ReelScotland round-up 🎬 4th October 2023
ReelScotland round-up 🎬 4th October 2023
Filmhouse fights back, arts funding crisis, monsters in the mines, Payback on ITVX
Welcome to the ReelScotland newsletter, a deep(ish) dive into the world of Scottish film and TV. If you work in the Scottish screen sector (or are trying to enter it) or just quite like films and TV with a Scottish connection, then this is for you.
News
💰 The Scottish Government is imposing a £6.6 million budget cut on Creative Scotland. The organisation, which encompasses Screen Scotland, will dip into its reserves this year but won’t be able to do so again, threatening the future of Scotland’s arts sector. The Campaign for the Arts has launched a petition urging the Scottish Government to reconsider the cut.
📽️ Could Edinburgh’s Filmhouse cinema see its projectors flicker back into life? A campaign is underway to raise £250,000, part of the £1.25m needed to open the doors of the Lothian Road institution that shut down one year ago this week. Some big name fans have recorded video pleas for donations and you can add your pennies to the campaign via their Crowdfunder page. The organisers are also looking for memories to share on social media.
🎞️ Another casualty of the catastrophe that saw Filmhouse shut down was Aberdeen’s Belmont Filmhouse, but the good news is that it’s a few steps closer to reopening. Aberdeen City Council recently appointed Belmont Community Cinema as the preferred operator for the cinema. Good luck to the team who tweeted enthusiastically about the decision a few weeks ago.
📽️ Edinburgh International Film Festival is recruiting a Festival Director to lead the Festival towards a sustainable business future. The deadline for applications is Monday 9th October.
💰 The six projects that will receive development funding from First Features have been announced, each of them “set to leave an indelible mark on Scotland’s screen sector” (the one about the monster in a 1950s coal mine sounds very interesting) - view the list of recipients and if you’re interested in applying the deadline for next year’s scheme has just been extended to 10am on Monday 8th January 2024.
♻️ BECTU Vision is working with Film Bang to help make film & TV in Scotland more sustainable. They’ve created a Reuse Hub to help crew to source, sell and share materials across productions in Scotland.
📅 Glasgow Film Festival’s Animatic talent development programme for animators offers successful applicants a 3-month programme of workshops to help them develop their project & pitching skills - apply by Wednesday 18th October.
📽️ The 21st Inverness Film Festival runs from Friday 3rd to Thursday 9th November and there’s a chance to join festival director Paul Taylor for a preview on Thursday 12 October. Discover the full line-up, watch trailers and get your hands on a timetable by booking your ticket.
Watchlist
Finally, a few films and TV series with a Scottish connection are dotted around the place right now, including:
The second series of Irvine Welsh’s Crime is on ITVX…
…and Payback, filmed in Edinburgh and Glasgow and starring Morven Christie and Peter Mullan, starts on ITVX at 9pm tonight
Peter Mullan also pops up in documentary series Street Gangs on BBC iPlayer
A few classic Scottish dramas have recently appeared on BBC iPlayer, including Hamish Macbeth and Monarch of the Glen (neither of which feature Peter Mullan)
Episodes of Mark Cousins’ interview series Scene by Scene are arriving on iPlayer as well. His interview with actress Janet Leigh is up now and another with Donald Sutherland is coming soon
Mark’s latest film My Name is Alfred Hitchcock is in cinemas around the country, visit the IMDb page to see showtimes
Glasgow-shot coming-of-age drama Girl will be screening tonight at London Film Festival
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Thanks for reading!