Scottish Ballet & Forest Of Black To Release ‘These Violent Delights’

EXCLUSIVE: The Scottish Ballet company and production house Forest of Black have partnered with the indie distribution company Tull Stories to release their dance film These Violent Delights in UK and Irish cinemas. 

Tull Stories will release These Violent Delights in cinemas from October 21, following the film’s world premiere at this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival. 

The film, based on Shakespeare’sRomeo & Juliet, was shot across various locations in Scotland and marks the Scottish Ballet company’s first major feature-length film project. The full synopsis reads: “In this vivid, contemporary re-telling without words, Juliet awakens from a fever dream. The lines between hallucination and memory blur as cinema and dance collide in a kaleidoscopic journey of belonging, defiance and self-discovery as fate is rewritten on the dance floor.”

Oscar Sansom (Biffy Clyro: A Celebration of Endings) and Christopher Hampson (Director and CEO/Artistic Director of Scottish Ballet) co-directed the feature. Starring are Kayla-Maree Tarantolo and Ishan Mahabir-Stokes alongside Scottish Ballet artists. The choreography was directed by Julia Cheng, Morgann Runacre-Temple, Myles Thatcher, Sophie Laplane, Nicholas Shoesmith, and Andrea Azzari. Beth Allan and Tony Currie produced the film. 

Discussing their retelling, Hampson said: “The film is a Romeo and Juliet story told very much from the viewpoint of Juliet and their reminiscences, their remembering and misremembering in real time.” 

He added: “It’s probably only two or three minutes of Juliet’s awakeness, but the film delves much deeper into their unconsciousness. Scottish Ballet has made a name for itself in dance film over the last ten years, winning awards for short films and digital innovation, but this is on a whole other level, and I’m thrilled we’ll be in cinemas across the UK, reaching new and established audiences.”

The film will screen on August 14 at Edinburgh.

Check out a trailer for the film above.