ReelScotland round-up 🎬 March 2024
Filmhouse saved, Soderbergh in St Andrews, Sam Jackson in Scotland
Welcome to the ReelScotland round-up, a look at what’s happening in the world of Scottish film and TV. If you work in the Scottish screen sector or just enjoy films and TV with a Scottish connection, then this is for you.
💰 The doors will soon be reopening at Edinburgh’s Filmhouse cinema following a successful £1.5 million bid to the UK Government’s Levelling Up fund, as reported by The Scotsman. Along with funds already raised from the public Crowdfunder (which remains open until 30th April) and private donations, the money will go towards refurbishing the venue, with an expected opening date of late 2024. The big question now is what film will be shown on opening night…
📽️ Edinburgh Short Film Festival will hold a Save the Filmhouse fundraiser on Wednesday 17th April, screening a programme of Scottish and Edinburgh-made shorts.
💰 Screen Machine mobile cinema has been awarded £350,000 funding by Screen Scotland that will ensure the service can continue until at least April 2026. Another £1.4 million is now needed to build a new cinema in France. (And if you’ve never had a chance to experience a film aboard the cinema, try and catch it on tour later this year)
🎬 Looking for work in the film and TV industry in Scotland? Applications are now open for BECTU Vision's Hit The Ground Running, a two-day intensive course focusing on entry level roles in the Production, Assistant Director and Locations Departments on scripted productions.
🎭 Short Circuit and GMAC are teaming up for the next Film Loop meet-up tonight, 28th March, in Glasgow. Film Loop provides a space for filmmakers to connect, share and develop ideas, stories, and scripts. This month they're facilitating a free ‘Directing Actors’ Workshop hosted by filmmaker Paul Sng - register your interest on the Short Circuit website.
🎬 Screen Scotland, Northern Ireland Screen and Creative Wales are concerned that Ofcom is recommending a new 65% London quota and renewal of a 91% Channel 4 production quota for England across the next decade. As explained on the Screen Scotland site, they’re pushing Ofcom to increase Channel 4’s ‘Outside of London’ commissioning spend to 50%, its out of England quota to 16%+, and to introduce individual quotas for each UK nation in line with those accepted by the BBC since 2009.
🎞️ Filmmaker Steven Soderbergh is heading to Sands: International Film Festival of St Andrews for a special in conversation with filmmakers Anthony and Joe Russo. The talk will take place after a screening of the Soderbergh-produced Welcome to Collinwood on Saturday 20th April, while other guests include Back to the Future composer Alan Silvestri and casting director Debra Zane. The festival runs 19th-21st April.
🎞️ A 32-foot screen has been installed at the new Astoria cinema in Ayr as its grand reopening date approaches on 29th March, reports the Ayr Advertiser. Merlin Cinemas took over the former Odeon venue last year, which has undergone a major renovation ahead of its public reopening.
📽️ Glasgow Youth Film Festival is back from 13th -15th September and looking for Young Programmers aged 15 to 18 to help make it happen.
📽️ Meanwhile, Eden Court Theatre and Cinema in Inverness is looking for people aged 15 to 26 interested in cinema, creating blogs and online content and who want to have a say in what kind of films are shown at the cinema - there’s a short application form now online.
🏆 Friends on the Outside, a short film about a prisoner who finds joy by foraging for weeds and caring for birds, won the Scottish Short Film Awards at the recent Glasgow Short Film Festival, as reported by the BBC.
💰 Accommodation providers, local shops and caterers are all benefitting from an increase in filming across Argyll and Bute, reports Argyll and Bute Council, with an estimated local production spend of £1.3M over the last 12 months, up £720,000 compared to 2022.
🌊 The Guardian took a look at the second series of “Scottish lesbian lifeguard drama” Float this week, speaking to those behind the drama that unfolds in ten minute episodes. You can watch series one on iPlayer, with series two coming soon.
🎬 Lesley Manville and Ciarán Hinds are heading to East Dunbartonshire to shoot a new film version of the Bernard MacLaverty novel, Midwinter Break.
📺 Martin Compston and Anjli Mohindra are currently filming new BBC/Amazon Prime thriller Fear in Glasgow, reports Deadline. When Martyn and Rebecca move from London to Glasgow, things quickly start to go wrong…
📺 Tish Murtha, a mother, fighter, and visionary photographer, used her lens to celebrate overlooked working-class lives and fight for social change in Thatchers' Britain. Her daughter uncovers her poignant story in Edinburgh-based director Paul Sng’s new film Tish, coming to BBC Four/iPlayer on Monday 1st April.
🎞️ For over two decades, New York City cinephiles had access to a treasure trove of rare and esoteric films through Kim’s Video, a store that's celebrated in a new documentary of the same name that's screening at Edinburgh's Cameo cinema this Saturday, 30th March at 6pm. The Cinetopia event includes a live Q&A with the film’s director.
🎞️ What do you get when you cross Samuel L. Jackson with a sadistic murderer and place them both in Scotland? You get Damaged, the upcoming thriller starring Jackson alongside Vincent Cassel, Kate Dickie and John Hannah…
📀 Murray Grigor’s 1976 documentary Big Banana Feet, which captures ‘The Big Yin’ on and off stage during his 1975 tour of Ireland, is heading to cinemas on 10th May, while the BFI’s DVD/Blu-ray release of the film is released on 20th May.
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