Screening times:
Sunday, May 4, 6:30 PM
Friday, May 16, 6:30 PM

Lizzie MacKenzie | Scotland | 2024 | 79m
with Ken Smith

A meticulous diarist and avid photographer, Ken Smith has spent the past four decades in the Scottish Highlands, living alone in a log cabin nestled near Loch Treig, known as 'the lonely loch'.

Ken has no electricity or running water — he lives off the land, fishes for his supper, chops wood, and even brews his own alcohol. Filmed over 10 years, director Lizzie Mackenzie captures Ken's profound, spiritual relationship with the wilderness. As Ken likes to say, “if you love the land, it loves you back.”

Now in his 70s, Ken reflects upon past trauma and the reasons he turned his back on society. The vulnerability of old age brings declining memory and capability. He has to decide how he’d like to spend whatever time he may have left — continuing in solitude, or live in a senior’s facility in town.

This is an affecting portrait of a life lived in nature, a humorous, transcendent, and life-affirming BAFTA Award-winning feature documentary.

“With his bright, bird-like eyes, untamed thicket of beard and boots that peel from his feet like banana skins, he’s a fascinating subject. But this lovely, compassionate documentary is more than a character study.” - Wendy Ide, The Observer (UK)

“When a film-maker is clearly captivated by their subject, the film can compel viewers to fall in love as well.” - Phuong Le, The Guardian

“Portrays a man with a touch of poetry in his soul, who is apparently immune to loneliness.” - Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail (UK)

Winner: Best Single Documentary - BAFTA Awards, 2022
Winner: Audience Award - Vancouver International Film Festival, 2022
Winner: Audience Award - Glasgow Film Festival, 2022

Tickets available soon!