“1815”
SAFF 2022 Award Winner
During the Highland Clearances, a stubborn old tenant farmer and a young Waterloo veteran strike a reluctant and uneasy bond in a relentless search through highlands; glimpsing the human cost of the clearances as they go.
Director Biography
Neil is a filmmaker from small and rural Dunoon, in the West of Scotland. After completing a Filmmaking and Screenwriting degree at the UWS he went on to be part of a number of professional screenwriting and story development programmes such as the SFTN and SDI. Neil has completed an array of short films, documentaries, and music videos as he continues to grow as a filmmaker. His work has been featured at the Glasgow Short Film Festival, The Scottish Short Film and the HB Film Festival where his most recent short film ‘The Coffin Walk’ earned him a Best Director Nomination, a Best Comedy Film Award and Best Scottish Film Award.
Director’s Statement
While reading about The Highland Clearances I was moved by the individual stories and the scale on which they happened. I was particularly inspired by one man’s story and his hardships. William Chisoholm was a real man who was burned from his home by Patrick Sellar, with his elderly mother still inside during a violent eviction.
As a Writer/ Director and Scot living in the Western Highlands myself I was astonished to learn how many people were cleared and dispossessed like refugees between the 18th and 19th Centuries. And yet, out with documentaries, the magnitude of what happened has never been presented on screen before.
I wanted to create a story that would connect with a modern audience to share the past and to do this I try to address themes of purpose, compassion, and friendship in a time where it seemed none of this was present. Highland culture had been steeped in tradition and close relationships until the clearances. Their relationship with the land and their communities, was simple and in harmony with the land, only taking what they needed and working closely with the community to provide for each other. Although these communities were destroyed, I wanted to show that no matter what, these ideals can’t be taken away from the Highland people. Human compassion and our purpose in life is something we can chose and decide ourselves; even in the worst of times we can take control of this.