Scotland’s environmental film festival returns from 11–13 September with 10 Scottish and three UK premieres, live filmmaker conversations, a 100th-film celebration and guests travelling from across Scotland and around the world
With less than one month to go, filmmakers, artists, campaigners and environmental storytellers are preparing to travel to Montrose for the fourth annual LandxSea Film Festival.
Included in the programme is Jeanie Finlay’s All Rivers Spill Their Stories to the Sea, which receives its Scottish premiere at LandxSea ahead of its wider cinema release. The film follows fisherman Stan Rennie and a northeast England coastal community seeking answers after thousands of dead crabs and lobsters wash ashore. The story has strong resonances for communities along Scotland’s east coast, where fishing heritage, industrial development and the changing use of ports and coastal waters continue to shape local life.
Taking place at the community-owned Montrose Playhouse from 11–13 September, the festival will bring together 22 films and a packed programme of live Q&As, musical performances, workshops, community activities and conversations exploring the future of land, sea and the living world.
Among those making the “migration” to Montrose is Australian-born, Arctic-based filmmaker Adam Sébire, who is travelling entirely by train and overland from his home in the far north of Norway - a four-day journey - to attend the UK premiere of his Greenland-set short film Sikoqqinngisaannassooq. Filmed in Uummannaq in north-west Greenland, the film follows local children carving Indigenous words into the sea ice, naming what is being lost and imagining a future without ice. Sébire will join audiences for a live discussion following the screening.
Montrose LandxSea Film Festival takes place at Montrose Playhouse from Friday 11 to Sunday 13 September 2026.
Tickets, the complete schedule and the full list of festival guests are available at the LandxSea website.
Young people aged 18 and under can attend festival screenings free of charge, subject to film age ratings and ticket availability.
The festival’s North Light Award will recognise outstanding Scottish environmental filmmaking, with the winner announced on Closing Night by the international jury. Audiences will also select the recipient of the 2026 Audience Award.
Festival Director Rachel Caplan said: “The films may come from every corner of the world, but the questions they raise have deep connections to life here in Montrose, our coast, our changing industries, our relationship with the land and sea, and what we choose to protect for the future.
“The filmmakers and guests are an essential part of LandxSea. Audiences don’t simply watch a film and go home: they have the opportunity to meet the people behind these stories, ask questions, share local perspectives and continue the conversation together.
“It means a great deal that guests are travelling from across Scotland and around the world to be with us, including one filmmaker making a four-day overland journey from the Arctic. We can’t wait to welcome everyone to Montrose.”
More information
Image credits: Still from All Rivers Spill Their Stories to the Sea, credit Andy Martin
About LandxSea
LandxSea (pronounced “Land by Sea”) was founded in 2023 by environmental film programmer and producer Rachel Caplan and Montrose-based filmmaker Anthony Baxter.
Based at the community-owned Montrose Playhouse, the festival brings together international cinema, Scottish filmmaking, live conversations and community activity exploring our relationship with land, sea and the living world.
LandxSea is supported by Screen Scotland, part of Creative Scotland, delivering services and support with funding from the Scottish Government and The National Lottery; and Film Hub Scotland, part of the BFI Film Audience Network, awarding funding on behalf of Screen Scotland and the BFI National Lottery; and the British Council in partnership with the Independent Cinema Office.
LandxSea’s Lead Sponsors are Montrose Rope and Sail and Montrose Bag Company. Additional support is provided by Montrose Playhouse.