We Are All Migrants - 20 mins film

"We Are All Migrants" is a 20 minute experimental archive and music documentary film exploring the theme of European Migration which was presented at the international HERA funded Conference 'Imag(in)ing Europe' in Utrecht on 16th Sept 2016. "We Are All Migrants" builds on the research approach of using 'cinema as research tool' to explore and reflect on 20th century history, culture and questions of identity that was begun with my BAFTA nominated feature documentary "From Scotland With Love". In researching and directing these archive and music films I am inspired by Ingmar Bergman’s idea of ‘film as dream and film as music’ - a progression of moods and feelings that take the audience on an emotional journey into our collective past. My approach is to create a cinematic meditation on 20th century experience, which allows us to question and reflect on the past in a way that resonates with a contemporary audience. As director of "We Are All Migrants" my artistic collaboration with the composer was an iterative process of visual and musical writing of the film where I was responsible for the overall creative vision. I decided to explore broad themes of migration arising from the research process - displacement from home, uncertainty, pain and loss, hope for a new life, family, work, discrimination and alienation set against the possibility of building new communities and forging new identities. I wanted to experiment with using images and music to sketch the broad themes of European migration in the second half of the 20th century, without sacrificing the ability to depict that story in an intimate, emotionally engaging and meaningful way.