Screen Argyll and A Kind of Seeing present

Launch! On the Sea with Scotland’s Lifeboats

Launch! at Celtic Connections CREDIT Eoin Carey

Launch! is a brand new film + music experience diving into the heritage and cultural legacy of the RNLI as part of the Year of Coasts and Waters 2021.

More details coming soon. Follow #LaunchOnTheSea for updates.

Across the remarkable and varied coastlines of Scotland, RNLI lifeboat crews have been protecting our communities and saving lives at sea for nearly 200 years. The Institution holds an incredible film archive recording the voices, stories and images of bravery out on the open sea and in the heart of the communities it serves.

Launch! at Celtic Connections CREDIT Eoin Carey.

Launch! is an immersive, newly-scored film opening up the RNLI’s archive to international composer, sound artist and beatboxer Jason Singh and award-winning film curator Shona Thomson. Sharing a common obsession with the power of the sea, Jason and Shona are taking inspiration from the footage, sounds and stories to be found in this fascinating collection to create a new audio/visual work that explores our deep coastal connections. 

Joining Jason and Shona in developing the new film will be singer-songwriter and traditional musician Jenny Sturgeon of the acclaimed alt-folk band Salt House, Indo-jazz clarinettist and composer Arun Ghosh, and founder member of The Cinematic Orchestra pianist John Ellis.

We debuted a 30-minute version of the film with live score on Coastal Connections Day in Europe’s largest winter music festival Celtic Connections in January 2020. After much designing (and re-designing), we’ve decided we can’t safely tour the live score as originally planned, but the GOOD NEWS is that we’ll be releasing Launch! in cinemas this year. Watch this space!

Follow Launch On The Sea on FacebookTwitter and Instagram to keep up to date.

For a taste of Jason and Shona’s collaborative work, take a look at their 2017 tour.

Launch! is presented by Screen Argyll and A Kind of Seeing. 

It is supported by EventScotland’s Year of Coasts and Waters Events Fund, and by Film Hub Scotland, part of the BFI’s Film Audience Network and funded by BFI and Screen Scotland.