Nine Whales, Tiree | Glasgow Cathedral Festival

Late summer in 2018 saw mass whale strandings across the western shores of the Hebrides, with the beaches of Tiree becoming a final resting place for nine of these immense mammals. The mystery of their demise is underscored by strange conflicts of emotion: presence clashing with absence, and the abiding continuum of the sea contrasting sharply with the mortality of such majestic beasts. Seeking to present these opposing feelings, Nine Whales, Tiree captures the mood of the island following the strandings. Wildlife swarms around abandoned buildings, anonymous figures move in the distance—signs of life and decaying artifacts intertwine, posing questions about what our existence leaves behind. Crystalline, pure and striking, Olivia Booker’s cinematography allows the serenely powerful landscape of Tiree to speak for itself; poetry by Taylor Strickland gently communicates the islanders’ shared sense of community, history and place; and a brooding score by Fee Blumenthaler resonates with the timeless power of the ocean. This short film contains poetry, spoken in Gaelic with English subtitles.