Still Photography by Joe Higney
“The business of stories is not enchantment. The business of stories is not escape. The business of stories is waking up.”
Little Green Island Films is located in the Highlands of Scotland and currently focuses on long term feature documentaries for a global audience. The company was founded by award winning director-producer Sara McKergow Nason, a former stills photographer with over 20 years experience in documentary, Arts and current affairs for broadcast TV. Often working as a self-shooting director she made documentaries as well as short features for the Guardian, ITN and Channel 4 News. Her broadcast career ranged across many genres: documentary; news and current affairs, children's tv series as well as short stories for the Guardian on subjects she loved: nature, music, dance, food, the Arts, books and psychology. She has occasionally dipped her toe into biographical, corporate and promotional films too.
“Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it.
Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself. ”
After moving to the Highlands, Sara's work evolved into longer form storytelling, which has meant observing her subjects' lives over many years, even decades. This method of working helps ideas ripen and connections grow. Living and working in the remote North West Highlands has also allowed time to atune to nature and find the space to perceive more deeply. After years working in broadcast TV, Sara began a new chapter focusing on building a foundation for filmmaking around her passions, and to focus on stories which foster greater awareness of our interconnectedness with nature and each other. Working alone for long periods by necessity has honed her skills as a self-shooting director-producer and she now also co-edits her films, at least when necessary. Little Green Island films is currently focused on three projects areas: telling stories about indigenous people, women, Nature and the marine environment. An over arching link between these is an exploration of the role of psyche, consciousness and the feminine in our relationship to each other and Nature. Over the years Sara's work has included social and historic subjects as well as working with vulnerable young people and children. Please see her filmography and film galleries for more insight.
“We are like islands on the surface but connected in the deep.”
Films that inspire change is a thread throughout Sara's work. She loves storytelling for its power to make people feel deeply or appreciate unexpected beauty, or help reconnect us to our deepest experiences we share as human beings. Facing our shadows whilst focusing on a vision of hope underpins all her work. She is interested in the human psyche, and the convergence of science, mysticism, psychology and indigenous storytelling. The poet and activist Muriel Rukeyser said ' The universe is made of stories, not of atoms.' Stories are what creates us. Therefore giving a voice to women, indigenous people and the rights of other species and Nature is vital in storytelling. Reverence for the intelligence within Nature is her personal passion. The power of story, music and image to move audiences viscerally is what excites her when attached to character-led stories about inspired change-makers.
Three feature documentaries are currently in post production. The Perfect Storm a story of a fisherman taking the Scottish Government to court. In post production is Nancy A One Girl Revolution the full length story of a girl who is true to her inner guidance against the odds. Her film has an impact campaign attached and a 'field' version will be produced for Nancy's use to help spread her message and empower others. The Sundance Journey: A Gift is also in post production with a few scenes still to shoot due to the recent death of Chief Leonard Crow Dog.
The process of telling the Sundance story has had a profound impact on Sara's life and her focus as a storyteller, it has developed her interest in stories of inclusion and re-connection. It is perhaps due, in part to spending time with the indigenous people in America, that Sara also helps coordinate a marine conservation think-tank called Sea Change Wester Ross where she lives. This has developed into a citizen science survey alliance called the Blue Hope Alliance.
Sara uses her experience as a film maker to produce short films about the group's survey discoveries in order to help encourage greater reverence for the living sea. Following the impact of The BBC's Blue Planet she hopes ocean conservation, and saving marine mammals and sustainable fisheries will become as rock n roll as it was for her when Jacques Costeau sailed the Calypso and inspired millions of children across the world. Sara was one of them. Perhaps Sea Change is a tribute to Costeau's influence as well as the Lakota Elders which has helped develop her innate love for the sea.
About Us - Sea Change Wester Ross
Awards
Sara’s awards are a testimony to her focus on hopeful and inspiring films which have impact. She consciously uses the power of storytelling to engage an audience emotionally through story and character, who in turn give voice to environmental or social concerns which may otherwise not be heard. She has twice been the runner-up for the Rory Peck Sony Impact Award, and has won two Webby Awards (People and Judges Choice) amongst others. For more information see her Awards & Nominations page and her Awards Gallery for the films themselves.
What People Say
Little Green Island Films is known for its visual sensitivity, creativity and professionalism. Given the challenge of long term funding for projects which span years, if not decades, as well as declining television budgets this has often meant working imaginatively to produce high quality films on a low budget, when required. Sara works intuitively, to make artistic films with a journalistic attention to detail and content. She consciously works to connect the audience to the emotional truth at the heart of the film, which gives storytelling its power to move us.
Please see What People Say.