On the small Scottish island of Erraid, members of an off-the-grid community seek to live as close to nature as possible, pursuing a sustainable alternative to the consumerism of the outside world. This means days spent working the land and relying on one another. Against the Tide follows a woman named Gill who decided to upend her life after a relationship breakup, and ‘risk the unknown’ by moving to the island. Capturing the contemplative pace of life on Erraid, the Scotland-based filmmaker Giulia Candussi follows Gill as her six-month trial stay comes to a close, and she and her fellow community members decide if she’ll become a permanent resident.
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Nature and landscape
‘A culture is no better than its woods’ – what our trees reveal about us, by W H Auden
5 minutes
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Animals and humans
One man’s quest to save an orphaned squirrel, as narrated by David Attenborough
14 minutes
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Nature and landscape
California’s landscapes provide endless inspiration for a woodcut printmaker
10 minutes
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Animals and humans
Join seabirds as they migrate, encountering human communities along the way
13 minutes
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Food and drink
The passage of time is a peculiar thing in a 24-hour diner
14 minutes
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Art
Radical doodles – how ‘exquisite corpse’ games embodied the Surrealist movement
15 minutes
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Home
How an artist transformed a dilapidated hunting lodge into a house made of dreams
8 minutes
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Film and visual culture
Our world has very different contours when a millimetre is blown up to a full screen
8 minutes
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Knowledge
Why it takes more than a lifetime to truly understand a single meadow
11 minutes