Grief is a Shapeshifter

Grief Is A Shapeshifter takes as its starting point a text of the same name, written by artist Priya Jay about her experiences of leading online grief circles during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The text, re-edited for the film, explores forms of collective grief. Paralleling these experiences with the movements of a large starling murmuration in northern Britain, the film draws lines outward from human experience into the more-than-human landscape to consider planetary grief.

For Flatpack, filmmaker Ian Nesbitt is working with artist Graeme Walker, and vocalists Lyn Hodnett, Geraldine Monk, Jan Todd, Jane Tormey, and Gillian Whiteley to develop a new and improvised live score referencing vocal traditions such as keening, psalm and pibroch singing.