09/05/2026
Join us on Saturday, September 5th, at 7 PM, as we welcome Baltimore filmmaker, Allen Moore, to An Drochaid. We will be screening two of his films, “The Shepherds of Berneray”, and "Returning to Berneray”. Allen will be present to lend some context and insight into the films and their significance.
Over 45 years ago two young American filmmakers, Allen Moore and Jack Shea, lived on a remote island in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland for a full year to document the daily life of a traditional shepherding and fishing community. Their film, “The Shepherds of Berneray”, was completed in 1981, and is a study of the centuries-old crofting traditions of the island of Berneray, and a portrait of the Gaelic speaking people whose lives reflected the underpinnings of this heritage.
Moore has continued a decades-long friendship with the islanders. Beginning in 2016, he spent 10 years revisiting the community to document what traditions have remained and how life has changed on Berneray. Weaving together 16mm outtakes from the late 1970’s with contemporary HD digital material, “Returning to Berneray” is a personal portrait of a place and a filmmaker’s relationship to it.
