This film is part of Rentals

Blue Black Permanent
Engaging, poetic story of three generations of Scottish women made by artist Margaret Tait.
Drama 1992 86 mins
Director: Margaret Tait
Overview
Margaret Tait's tale of three generations of women in a Scottish family swirls out through a series of interlinking stories and recollections, taking place in Edinburgh and the Orkney Islands. Drawn to the sea, it appears that the grandmother and mother both drowned accidentally, and their unfolding dramas overlap with restrained pathos. Tait's first feature, this film was made when she was 74.
Tait, who died in 1999, trained at the Centro Sperimentale Cinematografia in Rome in the early 1950s and, on returning to her native Scotland, fashioned her own form of understated, Scottish neorealism. Seeing the world through the lens of her surrounding landscape and observing the cycles of nature, she made 16mm films that were acutely poetic yet also direct. She's considered an important early practitioner of experimental film in the UK. The Margaret Tait Award to support experimental and innovative artists working with the moving image was founded in 2009. Blue Black Permanent is now available on BFI Player in a newly remastered presentation.

Accessibility
Related
Drama

Casablanca Beats Casablanca Beats
Drama 2021 102 mins Director: Nabil Ayouch
Former rapper Anas takes a teaching job at a cultural centre in a working-class neighbourhood in Casablanca.

Cop Secret Cop Secret
Comedy 2021 100 mins Director: Hannes Þór Halldórsson
Two Icelandic cops forced to work together become more than just buddies in this enjoyably explosive send-up of action movies.

The Swimmer The Swimmer
Drama 2021 84 mins Director: Adam Kalderon
An elite swimmer competing for a place on the Olympic team encounters intense rivalry and lust during training.

Ali & Ava Ali & Ava
Drama 2020 94 mins Director: Clio Barnard
Clio Barnard’s latest film is a tremendously warm and tenderly written love story.

Parallel Mothers Parallel Mothers
Drama 2021 123 mins Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Almodóvar at his very best, presenting a riveting drama about two mothers from very different backgrounds whose lives become intertwined.

Murina Murina
Drama 2021 96 mins Director: Antoneta Alamat Kusijanovic
Tensions rise between restless teenager Julija and her oppressive father Ante when an old family friend arrives at their Croatian island home.
Nineties Rentals

Daughters of the Dust Daughters of the Dust
Drama 1991 112 mins Director: Julie Dash
Julie Dash’s groundbreaking Daughters of the Dust remains urgent and poetic and continues to resonate, most recently inspiring Beyoncé’s Lemonade.

Eve's Bayou Eve's Bayou
Drama 1997 115 mins Director: Kasi Lemmons
Samuel L. Jackson stars in this seething slice of Southern Gothic, about the travails of a Louisiana family bedevilled by infidelity, incest and witchcraft.

Brassed Off Brassed Off
Drama 1996 107 mins Director: Mark Herman
Pete Postlethwaite stars in this emotional drama about members of a colliery brass band who learn their mine may soon be closing.

The Crying Game The Crying Game
Drama 1992 112 mins Director: Neil Jordan
Neil Jordan's acclaimed 1992 drama-mystery tells the story of Fergus (Stephen Rea), who looks after the lover (Jaye Davidson) of a British soldier he once knew. But what is Dil hiding?

Beautiful Thing Beautiful Thing
Comedy 1996 91 mins Director: Hettie Macdonald
Hettie MacDonald’s 1996 comedy tells the story of two classmates and neighbours (Glen Berry, Scott Neal) who fall in love over one summer in South East London.

Trying to Kiss the Moon Trying to Kiss the Moon
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1994 96 mins Director: Stephen Dwoskin
Autobiographical film by the veteran disabled experimental filmmaker, Steve Dwoskin.
New

Casablanca Beats Casablanca Beats
Drama 2021 102 mins Director: Nabil Ayouch
Former rapper Anas takes a teaching job at a cultural centre in a working-class neighbourhood in Casablanca.

Cop Secret Cop Secret
Comedy 2021 100 mins Director: Hannes Þór Halldórsson
Two Icelandic cops forced to work together become more than just buddies in this enjoyably explosive send-up of action movies.

The Swimmer The Swimmer
Drama 2021 84 mins Director: Adam Kalderon
An elite swimmer competing for a place on the Olympic team encounters intense rivalry and lust during training.

Ali & Ava Ali & Ava
Drama 2020 94 mins Director: Clio Barnard
Clio Barnard’s latest film is a tremendously warm and tenderly written love story.

Parallel Mothers Parallel Mothers
Drama 2021 123 mins Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Almodóvar at his very best, presenting a riveting drama about two mothers from very different backgrounds whose lives become intertwined.

Wake Up Punk Wake Up Punk
Documentary 2022 84 mins Director: Nigel Askew
Nigel Askew's documentary explores the punk movement, featuring revealing insights from designer and punk icon Vivienne Westwood.