A unique film made in Fife almost 15 years ago is to get a series of special screenings to mark the centenary of the 1926 General Strike.

The Happy Lands will be shown in three venues across the region to mark the milestone anniversary of one of the most significant moments in British labour history when over one million workers withdrew their labour for nine days in solidarity with locked out miners.

The gala screening at the Adam Smith Theatre in Kirkcaldy, on Tuesday,May 26, will feature brass band music and banners to evoke the era of the strike - and audience members are urged to don black tie and add a touch of Hollywn ood glamour.

The Happy Lands’ screening at Auchterderran Church Hall, Cardenden on Wednesday, May 6 will feature a Q&A and post-screening discussion with William Hershaw, poet playwright and Scots language activist. The series wraps at Lochgelly Centre on Thursday, June 4 with Q&A with the cast and crew.

A still from 'The Happy Lands' film (Pic: submitted)

placeholder image — A still from 'The Happy Lands' film (Pic: submitted)

First released in 2012, The Happy Lands was a huge community-led project which saw more than 1000 local residents get involved as researchers, performers, crew members and designers.

Directed and produced by Robert Rae and Helen Trews, The Happy Land is a powerful, community-made drama depicting the lives of mining families during the strike. Contributors shared family memories and lived experience of mining and industrial heritage.

And it is fitting that the 1926 centenary screenings should begin in Cardenden - a film closely tied to the production of the film’s creation, and to the legacy of the renowned Joe Corrie, miner, poet and and playwright, whose seminal In Times O Strife, remains one of the most important cultural responses to the General Strike.

His work was celebrated in 2013 when the National Theatre of Scotland staged its adaption of his acclaimed play at Pathhead Halls in Kirkcaldy.

Gordon Brown, then an MP, surrounded by child actors who are all drawn from the local community on the set of 'The Happy Lands' on location in Cardenden (Pic: Neil Doig/Fife Free Press)

Caireen Stuart, co-curator and organiser of anniversary screenings, said: “The programme invites audiences across Fife to explore the legacy of the strike, connect past struggles to present realities, and commemorate the spirit of community resilience and solidarity that remains as vital today as ever.”

Full details on the screenings at https://happlandsgeneralstrike.my.canva.site/