Scottish screen stars making a splash
For a country of just over five million inhabitants, the number of movie stars Scotland has produced remains truly remarkable.
Scottish Film Industry
Few places are as photogenic as Scotland. World-class scenery leads tourists to catch their breath and Scots overseas to shed private tears. It's a climate many a creative mind finds bracing. Add the two together and you have a film-maker's paradise.
Scotland not only has its own thriving film and television industry and its 'hip' international stars, it is also a well-known location for international film-makers and increasingly the hot-spot for the world's top commercials directors.
Hot Locations
The reason for the attraction is the variety of locations in Scotland which are within an easy drive of each other. From a base in Edinburgh and Glasgow, producers can choose from modern urban scenes to castles and mansions to rural tranquillity. Car advertisers love Scotland because of the abundance of quiet roads in picturesque surroundings.
Film and Television
And Scotland's home grown film and television talent continues to thrive with award winning programmes and movies receiving world wide acclaim. In the last decades Scottish movies like Trainspotting, Shallow Grave, Morvern Callar, Ae Fond Kiss, Young Adam, Hallam Foe, Breaking the waves, Sweet Sixteen, Rob Roy, and Red Road have given Scotland admirable status in the film world. And of course, Braveheart, a film which brought a Scottish story to the World and provoked a wave of pride for the Scots and those with Scottish ancestry.
Scottish TV programmes have been exported around the world as much as our films, with programmes like Monarch of the Glen, Taggart and Hamish MacBeth proving popular outside national boundaries.
Scottish Stars of the Silver Screen
Famous actors and actresses, who have become international stars are remarkably common in Scotland. To name a few: Gerard Butler, Sean Connery, Tilda Swinton, Ewan MacGregor, Kevin MacKidd, Robert Carlyle, John Hannah, James McAvoy, Dougray Scott, Kelly MacDonald and David Tennant.
Top Scottish Film Festivals
Scotland hosts a number of film festivals each year, the best known of which is the Edinburgh International Film Festival which attracts Hollywood A list stars and movie premiers to the Scottish capital. Glasgow hosts its own film festival, and a number of smaller festivals are starting around the country. Take for example the Fort William Mountain Film Festival which features adventure documentary films, and the mobile film festival which travels to remote locations transporting a mobile cinema.
Want to know more about film-making in Scotland?
Go to Creative Scotland for more information.
Want to find out more about Great Scottish Movies?
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Did you know...
The 21-arched, 100 ft hight Glenfinnan viaduct in Invernesshire, was made famous in the ‘Harry Potter’ films. Pupils from local Lochaber High School were dressed in wizard robes to act as pupils of the school of wizarding on the 'Hogwarts Express'.