Screening of 'Inspiration' - A film about Hamish Henderson | Scottish Poetry Library

'Inspiration' directed by Michael Lloyd , follows artist Charles Nasmyth as he takes a fresh look at one of Scotland's literary and musical giants, Hamish Henderson. He asks what motivated this complex and sometimes underestimated character. Hamish was driven by his experiences in WW2, in which he fought in the desert campaign and later with the Italian partisans. He was respected by officers and troops alike. He was the only British solder fluent enough in Italian to take Italy's surrender from the head of the Fascist army, General Rodolfo Graziani. He absorbed the work of socialist intellectuals, such as Antonio Gramsci, whose prison letters he translated. From this he learned to value the culture of ordinary people. Not only the 'travellers' of Scotland, as is well known, but also the squaddies he served with, who inspired many of his songs. He was a freedom-fighting internationalist, penning the song, Rivonia, an anthem of the anti-apartheid movement. Often associated with his work in recording and preserving Scotland's traditional culture in song, poetry and tales, Hamish was also a poet in his own right. His wartime experiences provided the basis for his Somerset Maugham prize-winning collection, Elegies for the dead in Cyrenaica. Charles was inspired to paint a portrait of Hamish after meeting his widow, Katzel, and former friends and colleagues. Later he was connected to film-maker Michael Lloyd, by Edinburgh Arts guru, Richard Demarco. The resulting film includes unique footage of the Libyan battlefields and interviews with key figures in Hamish's life. Charles's interest in Hamish is shared with Perthshire poet, Jim Mackintosh, traditional music professor, Fred Freeman, the editor of Lallans magazine, Willie Hershaw, and Hamish's former colleague and folklore expert Margaret Bennett. The film ranges widely from Hamish's Perthshire birthplace and Spital o'Glenshee home to his Edinburgh haunts, including the iconic Sandy Bell's bar. Michael Lloyd is a former BBC documentary producer, whose work has received awards and been commended at the New York Radio Festival, Prix Europa in Berlin and the UK's Sony Radio Awards. He now runs flytingfilms, which makes documentaries about artistic and cultural figures, such as sculptor and poet Ian Hamilton Finlay, and Traverse Theatre co-founder, Jim Haynes. He is currently working on a film which asks why, and how, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe has spawned nearly 200 other Fringes, world-wide.

Information Source: Scottish Poetry Library | eventbrite