Short Film Gems for 2009/2010 ( 24/02/2009 )

Six high quality short films have been made with a £250,000 investment from Scottish Screen. In addition, £150,000 has been invested in new talent development initiatives and a further £8,000 in screening programmes for short film.

The six new films aim to screen at international festivals over 2009 and 2010.  Scottish short films have already proved successful in national and international festivals; recent documentary examples include Breadmakers (Yasmin Fedda) which screened at Sundance 2007 and won the Black Pearl Award of £46,000 at the Middle East International Film Festival 2008 in Abu Dhabi; and Ma Bar (Adrian McDowall, Finlay Pretsell) and Steel Homes (Eva Weber), which both screened at Sundance 2009.
 
Carole Sheridan, Head of Talent and Creativity said: “Short films are a valuable springboard for filmmakers’ careers as well as an art form in their own right.  Many successful feature filmmakers started on the ladder with short films, such as Kenny Glennan with Gasman and Peter Mullan with Close.”

Mondos Search for the Sun is a completely original idea by Jana Prchalova, a recent graduate from Scottish Screen’s New Entrants Animation Trainee initiative (GASP), and award-winning Scottish animation company, Once Were Farmers. This animation, still in production, tells the story of Mondo, a lonely old man, trapped in a perpetual winter.  In desperation he builds himself an elaborate flying machine and sets off on a surreal quest to find out where the sun has gone.  

The Bedfords is a far from ordinary period drama from Creative Scotland award winner, Henry Coombes (Gralloch, Laddy and the Lady). Produced by Ciara Barry of Brocken Spectre, the film is inspired by the life of Sir Edwin Landseer, a Victorian painter famed for his depictions of the aristocracy at play in the Highlands.  The pressures of commissions and the guilt of a forbidden affair torment the artist, playing on his mind as surreal hallucinations. Legendary Scottish writer and illustrator Alasdair Gray makes a cameo appearance in the film.

Night School is a provocative and dreamlike study of the complexities of closeness through the eyes of a young couple in a derelict school by emerging filmmaker Ben Soper.

Believe is a compassionate and poignant portrait of one man’s grief and desperation following the death of his wife. Paul Wright, highlighted as an exciting new talent by Screen International’s Star of Tomorrow programme. He has already won fans and a BAFTA Best Short Film Award with his student film Hikikomori. Believe is produced by Rhianna Andrews of Young Films.

Rewind is directed by Cathie Boyd of renowned theatre company, Theatre Cryptic, written by experienced documentary producer Sonja Henrici (Scottish Documentary Institute), with music from internationally recognised composer, Craig Armstrong (Moulin Rouge). This short is a story of grief and how sometimes we can only hang on to the imprint we leave on each other’s lives and is produced by Kat Hebden of Blindside Productions.

I Love Luci is a witty, tender tale of missing teeth, unrequited love and one dog’s potential to shape the fortunes of a couple destined never to be together.  The film is written and directed by Colin Kennedy and produced by Brian Coffey for Sigma Films, one of the most exciting production companies in Scotland.

In addition to the above investment from the Short Film Production Fund, Scottish Screen also supports short filmmaking through talent development initiatives such as Bridging the Gap, run by the Scottish Documentary Institute and DigiCult.

Bridging the Gap is now in its 6th year and encourages young documentary makers from all over the UK to make films relevant to a specific theme. The initiative has been hugely successful with films winning top awards and gaining highly coveted screenings at Sundance Film Festival for two years running. This year’s theme of Future attracted consistently high quality ideas and will produce 7 films for distribution in cinemas and international festivals. 

New awardees, DigiCult have teamed up with Brocken Spectre to present the Scottish arm of a UK-wide digital shorts scheme, Scottish Digital Shorts, and are now running three new short film-commissioning rounds for 2009. The rounds have been promoted via a nationwide tour since their award was made in October 2008. The initiative is being run with experienced producers Paul Welsh of Edge City Films and David Smith of Broken Spectre.
The project aims to support production of 6 short films and mentoring 12 emerging filmmakers through the process. Digicult have selected the 12 filmmakers and will announce details soon.

For Short Film Lovers

Film-lovers will benefit from an £8000 audience development investment in short films screenings in Scotland. The Magic Lantern received the award to develop their professional short film programmes and deliver them to a steadily growing audience. The programming duo, Rosie Crerar and Penny Bartlett, have made short film screenings a must-see and have recently programmed the Glasgow Short Film Festival as part of Glasgow Film Festival 2009. 

Scottish Screen has recently commissioned and published a guide for filmmakers on how to distribute a short film: You’ve Got It Made.  It is available from www.scottishscreen.com/short film or by e-mailing info@scottishscreen.com and is an invaluable and comprehensive guide on how to navigate the festival circuit and ensure their film is seen by as wide an audience as possible.

New Films New Talent – DVD Now Available

The newest edition to Scottish Screen’s catalogue of short films is now available. It features short films made by talented filmmakers from all over Scotland. The DVD is presented at festivals and markets all over the world to represent Scottish talent and to get that all-important sale or screening at the next big festival. If you are interested in a receiving a copy of this DVD and brochure, please e-mail christine.mcmillan@scottishscreen.com.