Aspen Shortfest / Full Frame Documentary Film Festival 2019 – Crannog
A young woman cares for 48 rescued and sick animals staying with them when they die - a contemplation on life, death and kindness.
Interview with Director Isa Rao
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
I made Crannog because I was fascinated by my protagonist Alexis’ approach to caring for animals in their final days. I am a cognitive neuroscientist and I have always been interested in animal consciousness. To me, it seems obvious that humans and most animals can feel joy, excitement and fear. And despite this, we still do not give animals the same consideration as humans, in particular in death and sickness. With Crannog I wanted to tell the story of somebody who did and who found their calling in doing so.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
Life, death and kindness are topics that everybody can relate to. Crannog immerses the audience in a place where death and life coexist. As a quiet, intimate film that provides a glimpse into the life of someone who has found their purpose in caring for others and who is constantly exposed to the reality of death, Crannog can offer a starting point for people to evaluate how they think about kindness and the human-animal relationship.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
Crannog is a story about a woman who has found her purpose in life, a theme that really resonates with me personally. I feel that as humans most of us search for this one purpose to dedicate our life to, a passion or a calling, that will ultimately give us some form of meaning. Witnessing another person find fulfilment in her work as seen in Crannog can be really inspiring for this.
The film also explores the fragility and strength that comes from caring for others when they are sick or close to dying and I feel this taps into the very universal question of how we should live our lives. Is dedication what makes life worth living? Is there a limit to how much we should suffer in the service to others? And finally, should kindness extend to all conscious creatures?
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
With Crannog being a documentary, we planned as much as we could beforehand in terms of what we thought was likely to happen but in the end, we just followed the story as it unfolded. I wanted to show how Alexis provides end of life care and follow her closely in this process and luckily this is what we got to capture in the end.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
We have gotten really warm and lovely responses to the film and wherever it gets screened it seems to spark discussions among the audience members.
Interestingly, there has been a clear divide between people who sympathise with our protagonist’s mission of caring for animals and people who find her way of life very strange.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
At first, I struggled with the idea that a viewer would watch the film and not sympathise with my protagonist’s way of life but I quickly realised that this is actually really helpful in sparking discussions and thoughts among audience members in regards to the themes of the film. I love that two people can watch the same film and come away with a different idea of what its story means to them personally.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
I hope that by having Crannog featured on this platform people will get intrigued about the themes of the film and join us for festival screenings and follow the upcoming online release.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
I would love for Crannog to reach a broad audience and so I would like to hear from buyers who would like to host the film on their platforms, film festival programmers, people who would like to screen the film locally and journalists who are intrigued by the film’s themes. Also, I would be thrilled to have people get in touch with me about my next project.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
I would like Crannog to make people think about the relationship between humans and animals and what it means to be kind in this world.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
Do animals experience death and the process of dying in a similar way to us?
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
We are currently in pre-production for a documentary that contemplates the human desire for connectedness with nature. It will contrast the life of a Kazakh ice fisherman living in the futuristic city of Astana with that of the fish he is catching. It will follow both, the life cycles of the fisherman and the fish during spring, summer, and winter when they ultimately meet on the iced plains of the local Ishim River.
Interview: April 2019
We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
Crannog
A young woman cares for 48 rescued and sick animals staying with them when they die - a contemplation on life, death and kindness.
Length: 14:56
Director: Isa Rao
Producer: Tom van den Hurk
Writer: Isa Rao
About the writer, director and producer:
ISA RAO is a filmmaker and cognitive neuroscientist based in Glasgow. Born and raised in Germany she has lived and studied in India and the UK. In 2018 Isa went on to direct her first commissioned short film, Crannog for the Scottish Documentary Institute. She is currently working on her next documentary project which will focus on the life cycles of Kazakh fishermen and the fish they are trying to catch.
TOM VAN DEN HURK is a Glasgow-based German filmmaker. He has directed numerous short films and stage plays, among them the award-winning and BAFTA-nominated film Blue Hour and is the producer of the award-winning documentary Crannog. He also works as a theatre practitioner and filmmaker in communities of high deprivation. His two current projects are the adult fairy tale Jack, currently in post-production, starring Karen Dunbar and Vagabonds, his first feature in development.
Key cast: Isa Rao (Director), Tom van den Hurk (Producer), Kieran Gosney (Editor), Adelaida Pardo (Cinematographer), Scott Walker (Sound), Ali Murray (Sound Design)
Looking for: distributors, film festival directors, buyers, journalists
Facebook: Crannog
Twitter: @CrannogFilm
Hashtags used: #crannogfilm #compassionmatters
Website: crannog.weebly.com
Other: IMDb
Made in association with: Scottish Documentary Institute and Creative Scotland
Funders: Creative Scotland
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month? Aspen Film Shortsfest/ Aspen, Colorado - 6th April 2019; Full Frame Documentary Film Festival/ Durham, NC - 5th April 2019; Wales International Documentary Festival, Cardiff, UK - 9th May 2019