There’s a question I often ask those Scottish artists I’m lucky enough to talk to in the course of my job: is ours a visual nation, by which I mean do we express ourselves most naturally through the visual arts? It’s a consequence of a long ago conversation with a film-maker who posed the question to me and argued that the answer was no.
There’s meat on the theory, if you think about it. We’re good at talking and arguing – or flyting, which is our version of the African-American ‘dozens’ that form the basis of rap battles. As a result of those vocal and linguistic skills we tend to produce great writers, dramatists and (because it’s all connected) actors. If music is a sort of expressive language then that fits into the argument too, because music, singing and the playing of instruments is deeply rooted in our culture.
READ MORE: 2024 Grammys: Young Scottish producer picks up five nominations
Here’s the thing, though: as anyone with a social media account will tell you – that’s 4.8 billion hands in the air right now, or 60% of the world’s population – we live in an era where the image is all. Ours is a visual world, regardless of nationality. And as the film critic Mark Cousins says: “Cinema remains one of the world’s most vivid cultural forms but has always been under-taught. ”
Cousins was welcoming this week’s news of a development scheme in selected Scottish schools which aims to teach pupils about film, and add it and the wider subject of screen education to the expressive arts subjects already contained in Scotland’s Curriculum For Excellence. In other words it will be recognised alongside, and have equal weight with, art and design, music and drama.
If your high school age kids are like mine, they probably see a lot of films at school already as part of their studies (The Dark Knight, perhaps, or The Shawshank Redemption. Maybe even Hot Fuzz). And when they’re not doing that they’re scrolling endlessly and obsessively through YouTube or TikTok or Instagram reels. Or sifting memes and comments for meaning and sub-text. What this bold (though long overdue) initiative does is join the dots between those things – and hope these dots form into a generation of screen enthusiasts with a solid grounding in visual story-telling techniques and content creation. Because until AI pinches its crown, we all know that content is monarch (let’s keep it non-gendered) and that it’s humans currently doing the bulk of the creating. Hopefully in the future there will be more young Scots succeeding in that endeavour.
READ MORE: World War I's first fighter pilot's story told in Scots film
Other news this week offers hope for what those now highly screen-literate young Scots will see when they look around them in a decade or so. Hope for Scotland’s standing as a centre for film. For its being able to deliver jobs in a thriving local film industry. For its ability to nurture and sustain a diverse exhibition landscape which can mount a Sally Potter retrospective, say, or show a season of Edward Yang films without having to wait for a touring BFI programme – and do it in city centre cinemas.
The positivity began with the announcement that the Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF), which came close to going out of existence in 2022, has finally appointed a director after a recruitment campaign overseen by its newly-appointed chair, Trainspotting producer Andrew Macdonald. The appointee is Paul Ridd, currently head of acquisitions at Picturehouse Entertainment. Fund-raising and the production of a multi-year plan are key tasks, for which read: ‘Let’s not sink the ship a second time’.
The other casualty of the collapse of EIFF’s parent organisation, the Centre for the Moving Image, was Edinburgh’s august and much-loved Filmhouse cinema. At a livestreamed public meeting this week, interested parties were updated on the ongoing campaign to return it to use. In short, a re-opening previously thought impossible is now distinctly possible thanks to a positive crowdfunding campaign, direct donations from individuals and a funding pledge from Screen Scotland. It’s a when now, not an if.
Finally, the son of a celebrated Scot who knew all about acting has announced a new initiative in his father’s name. The Sean Connery Talent Lab will be a permanent film and TV school to be based at First Stage Studios in Edinburgh’s Leith, the venture in which Jason Connery is a co-partner with producer Bob Last.
False dawn? Maybe. But as we head into the depths of winter, there’s a definite hint of spring about Scotland’s often beleaguered film sector.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here