Reel to Real returns for the New Year with a screening of Matt Hulse’s Sound For the Future, part essay film, part exploration of post-punk British music and DIY culture. A family history seen through the fractured lens of art, self-exploration, music, politics and attitude, Sound For The Future is a passionate, hilarious and brazenly honest delve into the creative process.
About the Film
On the surface, acclaimed artist-filmmaker Matt Hulse’s affectionate recreation of the time he and his siblings formed Britain’s youngest post-punk band THE HIPPIES in 1979 can be viewed as a wistful and energetic memoir. But dig beneath and you’ll find a powerful, battered and bruised ode to childhood and the experiences which make us us.
We join Matt as he reimagines The Hippies in the modern day, recruiting a group of teenage Scottish actors to play the parts of himself, his sister Polly and brother Toby in a series of workshops and experiments to revive that momentous moment.
Part essay film, part exploration of post-punk British music and DIY culture, the creation of The Hippies was fuelled by Matt hearing Gang Of Four’s debut EP, kickstarting a lifelong creative and personal odyssey. Sound For The Future features music from XTC, Gang Of Four, Sleaford Mods, The Stranglers and The Hippies and the film also features one of the final appearances of Gang Of Four’s Andy Gill before his untimely death in 2020.
Watch the Film Trailer here:
About Reel to Real
Reel to Real Cinema is a monthly film space in the Stove Cafe, featuring an eclectic mixture of conversational films – from artist made shorts to feature length documentaries, locally made to international cinema. A space for discussion and thought-provoking films, you are welcome to join us after the film for a short discussion about the themes from this month’s selection. The Stove cafe will be open from 5.30pm – 7pm with a special pre-film dinner option alongside hot drinks and cakes.
Access Information: Level Access in rear of building through adjacent close to left-hand side of the Cafe (facing the front of the building). To ensure your experience with us is as best as it can be, please do let us know if you have any specific access requirements and we’d be happy to help. Please email Kevin or Sal on: [email protected] or phone 01387 252435 and speak with one of our team. We are able to provide walk-throughs of the building before attending our events as well as assign seating before your arrival.
The Wild Goose Festival returned for another year of inspiring and educational family-friendly activities and events. Read about our 2023 Festival below.
The Wild Goose Festival returned to Dumfries and Galloway this autumn, bringing with it a flock of exciting events and activities for all ages. The festival, which ran from October 19th – 29th, is inspired by the annual migration of geese to the Solway Firth.
Over the course of the festival, the public had the opportunity to learn about the incredible journey of these birds, as well as the diverse ecosystems and wildlife of Dumfries and Galloway. The festival also featured a variety of creative workshops, interactive storytelling sessions, and nature walks.
A Celebration of Nature, Creativity and Place
Image by Steve NichollsThe WGF 2023 Press Call
The Wild Goose Festival is not just about geese; it celebrates both the inspirational journey undertaken by our feathered friends and our deep connection with the natural world.
This year’s family-friendly program aimed to engage communities through creativity, education, and play, building meaningful relationships and encouraging people of all generations to reconnect with their environment.
With events taking place throughout the region, from Stranraer across to Glencaple, the Wild Goose Festival saw an audience of around 4200 people celebrating the journey of the geese.
A Hub for Discovery and Creativity
The Wild Goose Festival Hub in the Loreburne Centre#KeepLookingUpInside the Hub
This year’s Festival Hub opened its doors in a brand new location within the Loreburne Centre in Dumfries. The Hub served as an information point for the festival, as well as an accessible space where a variety of fun and creative activities was hosted.
At the hub, members of the public could engage with individuals dedicated to protecting our natural resources, unleash their creativity with artists, and delve into the fascinating world of wild geese, discovering why these birds make their annual pilgrimage to Dumfries & Galloway.
Around 800 people visited the Hub this year, to see the full programme of events that were available, click here.
A Festival for All Ages
Image by Kirstin McEwanImage by Peter Jordan
The Wild Goose Festival’s family-friendly program cultivated meaningful conversation between generations and encouraged participants to reconnect with the environment around them.
From seasoned birdwatchers to curious newcomers, the Wild Goose Festival 2023 had a range of events for all ages and backgrounds. To view each of our 2023 events visit here.
A Focus on Environmental Awareness
Image by Kirstin McEwanImage by Kirstin McEwan
Wild Goose serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of preserving our natural heritage. The conclusion of our 2023 festival Three Sisters – A Story from the Climate Future promoted this sentiment, premiering an immersive audio drama set in 2030 questioning how we will live under the impacts of climate change.
The Stove Networks creative response to this year’s festival was the Keep Looking Up Roaming Exhibition. This exhibition invited members of the public to observe the skies and consider our relationship with the non-human inhabitants of our everyday spaces. The artwork prompted new ways of observing our wildlife and how we impact it, and vice versa.
A Legacy of Inspiration
This year the Creative Spaces team worked with pupils from Laurieknowe Primary School to deliver a series of creative workshops on the migration of Geese and their relevance to the region. Learn more here.
