At the Congregational Board meeting held in the Fellowship Hall on 20 January 2016, Yvonne Findlay provided an update report on the progress of the film project “Lossiemouth Northern Lights”.

If you have not read any of our previous articles about the project, the recent trailer video produced by Creative Visions Moray is a good way into understanding what the project was about (in case you don’t want to read the rest of this article).

St James’ Church secured the progress of the initial phase of the Lossiemouth film project by making a donation of £1,000.

From the Summer of 2015 onwards, Yvonne and her colleagues guided a group of local young people in filming, animation and interview techniques so as to produce a video about the town of Lossiemouth, past and present: a film celebrating the lives and times of Lossiemouth.

Screenings of the film began with a preview at Moray Golf Club. The premiere was held in St James’ and also a later party for the launch of the DVD. St Gerardine’s hosted a matinee performance of the film and the final public showing was in Lossiemouth Baptist Church.

Summary of benefits

Yvonne gave an overview of some of the benefits she felt had come from the project:

• The film itself: a permanent record for the benefit of the town.

• 19 inter-generational workshops, involving music, animation, film-making, drama, dance and heritage.

• The associated exhibition of material – from the film and much more.

• Representation of the Christian community in the town – many stories of faith featured.

• Enhanced community awareness of our past and present.

• 5 social screening events, bringing the community together.

• St Gerardine’s and St James’ Churches working closely together for the benefit of the community.

• The young people’s experience: the project gave them a sense of belonging; it allowed them to explore their talents; it gave experience of group and team work; it fostered the development of their communication skills.

• It was something for the community to be proud of.

Returning to the young people, their comments were universally positive, including:

“I learned a lot about Lossie I did not know.”

“It has been amazing. Making the film was very inspiring. I want to do a lot more.”

“I want to do a sequel.”

“Really enjoyed it and will definitely do it again.”

Audience feedback has included:

“Wonderful & spellbinding…could not be better.”

“Really uplifting.”

“Shows how wonderful Lossiemouth is! Fantastic that this film can be shared.”

“Poignant, realistic portrayal.”

“Would be lovely to see more like this. Show it annually!”

You can read a full review of the DVD of ‘Lossiemouth Northern Lights’ (reviewed by musician and songwriter, Abi Rooley-Towle) on the Inside Moray website.

Abi’s comments included that the outcome of the project “was a piece of artistic community storytelling, at a human pace. … A history that, thankfully, has been humanely told, before the last generation of fishing folk pass on.”

How to get your copy of the DVD

‘Lossiemouth Northern Lights’ is available from Miele’s and Buckleys in Lossiemouth or by contacting yvonne@creativevisionsmoray.co.uk