Cindy Jansen

Set on the tiny inhabited island of Muck, off Scotland’s west coast, Cindy Jansen’s cinematic and haunting documentary explores how difficult it is to change the habits of a lifetime.

This one minute film shows children “playing” games using water pistols filled with blood while the soundtrack melodically recites a poem on violence. Useless is Blood is a comment on ongoing terror. Children copy the behavior of their parents and ancestors. Violence is deeply embedded in society, with the consequence it can’t be eliminated within one generation.

After the body of his father is found in a tent in Amsterdam, Marcus searches for an identity through a man he never knew. Tracing parallels with a father who lived outside the system, his own unease with authorities and institutions begins to take shape. As that unease deepens, Marcus pulls the film toward himself, drawn to male voices that promise clarity and strength and to a future he believes he can still redirect.