Embrace The Strange: A Weekend With Alchemy
From 1–4 May, the town of Hawick hosted the fifteenth edition of the Alchemy Film and Moving Image Festival. SCAN’s Deputy Director Helen Moore headed down for a weekend of film exploring political, social and environmental contexts, framed with genuine warmth, solidarity, and an ever-present sense of community.
After settling in on Friday, I was introduced to the work of Venezuelan film maker and artist Adriana Vila Guevara, exploring themes of knowledge and materiality, loss and identity. Up next was a screening of A Fidai Film, an award-winning feature from Kamal Aljafari which reclaimed archive images of Palestinian life, originally plundered from the Palestinian Resource Centre in 1982. The very fabric of this film mirrored ongoing violence and interruption to everyday life that Palestinian people have continually had to endure.
After a communal dinner with new friends, it felt special to be part of the launch of Noren, the debut record by Alchemy artist-in-residence Miwa Nagato-Apthorp. Miwa’s incredible voice tells stories that draw on Scottish and Japanese folk traditions, celebrating her dual heritage, existing in a global and local realms. This was followed by the famous Alchemy Ceilidh, providing the perfect ice breaker for this international gathering of film lovers.
On Saturday, I watched the short film On Weaving, created by Alchemy artists-in-residence Luke Fowler and Corin Sworn. The film takes us to High Sunderland, the modernist home of textile artists Bernat and Margaret Klein, designed by Peter Womersley. Maintaining a gentle pace, Fowler and Sworn focus on the peculiarities of the house: reflections, transparencies, and the way that the seasons change its ambience. Current owners and architecture and design historians Juliet Kinchin and Paul Stirton also feature in the film, sharing touching anecdotes about what it is like to live in a historic modernist home.
The Saturday evening screening was the UK premiere of Kouté vwa, the debut feature by Maxime Jean-Baptiste. The film explores community and youth and, in particular, the death of the artist’s own cousin who was murdered at a birthday party. It’s astonishing to note that the cast are all played by Jean-Baptiste’s own family members, giving this documentary-style film an unbelievable sense of intimacy.
The pride and expertise from the Alchemy team with regards to hosting and care shines through at every moment of the festival – from the warm welcome on arrival, to the exemplary accessibility measures that are in place. All films in the programme are captioned and the presence of BSL interpretors Lou and Louise ensures that everyone can be part of the dialogue.
Over the weekend I attended five screenings of curated short films, which took us to dreamworlds, taught us about ancestry, languages and their legacies, community, memory and loss and the exploration of moving image as a tool for conversation and reflection.
The final event I attended was Excerpts of Extraction, which started with Immigration Services, a powerful performance by New York-based Venezuelan artist Esperanza Mayobre, evoking the uncertainty of migration. The candles lit by Mayobre during the performance were then left to flicker under the cinema screen, while we watched two films that explored the transformation of Venezuela from a country buoyed by oil-driven industrialisation and consumerism, to a nation of displacement and neo-colonial extraction.
Alongside the wide and thoughtful range of screenings at the cinema venue, Heart of Hawick, additonal spaces in the town were activated by exhibitions from international artists – many of them returning to Alchemy after showing in previous years – including Monica Baptista, Isabele Barford and Lawrence Abu Hamdan. There were also new works showcased from the Borders Additional Needs Group, and members of Alchemy’s year-round filmmaking group for young people. The exhibitions created space outside of the cinema to think, and most importantly to really understand the work that Alchemy have put in to build partnerships and bring the voices of enduring collaborators – both global and local – back to a very special place and a very special audience.
I’d like to thank the Alchemy team for their hospitality, kindness and enduring friendship – and encourage everyone to visit next year! Follow @AlchemyFilmAndArts to find out more about the work that they do throughout the year, access essential critical thinking and get the dates for the 2026 festival in your calendar.
Images from top:
1. The Alchemy Festival team
2. Adriana Vila Guevara – Intertropical Vision (still)
3. Luke Fowler and Corin Sworn – On Weaving (production image)
4. Alchemy screening with BSL interpretation
5. Outside the main venue, Heart of Hawick