Short synopsis (66 words)
A warm, observational portrait of Lawrence MacEwen, a frustrating yet loveable individual, who seems carved from another century, struggles with his only son over the future of his beloved, beautiful Isle of Muck.

Cindy Jansen Short CV (59 words)
A Binger FilmLab and Berlinale Talent Campus alumni, Jansen's controversial, award winning films and videos range from linear narration to fragmented artworks, unearthing universal stories from ordinary human experience.
Her first mid-length documentary, Golden Calf nominated, Auld Lang Syne, screened at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, (IFFR), establishing her reputation for cinematic framing, contemplative style and slow-burn reveal editing.

Synopsis  (227 words)
The hilly island of Muck, just off the west coast of Scotland, has been owned by the McEwen family for more than a century. After decades of devoting himself to caring for the island, Lawrence McEwen has now passed it on to his son. Lawrence still takes a cold bath every day, and writes in his diary—though the pages are not as full as they once were.
Days in the life of this formal but cheerful man unfold to the rhythm of the island in Dutch filmmaker Cindy Jansen’s calm, observational shots. Lawrence hugs the cows, drives cattle with his grandchildren, and reads out extracts from his diaries that span decades, applying the same methodical approach to his notations of wind directions and deaths.
The younger generation is taking its own path, and Lawrence must accept that he is reaching the end of his own. In the growing awareness that the future belongs to others, he casts his gaze back in time, reciting the poetry and tide tables that he learned by heart as a child.

Director’s Statement
The themes and formatting choices of Prince of Muck are in line with my earlier film Auld Lang Syne (2015), in which complex family ties play an important role in the narrative and an internal dynamic directs the drama.
The island of Muck has been in the hands of the MacEwen family for more than a century; the “elite” of the island as the owner, main property holder, employer and landlord. Lawrence has always wanted to be a farmer on Muck, but his children have tried their hand at first building a life in Great Britain before returning to Muck. Lawrence’s older brother, Alastair chose to leave Muck for mainland Scotland and farm there. But some time later Alastair committed suicide, leaving behind a wife and three young children.
This all left me quite concerned about the situation on the island. Was it truly the MacEwen family’s choice to live in isolation on the island, or would they not have been capable of living elsewhere? And how do they balance the inherited responsibility with the care for the community and their own family? These questions drove me to portray Lawrence, his relatives and their island.
Prince of Muck has become not just about a family’s history on an island, but rather an example of a much more universal, classical rendition of interdependence. My directing choices support this. The tone and rhythm of the film are one of 'distant involvement’, there is no explanatory voice-over and no questions are heard. In connection with the closed manner of relaying the story in image and sound, the advantage that comes with this positioning gives the viewer room to project his or her own story onto the film.

Crew
Director of Photography: Julian Schwanitz
Sound: Robert McDougall, Susanne Helmer
Editors: David Arthur, Katharina Wartena, Cindy Jansen
Sound design and Composer: David McAulay
Re-recording Mixer & Additional Sound Design: Bart Jilesen
Colourist & Online Editor: Laurent Fluttert

Cindy Jansen CV / Filmography
Cindy Jansen (Veghel, NL, 1976) lives and works in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.  Jansen graduated from the Academy of Visual Arts in Arnhem (NL), Milan (I) and the international script development and director’s program of the Binger Filmlab in Amsterdam (NL). Jansen’s films have screened at several national and international film festivals, including Hamburg and Rotterdam. Her videos and photo-works were presented in multiple group- and solo-exhibitions, including Loop '05 Barcelona, Noorderlicht Photo Festival Groningen, and Gerhard Hofland Gallery, Amsterdam.
After Jansen’s attendance of the Binger Filmlab, she was selected for the Berlinale Talent Campus and started to build an international network that has resulted in a prize winning cooperation with Addie Reiss, the cinematographer on her short film Come Spring. In the years that followed, Jansen made controversial films such as Don’t hit me I love you and With Love. The documentary Auld Lang Syne premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) in 2015 and was nominated for a Golden Calf at the Netherlands Film Festival in the same year. In cooperation with production company de Productie (www.deproductie.nl) and Faction North (www.factionnorth.com, UK) Jansen completed her first full length feature documentary, Prince of Muck, that will have a World Premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) 2021. Together with production company Witfilm, www.witfilm.nl, she is developing the feature fiction film Clockwork Universe.
Jansen's films and videos vary from non-linear narrations to more fragmented artworks that find their platform in both the art scene and film festivals.  She is known for her cinematic framing, contemplative style and slow-burn reveal editing.

Auld Lang Syne (Documentary mid-length) 2015
Come Spring (Short) 2010
Don’t hit me I love you (Short) 2008
Alice (Short) 2006