ReelScotland round-up 🎬 October 2024
New Shetland, Inverness Film Festival and the greatest Scottish film never made
Welcome to the ReelScotland round-up, a look at what’s happening in Scottish film and TV. If you work in the Scottish screen sector or enjoy films and TV with a Scottish connection, this is for you.
🎬 Screen Scotland’s 2030 Vision faces both opportunities and challenges in its aim to become a global production centre by 2030, reports Prolific North. While the sector contributed £627.1m to Scotland's economy in 2021, industry leaders highlight the need for more studio space awareness, increased political backing and better support for local talent.
🚐 Screen Machine mobile cinema has raised almost £24,000 as part of its £100,000 crowdfunder, with just four days to go. A total of £1.7 million is needed for a new cinema to continue bringing films to remote Scottish communities.
🎭 The nominations for this year’s BAFTA Scotland Awards have been announced ahead of the ceremony on November 17. Dinosaur leads with four nominations, while Out of Darkness received three. First-time nominees include Richard Gadd and Ashley Storrie, both nominated for acting and writing. The ceremony will be livestreamed on Youtube and highlights will be shown on BBC Scotland and BBC iPlayer.
🏆 Edinburgh filmmaker Laura Carreira has won the prestigious Sutherland Award for best first feature at London Film Festival with On Falling. The National reports that the film follows an immigrant warehouse worker in Edinburgh and it was shot in Edinburgh and Glasgow.
📺 The BBC has appointed journalist and editorial leader Hayley Valentine as its new Director in Scotland.
🎥 Plans for a Moray film studio have taken a step forward with a proposal for 30,000 square foot soundstage and production facilities. The Northern Scot reports that the project aims to provide sustainable facilities connecting Inverness and Aberdeen.
🎥 Scottish Documentary Institute has announced the 12 participants of the 22nd edition of Bridging the Gap. They'll now participate in a series of customised workshops, working closely with industry professionals to refine their ideas.
🎞️ Inverness Film Festival returns for its 22nd edition from November 1-7, featuring premieres of Marielle Heller’s Nightbitch and Edward Berger’s Conclave. The week-long programme includes new work from directors Andrea Arnold, Mike Leigh and Mark Cousins, plus international films from Guy Maddin, Pema Tseden and Walter Salles.
🎓 Into Film Festival Scotland will provide free screenings for schools across the country from November 8-29. TES notes that the programme includes hundreds of accessible screenings in cinemas and unique venues, with curriculum-aligned resources. Opening at Edinburgh Zoo with Kensuke's Kingdom, the festival features special events including Scots language screenings and films for all age groups.
🎥 Submissions are open for the Young Scottish Filmmaker Prize 2025, offering £1,000 funding prize for filmmakers aged 18-25. The competition includes categories for both independent and formally supported films, with shortlisted entrants invited to Glasgow Short Film Festival 2025. Submit by November 18 at glasgowshort.org/submissions.
🎞️ Glasgow Film Festival has revealed the first details of its 21st edition, running 26 February to 9 March 2025. The festival’s free retrospective strand will focus on “Our Time is Now: Coming of Age in the Movies”, featuring ten classics including Gregory’s Girl, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and Greta Gerwig's Lady Bird. Screen Scotland reports that free tickets will be available on the morning of each screening at Glasgow Film Theatre's Box Office. The full programme will be announced on 21st January.
🍿 A new community cinema has been launched in Helensburgh after the closure of Tower Digital Arts Centre. The StopGap CIC initiative, founded by Richard Fairman, will operate with support from local businesses.
📍 Glenfinnan Viaduct attracted nearly half a million Harry Potter fans in 2023, with the surge creating challenges for the village of Glenfinnan due to gridlock and infrastructure issues. The BBC report adds that Tobermory is preparing for new visitors following the announcement of Balamory’s revival.
📺 Outlander showrunner Matthew B Roberts has shared an emotional farewell to the series following filming of the time travel drama’s final season. The series has been filming in Scotland for a decade, bringing significant tourism to Scottish locations including Culloden, Doune Castle and Blackness Castle. The second part of season seven launches in November, leading into the eighth and final series.
🥃 Brian Cox has made his directorial debut with Scottish whisky drama Glenrothan, which has been picked up by Protagonist Pictures for worldwide sales. The film, which recently wrapped production in Scotland, stars Cox alongside Alan Cumming as estranged brothers reuniting over their family's Highland whisky distillery.
💀 Hit murder-mystery drama Shetland returns for a new series on BBC iPlayer and BBC One on Wednesday 6 November at 9pm. DI Calder (Ashley Jensen) is thrown in at the deep end after a friend of Tosh’s (Alison O’Donnell) goes missing.
📺 The Rig returns for second series on Prime Video in January 2025, with the new season following the surviving crew to a secret Arctic facility called the Stac. Filmed at FirstStage Studios in Edinburgh, the series stars Iain Glen and Martin Compston, alongside new faces including Ross Anderson and Alice Krige.
🎬 Good Omens will end with a 90-minute finale to be filmed in Scotland in early 2025, reports Deadline. The Amazon series stars David Tennant and Michael Sheen.
📕 Filmmaker Bill Douglas’s attempt to make a big screen version of James Hogg’s Confessions of a Justified Sinner - starring Sean Connery in the role of Lord Dalcastle - is the subject of an article over at Scottish Legal News which suggests it’s “The greatest Scottish film never made”.
🏰 The Daily Express looks back at the time “French screen siren” Brigitte Bardot came to East Lothian in 1966 to shoot a “saucy romp”.
📺 BBC iPlayer continues to surface archive gems, with recent additions including 1994’s Face to Face with Billy Connolly and Brian Cox’s Jute Journey from 2009.
There’s also a new documentary that looks at the life and career of Scottish singer Lena Zavaroni:
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