As the Wild Goose Festival draws to a close this year, it leaves a legacy of inspiration and environmental stewardship of the unique biodiversity of Dumfries and Galloway.
The festival’s commitment to engaging communities through art, culture, and nature will continue in 2024.
In the run-up to Wild Goose Festival 2023, the Creative Spaces team worked with pupils from Laurieknowe Primary School to deliver a series of creative workshops on the migration of Geese and their relevance to the region. We would first like to say a huge thank you to Laurieknowe’s P4 class and both teachers who were brilliant to work with!
The first day Creative Spaces went into the primary school we were pretty nervous. We had a plan but were also prepared to be flexible as we didn’t know what to expect from the class. The P4s were really excited to see us and paid close attention as we introduced ourselves and showed them a short video about bird migration. When we asked them questions afterwards, they were all eager to put their hands up and show off their recall skills. We started to see their different personalities shine through and were reassured by the energy of the class – they were so ready to learn about geese!
The next task was map-based. We put a big world map onto each of the 3 tables in the classroom and worked in groups to identify the places where the different species (Barnacle, Greenland White-Fronted, Light-Bellied Brent, and Pink Footed Geese) breed. The first challenge for the kids was spotting Scotland (it’s tiny!) and then understanding that the geese fly hundreds of miles to get here from Iceland, Greenland, Svalbard and Canada even though it’s only a few centimetres on the map. We gave them little card cutouts of geese that they could move around the map – some of the kids’ geese were much more interested in flying to Africa and South America than following their usual migration patterns.
After learning a lot in the classroom about where the geese in Dumfries come from, when and why they come and go, and the challenges they face on their long journeys, we relocated to the hall for an active break. We had come up with a loose concept for a game, where we held up the flags for different countries that the kids had to ‘fly’ between. A few of them played different risks such as predators (foxes, eagles, badgers), wind turbines, bad weather etc. The ‘geese’ had to make it safely to their destination (Scottish flag) without being caught by a ‘risk’, otherwise they would join the obstacles in the middle of the hall. They had a blast with this active learning, amongst the noise and chaos, and enjoyed the challenge of running in V formations like the geese fly.
Active Break to learn more about geese.
We then went back to the classroom for a drawing activity. Each child received a comic strip template designed by Korey and drew/coloured in the story of the wild geese migration. They were really impressed by Korey’s ability to draw a goose and were queuing up to get his help with it. This seemed to be the recurring theme of the day, with everyone asking Korey to tie their shoelaces as they left at 3 o’clock! It was an all-around successful afternoon, and we went home feeling very tired but encouraged.
Before starting Day Two, the team were slightly daunted by the task of engaging the class for an entire day about geese and incorporating more research-based lessons. These nerves immediately disappeared when recapped what the class had learned from the previous session and realised how much they had remembered from only one afternoon.
We decided to dedicate the morning to teaching the class about Goose habitats – what they need to nest and to protect themselves from various dangers. In groups, the kids designed beautiful three-dimensional habitats out of coloured paper and freestanding elements arranged inside shoeboxes. We then moved on to the computers so that the class could complete some further research and fill out their ‘Goose Facts’ booklets.
Colouring in geese cartoon strips
This helped the kids differentiate the different goose species that come to D&G and put all their findings in one place. Just before lunch, we switched things up and held a goose-making workshop where the kids had the choice of dressing our pre-made chicken wire geese in newspaper scraps or making miniature tinfoil geese. What was most impressive was watching the pools of PVA glue and mountains of newspaper scraps disappear and the classroom return to its previous state in a matter of minutes before the lunch bell.
In the afternoon, we decided to put the kids’ learning to the test with a newsreader task complete with costumes. Finally, we brought in our goose expert extraordinaire Hagen Patterson, to answer all the questions the kids had come up with over the past two sessions. They loved having their burning questions answered and it was hilarious watching the Q&A go off track with a couple of questions (shout out to the pupil who asked which goose was the tastiest to eat). However, the highlight was definitely Hagen’s true-to-life goose calls which showed the class a fun, tangible example of the differences between the various geese species they were learning about.
We felt a great sense of achievement after the second day as we achieved a better flow between the various lesson plans and felt genuine excitement from the class about geese migrating to our region.
A very magnificent goose!
On Thursday the 12th of October the Creative Spaces team headed into Laurieknowe Primary School for the final time. The class were just as excited to see us, and the feeling was mutual. During the third visit, the team felt more comfortable and at ease with the P4 class. The lessons were well received and as the kids had familiarized themselves with us, they were genuinely engaged, and the lesson continued at a good pace.
The lesson of the day was centred around Scots language and poetry with the theme of Geese. Mia grabbed the class’s attention immediately with a self-written Scots Poem about Geese visiting Dumfries. At this point, it was interesting to see which Scottish words the kids already knew or didn’t know. This was a great way to introduce some Scots Words to the pupils’ developing vocabulary.
So, using words provided (and explained) by us, and some useful goose facts, the children were then prompted to write their own poems. They did brilliantly and it was a great pleasure to help translate regular English words into Scots for the kids. That in particular was something they were all excited about, and even though it wasn’t mandatory, all the pupils stuck to writing about Geese.
