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2006 has seen a number of successes for Scottish films, talent and
locations, securing prestigious festival screenings and gaining recognition
through awards.
 
Red Road won the Jury Prize at Cannes in May and it went on to have further
successes, screening at a number of international film festivals including:
London, Toronto, Reykjavik, Dinard, Hamburg and Athens.  Its lead actors,
Tony Curran (Miami Vice, Gladiator, Pearl Harbour) and Kate Dickie (Tinsel
Town), received awards for Best Actor and Best Actress at the British
Independent Film Awards in 2006, as well as sweeping the board at the
Scottish BAFTAs, winning Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best
Actor and Best Actress awards.  First-time director Andrea Arnold won the
Creative Originality Award at the Women in Film and Television Awards in
London earlier this month.
 
The Last King of Scotland opened the London International Film Festival and
screened at the Toronto Film Festival. Kevin Macdonald (Touching the Void)
won Best Director and Anthony Dod Mantle won Best Technical Achievement for
Cinematography at the British Independent Film Awards 2006. Forest Whitaker
(The Crying Game, Phone Booth), who stars as Idi Amin in the film, received
the Best Actor award at the 2006 New York Film Critics Circle Awards and a
Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor.
 
The Queen, shot largely on location in Scotland and was selected for
competition at the Venice film festival, where it won Best Film, Best
Actress for Helen Mirren (Prime Suspect, Elizabeth I), Best Screenplay for
Peter Morgan (The Last King of Scotland), and the FIPRESCI prize, as well as
being nominated for the Golden Lion. The film has gone on to win a number of
other awards including Best Screenplay at the British Independent Film
Awards 2006, Best Actress and Screenplay at the New York Film Critics Circle
Awards, and Best Picture, Best Director for Peter Frears, Best Screenplay,
Best Female Performance and Best Supporting Male Performance for Michael
Sheet as Tony Blair.  It has been nominated for a number of Golden Globes
including Best Director, Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Actress, and Best
Screenplay.
 
The Flying Scotsman, starring Jonny Lee Miller (Trainspotting, Plunkett &
Macleane), Billy Boyd (Lord of the Rings, On a Clear Day), Laura Fraser
(Nina’s Heavenly Delights, Sixteen Years of Alcohol), and Brian Cox
(Manhunt, Troy, The Bourne Supremacy) was selected as the opening film of
the Edinburgh International Film Festival and is due for UK release summer
2007.
 
True North starring Peter Mullan (On a Clear Day, The Magdelene Sisters, My
Name is Joe), Martin Compston (Red Road, Sweet Sixteen) and Gary Lewis
(Billy Elliot) screened at Toronto International Film Festival, and is due
for release next year.
 
Shooting Dogs from the internationally acclaimed Scottish director Michael
Caton-Jones (Rob Roy, This Boy’s Life) won the Best Director and Best
Achievement in Production Awards at the British Independent Film Awards
2006. 
 
And next year, there are a number of exciting new Scottish films to look
forward to including Hallam Foe, David MacKenzie’s fourth feature film,
based on the novel by Peter Jinks, starring Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot, King
Kong) and Ewan Bremner (Trainspotting). It was filmed on location in
Edinburgh and Glasgow and produced by Sigma Films (Red Road, Young Adam).
 
Also due to be released next year is Seachd, the Inaccessible Pinnacle, a
Gaelic feature which tells the story of three children being brought up by
their grandparents in the shadow of the Inaccessible Pinnacle on Skye.  The
film will premiere at the Celtic Film & TV Festival on Skye in March.
 
A number of films, which have been awarded Scottish Screen investment are
due to go into production in 2007, details of which will be announced.
 
Notes to Editors
 
1.   Scottish Screen is the national development agency for the screen
industries in Scotland. We aim to inspire audiences, support new and
existing talent and businesses, educate young people, and promote Scotland
as a creative place to make great films, award-winning television and world
renowned digital entertainment.
 
2.   With over 100 Scottish-based production companies and more than 300
facilities companies generating a turnover of £1.2 billion (€1.7 billion)
per year, production activity in Scotland is the highest in the UK outside
London.
 
3.   Scottish Screen invests more than £6m in the development and promotion
Scotland’s screen industries each year.  This includes distributing £3m of
National Lottery funds.  We invest in a range of initiatives, projects and
activities designed to develop talent, audiences and businesses across the
country.
 
4.    For more information on the activities of Scotland’s screen agency, go
to www.scottishcreen.com <http://www.scottishcreen.com>
 
Or contact:
 
Christine McMillan
Communications Officer
christine.mcmillan@scottishscreen.com
0141 302 1746     
07974 488 237
 
Linsey Denholm
Communications Manager
linsey.denholm@scottishscreen.com
0141 302 1749
07970 082 619