Natasha Rose

At its core, MossyCoat is dedicated to illuminating the rich heritage of the oral traditions of the Traveller Community. We strongly believe that these stories are not relics of the past, but vital, living narratives that deserve a central place in the modern digital age.

The Vision

MossyCoat is a atmospheric folklore film set within the temperate rainforests of the Scottish Highlands. In these ancient places, where gnarled trees stand as silent sentinels and the forest floor is carpeted with luxurious emerald moss, the veil between the present and the otherworld glimmers to gossamer thin.

The Storyline:

A young woman is foraging with her black dog in the forest on a beautiful day. As she follows a trail of chanterelles deeper among the trees, she loses track of time and finds herself in a dark, gloomy part of the wood. The light wanes, shadows stretch, and she shivers with cold.

Then through the gloom, she hears a faint sound – it comes in waves, ghostly and floating through the mist. An eerie, whirring sound. She creeps forward and, peering through the undergrowth, glimpses a faery-like creature, hunched with its back to her at a spinning wheel. Rather than wool, the creature is spinning huge clouds of emerald moss, its fingers blurring furiously as the wheel whirs, revealing the most incredible shimmering thread.

Leaning forward, she snaps a twig, and abruptly the creature stops. Fear seizes her, and she flees, branches clawing at her face and brambles grasping at her legs, until exhaustion and cold overwhelm her, and she collapses into sleep.

When she awakens, the spinning sound is gone. She realizes she feels incredibly warm, enveloped in a coat of living moss glistening in the moonlight. Standing, she feels an irresistible urge to slip fully into the coat. Slowly, the coat begins to move her; at first tentatively, then she begins to dance, at once graceful and urgent. She surrenders to it willingly as the forest draws her in, her body flowing like the woodland stream.

The ending remains intentionally ambiguous, echoing the cautionary nature of traditional folklore: she is transformed, joyful, but enchanted in a way that makes us wonder whether the forest will ever release her.

Watch Our Official Trailer

We are thrilled to share with you the official trailer for MossyCoat – a project kindled in the forests of the magical Scottish Highlands.

MossyCoat is more than a film; it is a breathtaking cinematic reclamation of the wild self. Rooted in the rich oral tradition of the Travelling Community and narrated by master storyteller and author Jess Smith, this project fuses dance, music, spoken word and moving image to blur the lines between ancient folklore and contemporary art.