Audiences can experience our short film The Narcissistic Fish on the big screen for the first time ever, as it joins the line-up of the Everyday Arias short film festival.
Specialising in opera shorts that incorporate elements of everyday life, the Autumn Arias festival is the first in person festival since 2019, with The Narcissistic Fish screening at Close-Up Cinema in London on 21 September.
Everyday Arias Creative Director, Francesca Levi, said: ‘We are so delighted to back sharing such an exciting programme geared towards presenting opera in a different light. Scottish Opera's The Narcissistic Fish is an example of how contemporary opera presents timeless issues whilst being relevant to modern audiences. We are over the moon to have this as a part of our programme and seeing opera houses embrace film as a medium is brilliant to see’
The Narcissistic Fish was originally released online in June 2020 and was our first ever short film. The 12-minute work was a collaboration between Scottish Opera’s Composer in Residence Samuel Bordoli, Scottish poet and novelist Jenni Fagan (The Panopticon) and our own in-house filmmaker, Antonia Bain.
The Narcissistic Fish Director Antonia Bain said: ‘I am very excited that The Narcissistic Fish will be amongst great company at the Everyday Arias Festival. There’s something incredibly special about a cinema release and it's brilliant to finally have it on the big screen after its online premiere last year.’
Set in the kitchen of a restaurant called The Narcissistic Fish, in the Leith area of Edinburgh, the opera tells the story of the stormy relationship between chefs Angus, Kai and Belle. A phone call during a busy shift alerting brothers, Angus and Kai, to the passing of their father sparks a war between them. Meanwhile, the talented and underpaid chef, Belle, has a revelation of her own.
The film features three of our 2019/20 Emerging Artists, baritones Arthur Bruce and Mark Nathan and soprano Charlie Drummond, singing over a digitally created score, that incorporates real sounds from a kitchen as percussion.
Watch the trailer for the Everyday Arias Festival here.