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The full programme has been revealed for the 12th edition of Scotland’s Folk Film Gathering. Mixing new and archive folk cinema from Scotland and across the world, the festival will run from 1 – 10 May at Cameo Cinema and the Scottish Storytelling Centre in Edinburgh.
The world’s first film festival devoted to folk cinema returns to Edinburgh with Dennis Harvey and Lars Lovén’s Locarno Grand Prix-winning celebration of Ireland’s current folk renaissance, Celtic Utopias; 8mm home movies from the Outer Hebrides, from Faodail | Found; Jack Archer’s Sailm nan Daoine (Psalms of the People) documentary; classic Polish folk horror; stories of women’s resistance from Peru to Morocco; a specially curated selection of the early, rarely-seen silent films made by Bill Douglas and Peter Jewell, and much more. Henry Srour’s groundbreaking Lebanese drama-documentary hybrid Leila and the Wolves will get a rare cinema screening, in a packed multi-location programme of film and live performance.
It’s a wonderfully eclectic programme. Here’s our top ten highlights and recommendations…
Faodail | Found
A dynamic mix of archive film and live music celebrating indigenous perspectives upon life in the Outer Hebrides, drawn from FAODAIL | FOUND’s growing collection of 8mm home movies. Documenting the lived experiences of communities across the islands, this specially-curated selection of films from the archive will be accompanied by a live score from celebrated Gaelic musicians Pàdruig Morrison and Claire Frances MacNeil (2 May)
Get tickets here: Scottish Storytelling Centre
Hastrman
Exploring Eastern European folklore of the hastrman – a water spirit that is part-man, part-fish – Ondrˇej Havelka’s mysterious love story tells the tale of Baron de Casus, a strange nobleman who returns to his family estate after years away from home. Whilst attempting to hide his secrets from the local villagers, the Baron’s growing love for Katynka draws him towards a fateful decision. The screening will be introduced with Czech folk songs from Marta Stryjecka. (2 May)
Women in Resistance: Las Damas Azules + Iron Ladies, a special double bill event exploring the cross-cultural resonances and solidarities between Scotland and Peru, focussing in particular upon moments where women have been at the centre of powerful movements of community struggle and industrial action.
What do the struggles of women in the Andean highlands to protect endangered water resources have in common with the UK Miners’ Strike? This special double bill event will explore cross-cultural resonances and solidarities between Scotland and Peru, focussing in particular upon moments where women have been at the centre of powerful movements of community struggle and industrial action.
Presented in partnership with Resonating Moving Images, the event will be followed by a discussion led by RMI’s Verónica Zela Valdez, Sara Guerrero and Ximena Oñate. (3 May).
Tickets here: Women in Resistance Double Bill | Showtimes and Tickets
Lokis
1970s Polish folk horror classic Lokis: A Manuscript of Professor Wittembach, following a young pastor and folklorist studying local customs in a remote part of 19th-century Lithuania, who is invited to stay with a young nobleman who the locals believe to be the son of a bear. Introduced by live Eastern European folk tales from Lithuanian storyteller Daiva Ivanauskaitė. (4 May)
Get tickets here: Lokis: A Manuscript of Professor Wittembach | Showtimes and Tickets
Celtic Utopia
The Scottish premiere of Celtic Utopia, Dennis Harvey and Lars Lovén’s Locarno Grand Prix-winning celebration of Ireland’s current folk renaissance, documenting a new generation of young folk musicians who are bold, funny and politically outspoken. Featuring Lankum, The Mary Wallopers, The Deadlians and more, Celtic Utopia is a funny, poetic film about a new generation drawing on the power of folk music to reckon with the legacies of colonialism, whilst embracing the freer possibilities of the future. Introduced with a live Irish folk tune session from David Lennon. (5 May)
Get tickets here: Celtic Utopia | Showtimes and Tickets
Celebrating the Rojava Film Commune
A celebration of the work of the Rojava Film Commune, a women-centred collective of filmmakers based in the autonomous region of Rojava in northern Syria. Featuring two compelling documentaries exploring traditional forms of singing (Dengbêj) in Kurdistan, highlighting the importance of oral traditions in preserving the culture and history of communities under threat. The screening will be introduced with a special mini-concert from Scotland-based Kurdish musicians Rengê Welat. (6 May)
Get tickets here: Celebrating the Rojava Film Commune | Showtimes and Tickets
Leila and the Wolves
A rare screening of Henry Srour’s groundbreaking Lebanese drama-documentary hybrid Leila and the Wolves, following a young woman living in London in the 1980s who discovers the hidden past of women’s struggle across Palestine and Lebanon, and seeks to rewrite a new, feminist history of the Middle East. Mixing the real and the imaginary, and described by John Akromfah as ‘a rich tableau of history, folklore, myth and archive’, Srour’s audacious film is a brilliant testament to the active, activist and defiant women of Lebanon and Palestine. Introduced by the Scottish-Palestinian poet Nada Shawa. (7 May)
Get tickets here: Leila and the Wolves | Showtimes and Tickets
Bill Douglas: Rare Glimpses
One of the most important figures in Scottish cinema, who yet only made a small handful of films, Bill Douglas remains something of an enigma. Taking us deeper into Douglas’ experiments with cinema, this screening will present a specially- curated selection of the early, rarely-seen silent films made by Douglas and Peter Jewell (presented here with a new live score), alongside a chance to see the newly-digitized Ring of Truth (Richard Downes, Scotland, 1996, 30min), written by Bill Douglas and produced by students at Strathclyde University. At once playful, strange and disquieting, this special event will explore new dimensions to one of Scotland’s most important artists. The screening will feature a new, live score from Edinburgh-based musicians Dalhous. (8 May, Cameo)
Buy tickets here: Bill Douglas: Rare Glimpses | Showtimes and Tickets
Sailm nan Daoine
Fresh from its acclaimed World premiere at Glasgow Film Festival, a special screening of Sailm nan Daoine (which we reviewed here Sailm nan Daoine, a Gaelic Road Trip) is a warm, moving documentary follows local Scottish-Gaelic psalm precentor Rob MacNeacail as he seeks to bring Scotland’s rich traditions of Gaelic salm singing to new generations. Sailm nan Daoine follows Rob’s journey across Scotland and Ireland, from Carlops to the Outer Hebrides to bring together communities old and new through the power of music. (10 May).
Go here for tickets: Sailm Nan Daoine (Psalms Of The People) | Folk Films 2026
Andriesh
The festival closes with a screening of the newly-remastered 1954 Ukrainian classic Andriesh, introduced with a special concert from the Edinburgh Ukrainian Choir. The feature film debut from visionary director Sergei Parajanov now newly remastered by Kyiv’s Dovzhenko Centre, Andriesh follows the story of a young shepherd boy who comes into possession of an enchanted flute, which he must use to defeat the evil wizard known as the Black Whirlwind. An early glimpse of Parajanov’s gift for remarkable cinematic imagery, Andriesh is a magical cinematic folk tale and a classic of Ukrainian poetic cinema.
The festival also forms part of the programme of TradFest, Edinburgh’s annual celebration of the past, present and future of Scottish music. Folk Film Gathering is produced by Transgressive North and funded by Screen Scotland. Tickets are on sale now here: Folk Cinemas and the Folk Film Gathering | Scotland