Blackbird premieres at the 2014 New Jersey International Film Festival at Rutgers University on Friday, June 13!

Blackbird premieres at the 2014 New Jersey International Film Festival at Rutgers University on Friday, June 13! 
Here is a brief interview I did with Blackbird Producer James Barrett:
Nigrin: Blackbird is a rich, delicate, and deeply moving feature film with superb cinematography and a stirring soundtrack filled with traditional Scottish ballad-singing. Tell us what motivated you to make this film.
Barrett: I became friends with the director Jamie Chambers when we were students at London Film School. We found we had a lot in common in terms of music, lots of the same cultural references and in particular a love of folk music which we both grew up with. Jamie introduced me to a whole new world of Scottish music that I didn’t know about. When he told me about the premise he had for Blackbird I was really taken by the idea and immediately agreed to work with him. I think our motivation came from wanting to give a voice to a culture which felt under threat in some way and to dramatise that for film. I know the film has appealed to younger audiences and that gives us a lot of satisfaction knowing we have reached a new generation. 
Nigrin:  Tell us about the special look and feel of your film and why you decided to shoot it this way? 
Barrett: John Craine was the cinematographer on the film. Together with the camera team I think they achieved a very strong aesthetic for the film. We wanted to shoot the town in a way which did not over sentimentalize. Moreover the romaticization of the culture and way of life was something we were keen to avoid. I feel John did a great job in portraying the world that Ruadhan lives in and striking the right balance between realism and the ethereal. 
Nigrin:  The actors in your film are superb. Tell us more about them and how they were chosen.
Barrett: Norman Maclean (Alec), Sheila Stewart (Lorna) and Margaret Bennett (Isobel) are well known on the folk scene in Scotland and are tradition bearers in their own right. We wanted all of them to be in the film from the beginning and were thrilled when they agreed. The power they bring to the film is very special and some of my warmest memories from the shoot was the time spent listening to them tell stories and share memories and songs with the rest of the cast and crew. The young leads we all met at auditions. Both Partick Wallace (Calum) and Andrew Rothney (Ruadhan) stood out as enormous talents when they attended the same audition. There was an energy between them right from the beginning and we knew they were right for the film. Scarlett Mack who plays Amy does a fantastic job alongside them and the synergy between the three stands out. Special mention should also go to some of the cast local to the area where we filmed (Wigtownshire in South West Scotland). Two non-actors came in to do tremendous work, Robert Turner (Ewan) and Sarah Sunderland (Jenny). Elsewhere Gayle Mccutcheon, Deborah Whyte, Allan Thornton and Isabella Baronello all worked really hard. There was such a commitment from the actors to the spirit of the film.-----------------------------------------------------------------
The hilarious short film Simpler Times will be screened prior to Blackbird on Saturday, June 14 at the New Jersey International Film Festival.  Here is more info about this screening:
Simpler Times – Steve Monarque (West Milford, New Jersey) Having lost his wife, and moved in with his daughter and putz of a son-in-law, Harry (played by Jerry Stiller) finds himself trapped in the world of modern technology when all he really wants to do is sit and read the newspaper.  Also featuringthe other half of the legendary comedy duo Stiller & Meara, Anne Meara. 2014; 34 min. With an introduction and Q+A session by Director Steve Monarque! 
Blackbird – Jamie Chambers (London, England) A rich, delicate, and deeply moving feature film with superb cinematography and a stirring soundtrack filled with traditional Scottish ballad-singing.  A young singer named Ruadhan watches in distress as the traditions in his small Scottish village are inexorably eroded, with fish-stocks depleted, no jobs on land, and young people escaping to the cities. Inspired by a profound need to preserve the traditional ballads, Ruadhan records the voices of the older people of his town, before they are silenced. 2013; 90 min.Friday, June 13, 2014 at 7:00 p.m.

Voorhees Hall #105, Rutgers University,
71 Hamilton Street, New Brunswick, New Jersey
$10=General; $9=Students+Seniors; $8=Rutgers Film Co-op Friends
Information: (848) 932-8482; www.njfilmfest.com
Free Food courtesy of Jimmy Johns will be given out prior to this screening of the New Jersey International Film Festival!