HOWSALVA GWAV

No-one need be alone in the cold and the dark

Every year we come together, on the same night,
from town and country and the edgelands in between,
from Gurnards Head, up over Watch Croft, down the Chyandour Brook to the Bay,
from the Red River, weaving through the stones, across Carn Brae and out to the Cape,
and we dance through the streets of Penzance,
eyes blazing in the firelight with the rain on our faces,
and the wind in our hair.

Montol Festival

Project Summary

HOWLSAVLA GWAV
(Short Film, 2025)

Director: Ryan Mackfall and Joe Gray. Writer: Joe Gray. Music: Daisy Rickman.
Producers: Kingsley Marshall & Ryan Mackfall
Cast: Darcy Vanhinsbergh (Maleficent: Mistress of Evil), with Morgan Val Baker (Bait), Daisy Rickman, Richard Ballinger (Bronco’s House), and the Guilds of Montol.

Synopsis

A wanderer drinks from an ancient well and is drawn into a celebration of the Winter Solstice, marking the year's turning at the earth's edge. Sense the stillness in the night, down by the sea, as the wanderer joins with the Guilds of Montol enacting the rituals and customs of distant ancestors to call back the sun.