Film Synopsis

It’s 1837 and young writer Ida, looks for inspiration in the romantic landscapes of the Germanic Harz Mountains. Failing to reach the Brocken, the mountain’s highest summit, she is motivated to reconsider her goals. This marks the beginning of Ida’s awakening as she begins to recognises landscapes for what they are, both products of culture, and living systems with their own vitality and stories.

Defying her tutors, the Brothers Grimm, she sets her sights on travelling to Ireland. She reaches the rugged landscape of Beara Peninsula in Cork, where she encounters the Neolithic site of Ardgroom Stone Circle and the Copper Mines at Allihies.

Ida strikes up a friendship with Dillane, a local miner. Through their shared interest of geology, literature, and the potential landscapes of the future, Ida begins to recognise see the power of her own privilege as a traveller and writer.

As Ida and Dillane explore the coast together, their relationship deepens to one of genuine camaraderie and mutual respect. Ida’s revelation about experiencing landscapes in states of distress resonates with Dillane’s understanding of the slow life of rocks. This new understanding of geological time motivates Ida, to rethink how she will use her creativity.

Director's website

"You know, my father told me Dorothy Wordsworth travelled with her husband’s party of pedestrians to the Brocken. She was not impressed and said English mountains were more spectacular."

"When you are down below the surface of the earth in the mine. Have ever sensed any moments of distress from the rock? As if the ground and what is beneath has stopped breathing?"

Film Synopsis

"You know, my father told me Dorothy Wordsworth travelled with her husband’s party of pedestrians to the Brocken. She was not impressed and said English mountains were more spectacular."

"When you are down below the surface of the earth in the mine. Have ever sensed any moments of distress from the rock? As if the ground and what is beneath has stopped breathing?"

"Two hundred years for the rock might be two years for us. Look at the birds. They can’t be experiencing time passing as we do as they move so fast."