What does it mean to be a Scottish clan chief in the year 2026, and more importantly, what does it mean to belong? These are the central themes touched on in a documentary coming to the Enzian Theatre for a special screening this week.
“Meet the Buchanans” is showing on Thursday in conjunction with this weekend’s Central Florida Scottish Highland Games in Winter Springs. Filmmaker Barbara Orton and Rory Buchanan, the clan chief’s son, will both be in attendance.
The 90-minute documentary opens on the lush greenery and rolling hills of the Scottish Highlands, specifically the Cambusmore Estate, where Mike Buchanan lives with his wife and four children. After learning from his late father that he had a rightful claim to become chief of the Clan Buchanan, Mike and his wife Paula employed a genealogist to prove the lineage.
Clan Buchanan, which is estimated to have 5 million members worldwide claiming common ancestry, has been without a chief for more than 300 years after the last one died out without a male heir.
Early in the film, Mike acknowledges that many British and Scottish people don’t get excited about delving into their ancestry, but that “Americans are absolutely mad about it.” This point is significant as he travels to the New Hampshire Highland Games with his family to greet other members of Clan Buchanan who are eager to meet their new chief.
The documentary follows the chief through the months leading up to his inauguration, an event that draws more than 300 people from around the world representing Scotland’s ancient clans.
Orton said this story questions what it means to be a part of something larger, to uncover common ties and heritage.
“Meet the Buchanans” tells a story about the Clan Buchanan’s first chief in 300 years. The film is screening at Enzian Theatre on Jan. 15. (Courtesy Michele Dillon)
“I think to say it’s a ceremonial role doesn’t give full breadth to the emotional connection people have around the world to a chief,” she said. “It just opened up a world for me into the American Scottish diaspora, the love and connection to their roots.”
A segment of the film also focuses on Pedro Buchanan, a Mexican national who learned that he is more than a third Scottish through an ancestry test. His great-grandfather was a Scottish civil engineer who emigrated to help build the country’s railroads.
“It’s a gift, it’s a jewel to the soul to know where we are and where we come from. Where do we belong?” he asks in the film. “Even if we’re far away from our land, it is within us.”
“Meet the Buchanans” tells a story about the Clan Buchanan’s first chief in 300 years, featuring an appearance from Pedro Buchanan. The film is screening at Enzian Theatre on Jan. 15. (Courtesy Michele Dillon)
Rather than working to separate fact from fiction, the documentary centers on the emotional impact of being a part of something larger and the romantic ideas that bind people to Scotland.
“There’s the Scotland that people associate with the tourist industry, tartans, tradition and clans. Quite a lot of it is made up. But it is drawing on things that people recognize. There’s a very real part of people’s identity,” said Alison Lumsden, a professor of English literature at the University of Aberdeen, in the film. “People adopt things which maybe have some truth or origin in the past. I think ‘made up’ presumes there’s some kind of truth out there we’re comparing it against, and there probably isn’t.”
Tartan designer Ewan MacDonald appears in the film while helping design a pattern for Paula and Lucy Buchanan, Mike and Paula’s daughter. He said the love of Scotland extends far beyond the country’s borders.
“Meet the Buchanans” tells a story about the Clan Buchanan’s first chief in 300 years, complete with an eagle at the inauguration ceremony. The film is screening at Enzian Theatre on Jan. 15. (Courtesy Michele Dillon)
“We’re seeing a lot of people now buying kilts from us who have never been to Scotland. They just love the romance of it, the history, the underdogs,” he said. “Everything is made up, I think, throughout history. You just tell a story that you want people to believe in.”
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If you go
“Meet the Buchanans” is showing at 2:30 p.m. Jan. 15 at 1300 S. Orlando Ave. in Maitland. Tickets are $5 each or $40 for VIP. Before the games, enjoy a whisky tasting beginning at 5 p.m. Jan. 16 at the Hilton Orlando, 350 Northlake Blvd. in Altamonte Springs. Tickets are $40. More information: flascot.com