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Title: CONSTRUCTION OF COMMUNITY CENTRES IN IOCHDAR , HARRIS, LEWIS

Reference number: 21189

Date: 1978, October 18

Sponsor: Comhairle nan Eilean Siar; Scottish Film Council; Gulbenkian Foundation; Highlands and Islands Development Board

Production company: Cinema Sgire Project

Sound: sound

Colour: bw

Fiction: non-fiction

Running time: 57.09 mins

Description: Construction of various community centres in the Western Isles. Includes some footage of the new community centres in use for playgroups. Includes and sample of Gaelic song, a Minister speaking about education and footage of Mike Russell discussing Cinema Sgire project aims and ambitions. [Video quality is intermittent].

This video was digitised with support from Bòrd na Gàidhlig and The Gaelic Language Promotion Trust.

The Cinema Sgìre Project was a community project set up by Comhairle nan Eilean in 1977 - 1981 and was largely supported by the Scottish Film Council (a forerunner of the Moving Image Archive), the Gulbenkian Foundation and the Highlands and Islands Development Board. The Project operated throughout the Uists and Barra. In addition to the operation of a mobile cinema the Project also recorded everyday life in the islands.

Cinema Sgire was a community project using early video technology. Any inherent defects such as signal loss, drop-out, visual / audio disturbances, interruptions or incompleteness will be present in the recording.

Shotlist: [No sound at start for c.20 mins] Man cutting turf. Water logged site with JCB vehicles at work. [Lots of video faults, splashes and rolls over footage until c.20 mins] Building under construction. Horse shoe on a door. Int shots of the construction. Tractor and trailer. Trailer offloads. [Image badly damaged in sections] More shots of the construction of the building. Wooden floor planks are fitted into place. Pan of brick walls, no roof or windows at this point of the construction. C/u of sign for Harris Community centre. Cars parked outside the building. Small boats at anchor in a bay. A different view of the community centre building and surrounding houses. C/u of another building. Man and woman standing outside a building looking at plans (?) Interior shots of people in the community centre. Community centre kitchen and rooms. Return to the construction site. Pan of the scenery and houses surrounding the construction site. C. 20 mins. Men talking inside the construction site. [Sound faintly is heard but the words cannot be clearly heard]. Men outside a completed building. Playgroup in the community centre. [Commentary in Gaelic is faint]. Poor camera work as a tour is given of the centre – camera moves too quickly and is more focused on the jackets of those on the tour than clear steady images of the rooms shown, although Gaelic audio is better. Some English is spoken describing the site and the land when the tour is outside the community centre. Ext. shot of community centre from the sports field. Rev Jack MacArthur talking to camera in English about educational requirements of the island communities. Chrissie Macrae singing in Gaelic sitting on a pier with fishing nets as a backdrop. Pan of North Uist landscape showing Eaval and Burrival, shots of a buzzard flying overhead and chicks, possibly buzzards, in a nest. Woman singing in Gaelic sitting on a pier. Mike Russell talking to camera about the Cinema Sgire Project. Short insert to Mike’s talk to illustrate the work the project has done to capture the construction of community centres. Return to Mike’s description of working with the community. Insert to Scalpay islanders discussing in Gaelic their activities through the project. Return to Mike’s commentary about future plans for the project. Insert to buzzard in flight and chicks in a nest. Return to Mike’s commentary regarding filming a MOD [Ministry of Defence] Piping Competition in Iochdar. Insert to piper playing. Return to Mike’s commentary to discuss the bi-lingual education project. Insert to children at an archaeological site, Cletraval chambered cairn – [blurred video fault for part of this insert]. Return to Mike’s commentary about the project aims and limitations. Insert to visit to Ireland to learn from an established community co-operative projects – Irish Gaelic and English spoken. Return to the conclusion of Mike’s commentary. Duncan MacDonald from Kyles Flodda playing an accordion and people dancing outside.