Long Way North

Having recently celebrated the 20th edition of Discovery Film Festival, we welcome the return of Discovery Family Film Club with another selection of some of our favourite family films from over the past few years.

Set in 1882, this is the story of 15-year-old Russian princess Sasha. When her explorer grandfather Oloukine mysteriously goes missing on his latest expedition, Sasha embarks on an epic adventure to find him and his lost ship, the Davai. Rebelling against her family’s wishes, she leaves behind her comfortable St Petersburg lifestyle to face hardship and many setbacks along the way, and her grit and determination get her right to the icy oceans of the far north. But where is her grandfather? Can Sasha and her shipmates survive the harshest of conditions long enough to find him?

Winner of the Audience Award at the prestigious Annecy International Animation Film Festival, this is a truly beautiful animated adventure. The director, Rémi Chayé, was part of the team who crafted The Secret of Kells back in 2009, so it comes as no surprise that the style and tone of this latest animation matches the landscape and characters’ surroundings as much as it did in that earlier film – despite the fact it’s a very different world.

And in a city like Dundee, home to ships that made the same kinds of expeditions as the Davai, Long Way North really does help the stories we hear at Discovery Point burst into life. 

We love to present family films from all around the world, and believe the best way to experience these is always in the original language, with subtitles in English where necessary. 

We generally find that children aged 8+ can enjoy subtitled stories – our films are chosen for their strong narratives expressed very clearly through visuals, but we do encourage accompanying adults to assist their group if required, and so would flag up to other audience members there may be some quiet discussions audible from time to time during these screenings.