GFF 2013: Margaret Tait, Film Poet

This unassuming documentary from Glasgow Women’s Library is a short and sweet introduction to Scottish filmmaker and poet Margaret Tait. Since her death in 1999 at the age of 80, the artist's name has become synonymous with experimental and innovative filmmaking, to the point that an award supporting new artistic talent exists in her honour. Screened alongside a companion piece from director Sarah Forrest, Margaret Tait, Film Poet seeks to demonstrate the roots and impact of her work and patronage.

Interviews with Tait’s family expose the late enigma's passionate life and methods, while stills from her films evoke the sense of place that was so central to her work, much of which was inspired by her homes in Edinburgh and Orkney. The seemingly obvious but important distinction between her “poems” (films) and her “poem poems” is made clear throughout. This is a fantastic, free insight for fans and the unfamiliar alike. [Nicola Balkind]