The IFI presents a special screening of Niall McCann’s latest documentary, Lost in France, which chronicles a 2015 pilgrimage to France of a number of Scottish bands signed to the independent Chemikal Underground record label. The screening will be followed a satellite broadcast from the bands’ performances. The film will also screen at Movies@ in Dudrum and Swords.
Chemikal Underground has been Scotland’s premier indie label since its establishment in the 1990s. The label has released work by a diverse range of fondly-remembered groups such as Bis, Magoo, and Urusei Yatsura, although the label’s greatest successes came from Arab Strap, Mogwai, and label-founders The Delgados.
In the label’s early years, a selection of its bands, including Alex Kapranos’s pre-Franz Ferdinand outfit, travelled to perform in Mauron, a small town in Brittany. Seven years later, the musicians retraced their steps. The resulting documentary provides the opportunity to make comparisons between the thriving Scottish DIY music scene of 20 years ago and the difficulties faced by new acts today, given the increasingly mainstream-focused music press and radio.
The cast’s reminiscences are engaging and often extremely funny, and, as one would imagine, the live footage and soundtrack are exceptional.
The screening of Lost in France will be followed by a live satellite performance by Alex Kapranos, Stuart Braithwaite, R.M. Hubbert, Emma Pollock, and Paul Savage.
Tickets for this screening and live broadcast are available now at www.ifi.ie or by calling the IFI Box Office on 01-6793477, and via the Movies@ website for the Swords and Dundrum screenings.