02/10/2008

Three of the best-known Scottish movies of recent years are to be broadcast on terrestrial TV from next week.

Starting from Monday and continuing over the following two Mondays, stv is to screen Blinded, GamerZ and Night People.

Blinded - starring Peter Mullan, Jodhi May and Anders Berthelson - is the first of the three films to be broadcast. It is described as a “psychological thriller [that] explores the darker side of sexual desire”.

An Oscar Films Production, it is written and directed by Eleanor Yule and produced by Oscar Van Heek. It was inspired by Emil Zola’s novel, Therese Raquin.

Meanwhile, Night People is about one night in the life of Edinburgh. It is the debut feature film of Mead Kerr Productions, and is directed by Adrian Mead and produced by Clare Kerr.  

A comedy, GamerZ is set in the “weird, wonderful and very geeky world of fantasy role playing games”. It is the first feature film from Pure Magic Films, and involved writer-director, Robbie Fraser, and producer, Paul Gavin. 

All three films were exec-produced by Carole Sheridan and Agnes Wilkie. They were each financed by stv and Scottish Screen as part of an initiative called New Found Films.

Each film begins at 10.35pm.

Says Bobby Hain, managing director of Broadcasting at stv: “New Found Films has been a hugely successful collaboration with our partners, Scottish Screen, and these films are testament to the excellent, bright new talent we have working here in Scotland.

“Following a successful run of drama on stv, with the well-received High Times and Cracked series, we’re delighted to be showing feature films as part of our drama offering this year. Blinded, Night People and GamerZ are three very different but all excellent feature films, featuring and produced by some incredibly talented people, which we’re certain our viewers will enjoy.”
 
Adds Carole Sheridan, head of Talent and Creativity at Scottish Screen: “What each film demonstrates is the vast array of acting, writing, directing, and producing talent we have here in Scotland. I am sure audiences will respond exceptionally well to the films and be thrilled to see some home-grown films on their television.”
 
New Found Films offered production companies a budget of £300,000 to make their films, on condition the film would be both about Scotland and had the potential for international release.

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