Former Newsnight Scotland journalist, Willis, paddles off with pair of prizes

A FORMER Newsnight Scotland journalist has taken two titles at separate film festivals in Canada – winning both on the same day.

Simon Willis and his Ardnamurchan-based TV production company, Sunart Media, took the pair of prizes – for Best Instructional Film – for a full-length feature about sea kayaking.

One prize was at the Reel Paddling Film Festival in Toronto, while the other was at Paddle Canada’s Waterwalker Film Festival in Ontario.

Released on DVD, the film features instruction from one of the world’s top coaches, Gordon Brown. His coaching sessions, designed for beginners and intermediate sea kayakers, are mixed with shots from a four-day voyage along the west coast of the Isle of Skye.

Watch extracts from the DVD at SunartMedia.com