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May 08, 2006
N.S. crew set to release Gaelic short film
CBC Arts
A Cape
Breton film team is vying to create what may be Canada's
first-ever Gaelic production.
The Wake
of Calum MacLeod is a six-minute film short set to premiere
in Cape Breton this summer.
"Calum
MacLeod is a very traditional Gaelic speaker who basically
loses his family to the modern world because he is sticking
with the old ways," Angus MacLeod, a Gaelic expert who stars
in the title role, told CBC News.
The film
is being produced as part of an Atlantic Filmmakers
Cooperative project promoting emerging filmmakers.
Director
Marc Almon and producer Nona MacDermid dreamed up the idea
for the film after they began taking Gaelic language
lessons.
"What we
would like to do is see Gaelic become a living language
again by having those normal everyday things happen,"
MacDermid said.
Since
Gaelic has "only a few hundred speakers in Canada and maybe
a few thousand in Scotland," Almon said, the film will
include English subtitles.
"It's a
small market but for me, the really key thing is that this
culture is so inspiring," he added. "The focus is on oral
tradition and there's a real focus on storytelling and
singing songs."
MacLeod
says the production represents a major step in a renaissance
of Gaelic culture by newer, younger generations.
"We're
losing most of the very old, fluent speakers but we are
seeing a revived interest among a lot of age groups and
we're seeing some children who are being brought up fluent
in Gaelic and English," he said.
"It's a
very interesting time, and it's hard to say where it's
going, but there's hope."
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Above photo:
Margaree (by Victor Maurice Faubert)
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