic recognition to the contribution that the Polish community makes to Highland life, and we are delighted that Anna’s film has both involved the community so effectively and represented them in a way that they themselves are happy with.

For further details contact:
Sandy Thomson 01381-600708
Lindy Cameron  01381-600357 or 01381-600777
Jelica Gavrilovic 01381-600354