Margaret Tait: Poetry and Experimental Film

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This research project explores the work of the Orcadian filmmaker, artist and poet, Margaret Tait. Tait stands out as one of the few women filmmakers in Scotland. Furthermore, she is increasingly recognised as a pioneer in the area of experimental film. Originally trained as a GP and serving in the RAMC in the Far East, Tait later studied filmmaking in Rome in the 1960s. Her main body of work consists largely of short experimental films and she made one feature, Blue Black Permanent, in 1993. She was also an accomplished writer, publishing three books of poetry and two collections of short stories and there is also a great deal of unpublished material in her extensive archive (located in Kirkwall).Tait was a truly independent filmmaker. She established her own film company and self-financed most of her productions. Her work stretches across an impressive range of styles (e.g. hand-painted animations, film poetry or observational portraits of her immediate surroundings). Yet throughout her lifetime, Tait's work remained relatively unknown and although championed in avant-garde filmmaking circles, her films are scarcely given adequate attention in studies of Scottish cinema. For instance, Duncan Petrie's seminal book on Scottish Cinema dedicates little more than a paragraph to Tait. In the past six years the researcher has spent a great deal of time researching Tait. Two small research grants from Carnegie have made this possible (both £2000 app., one currently active). The initial research into the archive materials was conducted in 2006 and was wholly supported by a small research grant from the Carnegie Trust. The research resulted in a number of public events, conference papers, three book chapters and a journal article. This research project aims to readdress the historical oversight of Tait's work by engaging with the rich archival resources related to the filmmaker's work, producing a book-length study of the filmmaker and an edited collection of Tait's poetry and various writings. Furthermore, the project will ensure the preservation of additional papers and ephemera currently held by the filmmakers husband, Alex Pirie. This will include the digitization of a number of recorded readings of Tait's poetry. A number of interviews with key supporters of Tait's filmmaking will also be conducted.