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T H E HOT
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P H O T O D A V D E U S T A C E
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2014 IN FILM 2014 IN FILMM
Filmmaker and critic Eddie Harrison rel ects on some ups and downs for Scottish cinema
If 2014 was billed as Scotland’s decisive moment in politics, it was a year of ducking the big questions
in terms of cinema. Scottish i lm production still depends on public subsidy, and with uncertainty about funding, 2014 saw little progress on any front. The rocky reception given to director Jonathan Glazer when he screened Under the Skin (pictured) at the Glasgow Film Festival rel ected the uncertainty of purpose. Critically lauded, Glazer’s i lm offered an ugly,
alienated depiction of Scotland, provoking angry accusations of
cultural tourism.
In recent years, Scotland has been a backdrop for fantasies like World War Z and Cloud Atlas, but the lack of Scottish stories has become a matter of frustration. The positive reception
for US TV production Outlander – i lmed in Scotland but with a UK broadcast date yet to be announced – offered some promise; elsewhere, Scottish director David Mackenzie
regained his directing mojo with Starred Up, but did so in Belfast.
These projects should be considered
in the context of a long-running question: should Scotland have a
i lm studio? With Creative Scotland funding resulting in scraps of activity, it’s hard to argue that there’s enough
work here to sustain a studio; the
failure of the Dragonwood project in Wales is a warning of what hubris can lead to. But 2014’s ‘if you build it, they
will come’ argument only polarised factions in disagreement about where
a studio should be placed. In terms of the Made in Scotland output on screens, What We Did on Our Holiday featured several
generations of Scottish talent, but the comedy said little of note; Stuart Murdoch’s long-delayed release of
God Help the Girl had ambitions
beyond its Kickstarter-funded budget,
but at least paid its own way. And – together with the King Creosote-
penned soundtrack – Virginia Heath’s
From Scotland with Love told the touching story of the country’s past through archive footage, just as the
nation considered its future.
Yet our ongoing ‘dwam’ may present credibility issues for local festivals
and training schemes as well; if Scotland is ever going to be a
i lmmaking player, we need to form a coherent strategy fast or resign ourselves to bit-part status.
IN ASSOCIATION WITH
11 Dec 2014–5 Feb 2015 THE LIST 31
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32 LAURIE SANSOM KING MAKER
31 OPTIMO CLUB CARDS
Laurie Sansom is still settling in as artistic director at National Theatre Scotland, but his direction of the James Plays (pictured) suggests he’s willing to grapple with big issues. While the company is still running on the energy of Vicky Featherstone’s heady reign, his vision may unfold in the next year. (GKV) Twitch and Wilkes’ clubbing wing was quiet this year, but the former’s labels have been going from strength to strength, releasing a couple of Scotland’s very i nest bands in Golden Teacher and Whilst, as well as clubbier tracks from artists including the Sub Club’s Jasper James, Boot & Tax and Crooked Man. (DP)