Where You’re Meant to Be set for June release

It’s been described as “touching as hell” and “a funny and moving experience”, so it’s no surprise that there’s great anticipation following the announcement that Paul Fegan‘s Where You’re Meant to Be will receive a UK premeiere and full cinema tour.

It is Fegan’s first shot at a feature-length documentary, following the success of his debut short, Pouters, which was released in 2012 and won many accolades in the process.

Among them were Best Film (Audience Award) at the Hamburg International Short Film Festival and Best Documentary (Jury Award) at the London Short Film Festival. Judging by the initial response, it would be no great shock if Where You’re Meant to Be were to emulate this. So what’s the story behind this latest venture?

The whole thing was originally intended to bring to the screen the story of Scottish folk music, with its unique communities and history, through following one of the country’s foremost musicians and writers, Aidan Moffat, during a 2014 tour of his homeland. This changed however, when Fegan met the late Sheila Stewart, who in her heyday was Scotland’s premier ballad singer. Her view was that traditional music should remain firmly entrenched in its roots, whereas Moffat still favours a more contemporary approach.

As Fegan explains: “When I met Sheila, I was blown away. She was fierce, and passionate, and brilliant company – and I loved her stories about her life, and family, and songs. As soon as I introduced Sheila to Aidan, I realised that Aidan had met his match, and it quickly became apparent that their relationship, and their quiet humour – not to mention their conflicting beliefs as to how music should be treated – had to be at the very heart of the film.”

The movie will make its public debut on June 17 before the tour gets in full swing, taking in 40 screens across 18 UK towns and cities. A further iTunes release is due on July 1 and for full listings visit whereyouremeanttobe.com. A teaser can be found here.