Iorram:
Uncovering Scotland’s forgotten Gaelic sound archive
The first theatrical documentary entirely in Scots Gaelic, Iorram (Boat Song) is a lyrical portrait of the fishing community in the Outer Hebrides, past and present.
Director Alastair Cole takes the audience on an immersive journey into the heart of a thousand-year-old community, blending observational footage shot over the past three years with archive sound recordings of stories and songs from the mid-20th century, set to an original score by acclaimed folk musician Aidan O’Rourke.
At the core of the film is an extraordinary trove of sound archive, recorded by pioneering Scottish ethnographers, who visited the Outer Hebrides to capture the hardship and romance of life lived in precarious balance with the sea.
These newly restored recordings preserve an oral history of lore and legends, tall tales and tragedies, passed down through generations of Gaelic speakers reaching back hundreds of years.
Image: courtesy of Tongue Tied Films
Image: courtesy of Tongue Tied Films
Director Alastair Cole said: "Iorram began as an experiment to make a cinematic film entirely composed from archive sound recordings and contemporary moving images.
The sound archive at the heart of this project contains over 30,000 pieces of previously untranslated and largely unheard Scottish Gaelic recordings, representing a treasure trove of cultural history and memories which deserve to be heard.
Making documentaries from archive film footage is a long-established practice, but there are also vast riches in sound archives around the world, which are gradually being digitised and restored, and potentially represent a valuable resource for filmmakers interested to explore the relationship between past and present, and between the ears and the eyes.
If cinema has historically prioritised vision over sound, this is a chance to redress the balance, and provide audiences with a new and deeply satisfying kind of cinematic experience."
The film premiered at Glasgow Film Festival 2021.
Iorram forms the heart of a research project which developed as a collaboration between the filmmaker-academic Alastair Cole, who is a lecturer in Film Practice at Newcastle University, and Magnus Course, a linguistic anthropologist at the University of Edinburgh.
The wider research project aimed to highlight the inter-relationship between the Gaelic language and fishing communities in the Outer Hebrides, as well as explore the creative practice possibilities of sound archive-led creative documentary filmmaking.
The sound archive at the heart of this project contains over 30,000 pieces of previously untranslated and largely unheard Scottish Gaelic recordings, today housed at the School of Scottish Studies Archives, representing a treasure trove of cultural history and memories which deserve to be heard.
“With a ready wit to balance the gentle melody of the language, these are tales that will sweep you away."
- Jennie Kermode, Eye for Film
Image: courtesy of Tongue Tied Films
"Culturally vital.... like unearthed treasure"
- Andrew Collins, Radio Times
Image: courtesy of Tongue Tied Films
About the filmmakers
Alastair Cole: Director, Producer, Cinematographer
Director Alastair Cole is an award-winning Edinburgh-based documentary filmmaker, originally from New Zealand. Iorram continues his filmmaking about the often subtle, intimate and increasingly political dynamics of language and society.
His previous films include the feature documentary Colours of the Alphabet, and three short documentaries. Colours of the Alphabet was released at the 2016 Glasgow Film Festival, and went on to screen at 40+ international film festivals, was broadcast in 30 languages across 52 countries internationally, as well as winning multiple awards including a nomination for a Grierson Award 2016.
His previous short films have been broadcast in 27 countries and screened at 50+ festivals around the world, including at Cannes Critics Week in 2011 and 2012. Alastair is also a lecturer in Film Practice at Newcastle University.
Colin Monie: Editor
Colin Monie, based in Glasgow, has established himself as one of the UK’s leading editors, through an extensive fiction, television and documentary editing career.
His documentary work includes the critically acclaimed Jig by Sue Bourne, and more recently Bafta-winning Nae Pasaran, From Scotland with Love, We Are Northern Lights and Alastair Cole’s Colours of the Alphabet.
His fiction work includes Young Adam, The Magdalene Sisters, The Unloved, Water and Midnight's Children.
Adam Dawtrey: Producer
Adam Dawtrey founded Bofa Productions in 2013 with Mary Bell.
The company is based in Bridge of Allan, Stirlingshire. Adam’s feature credits as a producer include A Story of Children and Film, d. Mark Cousins (official selection, Cannes 2013, UK distributor Dogwoof, sales Hanway, UK TV on FilmFour); Antonia Bird: From EastEnders to Hollywood, d. Susan Kemp (UK theatrical release at BFI Southbank, HOME, GFT, Filmhouse etc, TV broadcast on BBC4); Stockholm My Love, d. Mark Cousins (Stockholm Film Festival, London Film Festival etc, UK distributor BFI, TV broadcast on BBC2); The Eyes of Orson Welles, d. Mark Cousins (official selection, Cannes 2018, special commendation in the documentary competition; UK distributor and world sales, Dogwoof, UK tv on BBC4).
Aidan O’Rourke: Composer
Iorram is the first film score by Aidan O’Rourke, the Edinburgh-based fiddle player and composer who forms part of the trio Lau. Aidan was named Radio 2 folk musician of the year in 2014, and Scots Trad Musician of the year in 2011.
The soundtrack album for Iorram is now available through Reveal Records.
The film stemmed from the research of Dr Magnus Course, who was also the film's co-producer and academic advisor. Magnus is a senior lecturer in linguistic anthropology at the University of Edinburgh.
The film would not have been possible without a dedicated and skilled Scottish gaelic language and translation team including lead translator and subtitler Joan MacKenzie, as well as Translation and song consultant Gillebride MacIllemhaoil, and Translation support from Curstaidh NicDhòmhnaill, Àdhamh Ó Broin.