As Old as the Hills – a film by Selena S. Kuzman

Wednesday, 18th February, 2pm , Elgin Community Centre

An audience of 54 attended our first meeting of 2026 in Elgin Community Centre, to watch Selena Kuzman’s latest film about the geology of Caithness and Orkney. This film premiered at the Orkney Science Festival in September, and the Field Club was delighted to be able to show it in Elgin. Entitled As Old as the Hills, the film is an exploration of geological time using examples from the mountains and rocks of Caithness and Orkney.

It is presented by Dr Adrian Hall, who also wrote the script, and Mara Gibb in Caithness and Katy Firth from Stromness Museum in Orkney. The film starts in Helmsdale at Timespan museum, where there are examples of all the main rocks of the Highlands and Islands, and then travels to the dramatic mountainous landscape of Caithness. The mountains of Scaraben, Smean and Morven all feature, as well as the sand dunes of Dunnet Bay. Across in Orkney, the sequence begins in Stromness with an examination of the ancient granite of Brinkie’s Brae, crosses to the coastal formations on Shapinsay, and ends at the red sandstone Cathedral of St Magnus in Kirkwall. The photography, especially the aerial footage is excellent throughout, and the team use some novel timelines to illustrate the immensity of geological time.