SWAN SONG | INTERNATIONALLY MULTI-AWARD WINNING SHORT FILM

Director & film maker: Barry Wilkinson; pianist & composer: James Oram; artist: Michelle Lucking; performance artist: Niamh Gaia
Event: FILM SCREENING (6 minutes) FOLLOWED BY Q&A SESSION WITH MICHELLE LUCKING, BARRY WILKINS, NIAMH GAIA & JAMES ORAM
Venue: Somerset Hall
Date: Saturday, 24th September
Time: 3.00 - 3.30 pm
ArtPort is delighted to announce this screening of internationally multi-award winning short film "Swan Song,” followed by a 30 minute Q&A session with director Barry Wilkins, performance artist Niamh Gaia, musician James Oram and artist Michelle Lucking.

During 2020, four local artists (film-maker Barry Wilkinson, pianist and composer James Oram, pastel artist Michelle Lucking and performance artist Niamh Gaia) came together and collaborated to create a unique and internationally multi award winning short film Swan Song.

Combining their talents for film-making, composing, performing and painting, this film depicts a beautiful story of love and loss, inspired by Shakespeare's character Ophelia.

The film has been screened at film festivals around the world and has already won several awards for Best Film and one for Best Original Score.

In western culture, the phrase "swan song" refers to the final performance or accomplishment by a creative artist, especially when produced shortly before death.

Director and film maker Barry Wilkinson says of the project:

I have worked with James Oram multiple times on music videos, as well as having created a few films for Michelle Lucking. The three of us started talking and discussed an idea where we could all work on a larger collaboration piece with performance artist Niamh Gaia. With a traditional short film, you would usually have the music composed afterwards and work to a storyboard, but with this project we composed the music beforehand. Composer James Oram worked with Barry to create a piece of music that would hit 'key moments' in the film. Once the piece was completed, not only did it provide a framework for the edit of the film (which had yet to have been shot) but also allowed to serve as inspiration for artist Michelle Lucking when working on the painting.

The film was shot over a few days in the cold winter of 2020/2021 in and around Portishead. The shoot involved Niamh entering a pond in the local Priors Wood in the bitter cold, before we transitioned to a private pool to finish the shoot. Scenes were filmed with Michelle on several occasions as she worked on the painting, and a few performances of James Oram playing the score were also filmed for inclusion in the edit. From the outset no-one really know what the final piece(s) would be, but we're all really proud that they can sit alongside one another as one piece of artwork - Swan Song.


Michelle Lucking is also exhibiting her award-winning pastel works in Somerset Hall as part of the festival. View her profile here: