Knepp is a beacon of hope for England’s wildlife. When Isabella and her husband inherited the estate to farm, they recognised how sick the land was. But a groundbreaking radical experiment has been nothing short of transformative. Now it’s a place where mussel-diving pigs, storks and butterflies find sanctuary, and where thriving flora and a vast array of animals have taken back the land. This is a charming, hopeful and necessary story of ecological regeneration.

In a deserted Macedonian village, Hatidze, a 50-something woman, trudges up a hillside to check her bee colonies nestled in the rocks. Serenading them with a secret chant, she gently maneuvers the honeycomb without netting or gloves. Back at her homestead, Hatidze tends to her handmade hives and her bedridden mother, occasionally heading to the capital to market her wares. One day, an itinerant family installs itself next door, and Hatidze’s peaceful kingdom gives way to roaring engines, seven shrieking children, and 150 cows. Yet Hatidze welcomes the camaraderie, and she holds nothing back—not her tried-and-true beekeeping advice, not her affection, not her special brandy. But soon Hussein, the itinerant family’s patriarch, makes a series of decisions that could destroy Hatidze’s way of life forever.

Winner of three awards at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival and nominated for two Academy Awards at the 2020 Oscars®.

A unique and poetic documentary that has been hailed as ‘pure cinema’ by Paul Thomas Anderson, directed by master Viktor Kossakovsky, invites us into the world of Gunda, a stoic sow trying to tend to a new litter of scrambling piglets. It's an intimate and stunningly immersive portrait, with long takes shot in a crisp monochrome, camera lying low in the eye line of its subjects. There is no score or narration, only the ambient sounds of the farm. Executive produced by Joaquin Phoenix, Kossakovsky’s follow-up to his 2018 hypnotic water study Aquarela is another deep mediation on nature and humanity’s relationship to it.

We will be hosting a fun look at Archival Footage from Rural Life and Farming (40 minutes) followed by a mingle with Mince Pies and Mulled Apple Juice to celebrate together pre-Christmas. This should be a nice end to the Film Nights in Forres for 2025.

Filmmaker Paul Wyatt's quest to understand Britain's enduring fascination with sheep and learn more about these fascinating animals led him on an unexpected and woolly adventure. ​

 In London, he met talented makers, discovered the vital green spaces of London City Farms, and connected with sheep experts. The film uncovers a surprising universe right in the heart of the capital, from encountering the multi-horned Manx sheep and hardy Herdwicks, to the deer-like Castlemilk Moorits.

​Join Paul and his camera as he explores the craft and effort involved in working with wool, from the farm to the finished product. The film features Justine Lee, fashion designer and author of “The Wonder of Wool: A Knitter's Guide to Pure Breed Sheep” , textile artist Remiiya Badru, weaver Majeda Clarke, the Yarn Whisperer Andrew Kite, as well as farmers, shearers, producers and many others who work with wool.

​Most importantly, prepare to meet Cow–who, despite the name, is most certainly a sheep, not a cow.