The brilliant poems were available to view at the Wild Goose Festival Hub in the Lorebrune Centre during this year’s festival. Towards the end of the day, we also finished off our miniature goose sculptures with some coloured pens and got some great results, which were also displayed in the WGF Hub.
Our Public Art Lead, Katie Anderson, tells us about the Keep Looking Up Roaming Installation, The Stove’s artistic response to this year’s Wild Goose Festival.
As part of this year’s Wild Goose Festival, I’ve been invited as part of my Public Art Lead role to create and host a playful birdwatching experience inspired by the returning migratory bird population. Appearing in and around Dumfries town centre, this new artwork will explore bird watching in a creative way at dedicated pop-up spaces produced for viewing and listening to birds and their behaviours.
As ‘Roaming Birdwatchers’, the artwork – of no fixed location – will ‘pop up’ in four different public spaces around Dumfries. This interactive artwork will ask those passing by to pause and reflect on our non-human winter residents.
Audiences and members of the public are invited to join the Wild Goose Festival affiliated artists and partners in an outdoor environment to observe the skies and consider our relationship with the non-human inhabitants of our everyday spaces. The artwork comprises a series of colourful deckchairs, a commissioned soundscape using audio recorded from local visitors and alternative viewing devices for seeing the birds and wildlife differently.
The project is inspired by the Wild Goose Festival’s theme ‘Keep Looking Up’ and includes a series of project flags that will appear around the town. Each flag will encourage those passing by to look skyward and spot the returning bird population as they continue to arrive. Also, each flag will act as a message of hope and optimism in challenging times. How can we see the town differently, and what new ways of seeing can help us uncover unique understandings of our place?
The Keep Looking Up roaming installation will be found in and around the town centre on the following dates:
Thursday 19th at 1 pm – 4 pm
Friday 20th at 1 pm – 4 pm
Monday 23rd at 2 pm – 5 pm
Thursday 26th at 1 pm – 4 pm
The pop-up locations will not be published in advance, but sites could include Dumfries High Street/Fountain Square, the Whitesands, Greensands and Dumfries Museums sites. If you would like to find the roaming installation, please pop into the Wild Goose Festival Hub in the Loreburne Centre for information on the day.
This month for our last Reel to Real of the year, we are joined by director and filmmaker Patrick Rooney with a screening of his documentary, In The Red. Marking 5 years of filmmaking this year, during the Q&A we’ll be discussing his experiences and getting started in a competitive industry.
About the Film In the red (Director’s cut):
‘In The Red’ is an award-winning feature-length documentary film about Speedway motorcycle racing in the UK, taken from the perspective of the Glasgow Tigers club during their 2019 season. The film follows the Tigers’ highs and lows as they travel across the UK, competing against other Speedway teams for the title in their Championship League. The film also documents the current condition of Speedway; a sport that faces an uncertain future as many clubs continue to shut down across the country. As well as presenting the thrilling drama that takes place on and off the track, the film highlights some of the amazing personal stories of Glasgow Tigers fans and volunteers; the people who make this community so special and who never fail to bring an emotional touch to the film.
‘In The Red’ is the feature-length documentary directorial debut from Patrick Rooney, who also filmed and edited the entire feature over an eight month period. The Director’s Cut of the film was selected and nominated across 15 international film festivals, winning 4 awards, including ‘Best Feature’ at the Black Hills Moto Film Festival. The film was sponsored by Allied Vehicles and Executive Produced by Gerry Facenna.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR:
Patrick Rooney is an award-winning freelance director and filmmaker, working under the title of DEAR FRIEND Films. He produces a variety of high quality, professional video and film content: from feature films, short films and documentaries, to promotional videos, showreels and other online content. Based in Glasgow, Scotland, Patrick is experienced in working with various communities and organisations across the U.K., as well as with a number of international clients. He also continues to collaborate with other production companies across the U.K.
About Reel to Real Cinema:
Reel to Real Cinema is a monthly film space in the Stove Cafe, featuring an eclectic mixture of conversational films – from artist made shorts to feature length documentaries, locally made to international cinema. A space for discussion and thought-provoking films, you are welcome to join us after the film for a short discussion about the themes from this month’s selection.
The Stove cafe will be open from 5.30pm – 7pm with a special pre-film dinner option alongside hot drinks and cakes.
Access Information: Level Access in rear of building through adjacent close to left-hand side of the Cafe (facing the front of the building). To ensure your experience with us is as best as it can be, please do let us know if you have any specific access requirements and we’d be happy to help. Please email Kevin or Sal on: [email protected] or phone 01387 252435 and speak with one of our team. We are able to provide walk-throughs of the building before attending our events as well as assign seating before your arrival.
Wild Goose Festival is back for 2023. This year’s programme offers a fun-filled series of inspiring and educational, family-friendly activities and events across Dumfries & Galloway.
The eleven-day festival runs from 19th – 29th October, weaving art, culture, and nature together through a series of activities from interactive storytelling, nature walks, conversations to performances and creative workshops for all ages.
