Archive tour: Launch! On the Sea with Scotland’s Lifeboats

Dive into Launch! – a cinema tour of archive film and video celebrating RNLI communities across Scotland.

Launch! On the Sea with Scotland’s Lifeboats (2021) directed by Shona Thomson of A Kind of Seeing in co-production with Screen Argyll, was a two-year creative archive film project rooted in the community engagement, which ended in 2022.

The film features 1960s promotional RNLI films in colour, rare 1920s footage sourced from the National Library of Scotland Moving Image Archive, and digital video captured by crew helmet cameras within previous 10 years. It features a brand new immersive soundtrack composed and recorded by John Ellis, Arun Ghosh, David McEwan, Jason Singh, Jenny Sturgeon.

After premiering at Mareel in Lerwick, 20 June 2021, Launch! screened in 30 locations across Scotland between September 2021 and January 2022. Cinemas screening the 44-minute film collaborated with local RNLI stations to celebrate the important work of their volunteers.

Each event was unique, with special bonus content such as discussions with RNLI crew, films of local lifeboats, and pre-recorded blether with the folk involved in making the film.

Film Hub Scotland, Shona Thompson and Screen Argyll offered the 45-minute film in a variety of formats with subtitles and a specially recorded soundtrack, as well as tips on running activity around the film in support of local lifeboat stations, all for a subsidised screening fee.

You can read more about Launch! On the Sea with Scotland’s Lifeboats here.