Reflecting on MAXIMUM TILT: a festival of artists’ moving image

Across Midsummer this year LUX Scotland and the University of St Andrews Department of Film Studies presented and hosted a new festival of artists’ moving image, MAXIMUM TILT, programmed by artists Andrew Black and Anne-Marie Copestake.

Hosted at the Byre Theatre in St Andrews, the programme for MAXIMUM TILT provoked conversations and complex questions of land rights, belonging, agency and action which unfolded over shared meals and post-screening breakout discussions. The intention of the festival from the beginning was to create moments where non-hierarchical critical discussion became possible. This made it essential to be mindful that genuine participation depends on everyone’s capacity and energy.

The arc of Andrew and Anne-Marie’s programme troubled and unnerved our understanding of seemingly simple and bucolic landscapes and the fantasies we project onto them – present especially in Peter Hall’s feature ​‘Akenfield’ (1974) and Susan Hughes’ new film ​‘Ultraviolet’ (2026), which screened on the first day. The second day of the festival saw the stakes rise through work such as Red Star Films’ ​‘The War Zone’, Amal Al-Nakhala’s ​‘Limitless’ (2024) and Masao Adachi’s feature ​‘A. K. A. Serial Killer’ (1969). These films question the limits of what will be tolerated as ​‘normality’, asking us what happens when agency over place has been taken away.

The festival’s concluding day presented a more contemplative and poetic programme including lessons from ancient mythology in Prantik Basu’s ​‘Makara’ (2013) and a streak of radical hope and collective action in Cranhill Arts’ ​‘Clyde Film’ (1985). Two works by artist Basyma Saad bookended the festival programme; opening with ​‘Congress of Idling Persons’ (2021) and closing with ​‘Permanent Trespass’ (2026). Saad’s ​‘Permanent Trespass’, a collaboration with Sanja Grozdanić, seemed to distill a languid rage from hitting the limits of language and fact in the face of indifference – a fitting and open conclusion to the programmers’ concerns, and the format of the festival itself.

The core proposition of Andrew and Anne-Marie’s programme was perhaps expressed most succinctly in Helen Biggar’s ​‘Challenge to Fascism: Glasgow’s May Day’ (1938), a film with a simple premise, documenting the lead up to and progress of the annual May Day march in Glasgow. Biggar’s film, through clear knowledge and understanding of the political moment and international solidarity, became a work of ​“visual radicalism and filmic rhetoric”* a microcosm of Andrew and Anne-Marie’s programme.

*Jenny Brownrigg and Shona Main on Helen Biggar’s ​‘Challenge to Fascism: Glasgow’s May Day’, 2016

We would like to thank everyone who attended and participated in the festival; the programmers Anne-Marie Copestake and Andrew Back for their work putting a complex programme together with conscience and courage; and all of the artists for allowing us to share their work. We would also like to thank the team at the Byre Theatre, live captioner Louisa McDaid, captioner Valery Tough, and photographer Erika Stevenson for their invaluable support during the event.

MAXIMUM TILT would not have been possible without the support in devising the festival from the University of St Andrews Film Studies Department Dr Philippa Lovatt, Professor Lucy Donaldson and Professor Tim Rice. Thank you to Maeve Redmond for creating the visual identity for the festival.

Thank you to our funders Creative Scotland.

Image descriptions:

1. In a darkened cinema the large screen goes with a still image showing a blue monochromatic cyanotype of leafy plants with the festival visual identity in black text.
2. A group of people wearing red lanyards sit in a circle having a discussion on a small stage at the front of a cinema. A large TV shows yellow live captions.
3. A group of people cit in a circle having a discussion in a small sunny garden under the shade of a green tree. One participant wearing a white cap holds their hand up as they speak.
4. People wearing red lanyards mingle outside a venue on a sunny day, various trees and bushes surrounding them.
5. From above, people chat over a meal sat at a long table. Yellow and pink paper lanterns float about them.
6. Philippa Lovatt stands at the front of a cinema holding a microphone to her mouth. Behind her live captions in yellow text glow on a TV screen.
7. Two figures stand in the shallow sea at dusk. Thick fog covers the horizon.
8. Looking out through lush greenery, two people sit on a sunny blue bench chatting. One participant gestures with their hands.
9. A group of people sit in a circle in a bright atrium space having a discussion. One participant smiles and gestures with their hands as they speak.
10. In a sunny atrium with concrete walls and a blue metal banister people mingle and smile.
10. A group of people sit in a circle on the grass in a sunny garden and smile as they have a discussion.