简介：JohnMacfadyen(TheStripesintheTartan)(1970,4mins) PainteddirectlyontofilmwithamarchtuneentitledJohnMacfadyen. MargaretTaitwasoneofBritain'smostuniqueandindividualartistfilmmakers.Overthecourseof46yearssheproducedover30filmsincludingonefeature,BlueBlackPermanent(1992)andpublishedfivebooksofpoetryandshortstories,whilelivingbetweentheIslandofOrkneyandEdinburgh. Margaretdescribedherlife'sworkasconsistingofmakingfilm-poems.SheoftenquotedLorca'sphraseof'stalkingtheimage'todefineherphilosophyandmethod,theideathatifyoulookatanobjectcloselyenoughitwillspeakitsnature. Thisclarityofvisionandpurposewithanattentiontosimplecommonplacesubjectscombinedwithararesenseofinnerrhythmandpatterngiveherfilmsatranscendentalquality,whilestillremainingfirmlyrootedwithintheeveryday.Margaretoncesaidofherfilms,withcharacteristicmodesty,thattheyarebornof'ofsheerwonderandastonishmentathowmuchcanbeseeninanyplacethatyouchoose...ifyoureallylook'. HailingfromtheOrkneys,butwithatouchoftheItalianNeo-Realistsabouther,filmmakerandpoetMargaretTaitproducedabodyofshortfilmsandonefeature,whichshelikedtorefertoasfilmpoetry-aratheroff-puttingtitleforsomeuniqueandbeautifulfilms. HavingspenttwoyearsstudyingfilminRomeintheearly50s,TaitsoonreturnedtoScotlandtostartherownprojects.Sheblendedthematter-of-factimageryoftheNeo-Realistswithhermorelyricalsensibilities,seekingadepictionofrealitythatwasclosertopoetrythantoafilmdocumentarystyle.Languageishighlyprevalentinherwork,beittheelegiacvoiceovers,useofdialectsorchalked-outwordscroppingupinherimages,addingrhythmandsyntaxtothefootageshecaptures. Taitwasprotectiveofher36filmsinthelateryearsofherlife,preferringthattheyexistedfortheirmomentratherthanformpartofaretrospective.OnlyonherdeathweretheyhandedovertothekeenScottisharchivistswhohadsoughtforsolongtopreserveherwork.Itwouldbenicetorespectherwishes,butit'sactuallymuchbettertowatchherwork.…