The brand new Montrose Playhouse is all set for a big-screen debut of a documentary which hits very close to home – Anthony Baxter’s Eye Of The Storm.
The acclaimed documentary looks into the world of late Montrose artist James Morrison, who continued painting even though he was losing his sight until his death in August 2020.
And although the film had its world premiere at the Glasgow Film Festival earlier this year, due to Covid-19 it has only been seen virtually in Europe to date, meaning the Playhouse showing will mark the film’s European big-screen debut.
Director Anthony Baxter, who has lived in Montrose for almost 17 years, said: “With a year having passed since the loss of James, it feels very fitting that Eye of the Storm will launch on the big screen in his hometown of Montrose.
“And where better to enjoy his extraordinary landscapes, than at the town’s incredible new state- of- the-art cinema?”
An extraordinary man at heart of film
Baxter caught media attention in 2020 for his documentary Flint, covering the Flint, Michigan water crisis.
Now, his latest film Eye Of The Storm tells the story of Morrison’s life – from his training at Glasgow School of Art, to his trips to the Arctic and his celebrated landscapes painted around Angus and the west coast of Scotland.
Baxter filmed Morrison for two years as he continued painting despite his ill health. Sadly, he never got to show the artist the documentary before he passed away.
But the appetite for this film was shown when a shorter, made-for-TV version was broadcast by BBC2 on Easter Sunday.
That day, the Scottish Gallery in Edinburgh’s website crashed under the strain of thousands of enquiries about James Morrison, whom the gallery represented for several decades.
Eye Of The Storm will be screened at Montrose Playhouse, which opened just this month, on Saturday October 9 at 7.30pm.
A Q&A with the director will take place after the screening, with the late artist’s son, Professor John Morrison – a leading art historian – also attending.