Brainland: Award-winning opera film featuring Morley students 

Morley College London is thrilled to celebrate the success of ‘Brainland’ – a short film adapted from an opera telling stories of twentieth century experimental brain science. 

Brainland premiered in Toronto in July, where it won the Best Story award at the Toronto International Sound & Film Music Festival. Since then, it has been selected by five other prestigious film festivals, including the International Sound & Film Music Festival in Croatia, and will soon make appearances in festivals across Italy, France, and Sweden.

Brain science into performing arts

‘Brainland’ is a unique cinematic experience, weaving together the talents of Morley opera alumni and current Morley dance students in a self-contained story drawn from the opera. This work tells true stories of 20th-century brain science through a story crafted by four clinician artists: composer Stephen Brown and writer Ken Barrett, both former neuropsychiatrists, dramatist Andrew Platman, a former GP and poet Heather Angus Leppan, a practising neurologist. Together, they’ve created a piece that brings the complexities of the human mind to life.

You can watch the video here!

Ken Barrett, the writer of Brainland, expresses the importance of the collaboration: “The collaboration with Morley College London has been crucial to getting the project off the ground. We are especially grateful to Tim Taylor at Morley for facilitating the collaboration, Michalis Angelakis for referring singers, choreographer Adrian Look for incorporating the project into his teaching, and Luke Scott for sound recording and general support. We are also very grateful to the Old Operating Theatre museum in London, which allowed us to film in the theatre for a day at no cost. In fact, we rehearsed one day at Morley and filmed the next at the museum – a remarkable achievement thanks in large part to the commitment and talent of our Italian director, Chiara D’Anna.”

Nominations around the world

Following its premiere in Toronto, ‘Brainland’ has been invited to the specialist cinema and opera festival in Messina, Italy, where it has earned a nomination in the Best Short Film category. This festival, taking place from 30 November to 7 December, is particularly exciting for the team, as it represents an acknowledgement of the film’s unique approach in blending opera and cinema.

Other festival appearances include:

• Snow Leopard Festival in Stockholm
• Auguri Festival in Turin
• Art Giraffe Festival in Nice
• International Sound & Film Music Festival in Croatia

Looking forward, the Brainland team has plans to continue recording voices for additional scenes and, with support, hopes to stage the full opera. The next scenes, which explore even more surreal themes, are set to be filmed next March with puppetry to expand the narrative’s visual language.

As Brainland continues to captivate audiences worldwide, we look forward to supporting the next steps in this inspiring journey.