Uploaded April 2016 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
The Sky Trembles and the Earth is Afraid and the Two Eyes Are Not Brothers is a new feature film by award-winning British artist and filmmaker Ben Rivers (Two Years at Sea) and in cinemas across the UK on 6th May. To find out more visit, artangel.org.uk/project/the-sky-trembles
At the heart of the film’s layered narratives is an adaptation of ‘A Distant Episode’, the savage short story set in Morocco by American author Paul Bowles, first published in 1947. Moving between documentary, fiction and fable, The Sky Trembles… sees its protagonist, filmmaker Oliver Laxe, directing his own film in Morocco, the forthcoming Las Mimosas, before walking off set and into Rivers’ narrative.
The Sky Trembles… was shot on 16mm against the staggering beauty of the Moroccan landscape, from the rugged terrain of the Atlas Mountains to the stark and surreal emptiness of the Sahara, with its encroaching sands and abandoned film sets. Oliver Laxe is drawn into a hallucinatory adventure of cruelty, madness and malevolence, as his narrative combines with Bowles’ story and observational footage to form a multi-layered excavation into the constructs of cinema itself.
Premiered at Locarno Film Festival 2015, it has also screened at the London Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and the New York City International Film Festival amongst many others.
The Sky Trembles and the Earth is Afraid and the Two Eyes Are Not Brothers is a new feature film by award-winning British artist and filmmaker Ben Rivers (Two Years at Sea) and in cinemas across the UK on 6th May. To find out more visit, artangel.org.uk/project/the-sky-trembles
At the heart of the film’s layered narratives is an adaptation of ‘A Distant Episode’, the savage short story set in Morocco by American author Paul Bowles, first published in 1947. Moving between documentary, fiction and fable, The Sky Trembles… sees its protagonist, filmmaker Oliver Laxe, directing his own film in Morocco, the forthcoming Las Mimosas, before walking off set and into Rivers’ narrative.
The Sky Trembles… was shot on 16mm against the staggering beauty of the Moroccan landscape, from the rugged terrain of the Atlas Mountains to the stark and surreal emptiness of the Sahara, with its encroaching sands and abandoned film sets. Oliver Laxe is drawn into a hallucinatory adventure of cruelty, madness and malevolence, as his narrative combines with Bowles’ story and observational footage to form a multi-layered excavation into the constructs of cinema itself.
Premiered at Locarno Film Festival 2015, it has also screened at the London Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and the New York City International Film Festival amongst many others.
![ICO Screening Days - Trailer [CC]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/uco4BvT1Z-Q/mqdefault.jpg "ICO Screening Days - Trailer [CC]
Join our mailing list: https://bit.ly/3E7oRsU 📧
Subscribe to ICO YouTube: https://bit.ly/3rPktfi 💻
We strongly believe that the most successful cinemas are those where staff have the opportunity to watch films and feel passionate about them. To this end, the ICO runs national Screening Days events, a staple in the independent cinema calendar giving exhibitors the chance to watch the best upcoming film releases from across the globe and discuss them with industry peers; enabling them to go away and create incredible programmes.
Screening Days comprise intensive preview screenings of features that will be hitting screens in the months ahead. In addition to our main events, we run specialised Screening Days themed around inclusion and diversity; archive film; and cinema for children and young audiences.
Visit our website for more information: https://bit.ly/3UA0dKC
ICO Screening Days is supported by the British Film Institute, awarding funds from the National Lottery.
Sponsored by Filmbankmedia, Eventive and CinemaNext.")
