Braveheart is a 1995 American epic historical drama film directed by, produced by, and starring Mel Gibson. Gibson portrays Sir William Wallace, a late-13th century Scottish warrior who led the Scots in the First War of Scottish Independence against King Edward I of England. The film also stars Sophie Marceau, Patrick McGoohan and Catherine McCormack. The story is inspired by Blind Harry's 15th century epic poem The Actes and Deidis of the Illustre and Vallyeant Campioun Schir William Wallace and was adapted for the screen by Randall Wallace.
Prick Up Your Ears is a 1987 British film, directed by Stephen Frears, about the playwright Joe Orton and his lover Kenneth Halliwell. The screenplay was written by Alan Bennett, based on the 1978 biography by John Lahr. The film stars Gary Oldman as Orton, Alfred Molina as Halliwell, Wallace Shawn as Lahr, and Vanessa Redgrave as Peggy Ramsay.
Martyn Bennett was a Canadian-Scottish musician who was influential in the evolution of modern Celtic fusion, a blending of traditional Celtic and modern music. He was a piper, violinist, composer and producer. Diagnosis of serious illness at the age of thirty curtailed his live performances, although he completed a further two albums in the studio. He died from cancer in 2005, fifteen months after release of his fifth album Grit.
David Mackenzie is a Scottish film director and co-founder of the Glasgow-based production company Sigma Films. He has made ten feature films including Young Adam (2003), Hallam Foe (2007), Perfect Sense (2011) and Starred Up (2013). In 2016, Mackenzie's film Hell or High Water premiered at Cannes and was theatrically released in the United States in August. The same year he executive produced Damnation, a TV pilot for Universal and USA Network. Mackenzie also directed Outlaw King (2018), a historical film for Netflix. Mackenzie and his films have been described as not fitting neatly into any particular genre or type.
Bennett Altman Miller is an American film director, known for directing the acclaimed films Capote (2005), Moneyball (2011), and Foxcatcher (2014). He has been nominated twice for the Academy Award for Best Director.
Donald Shaw, is a Scottish musician, composer, producer, and one of the founding members of the group Capercaillie. Shaw has composed for film and TV. In 2002, he won two Royal Television Society (RTS) awards for Best Soundtrack and Best Theme in UK television for the drama Crowdie and Cream. His score for the film Transition was BAFTA nominated for best soundtrack. In 2004, he composed Harvest, a commission for the opening night of Celtic Connections festival. He won the Scots Trad Music Composer of the Year award in December 2006.
Seachd: The Inaccessible Pinnacle is a 2007 Scottish Gaelic-language Scottish film by first-time director, Simon Miller from a story by Simon Miller and Joanne Cockwell. It stars Patrick Morrison/Pàdruig Moireasdan and the Gaelic writer and poet Angus Peter Campbell/Aonghas Pàdraig Chaimbeul. It is the first contemporary feature-length film in Scottish Gaelic and was based on a previous Gaelic short film, Foighidinn - The Crimson Snowdrop, also by Miller.
Simon David Miller is a British film writer, director, producer and investor, having also co-founded several technology media companies. His debut feature, the Scottish Gaelic feature film, Seachd: The Inaccessible Pinnacle, was nominated for 3 BAFTAs. He later founded the New Forest Film Festival.
Grit is the last studio album by the Scottish Celtic fusion artist Martyn Bennett. It was released on 13 October 2003 on the Real World label.
Andy Goddard is a Welsh director and screenwriter, best known for writing and directing his feature debut Set Fire to the Stars (2014) and directing and co-producing his second feature A Kind of Murder (2016). Goddard has also directed five episodes of the ITV period drama series Downton Abbey.
American Cousins is a 2003 romantic comedy film directed by Don Coutts and starring Danny Nucci, Gerald Lepkowski, Shirley Henderson, Vincent Pastore, Dan Hedaya, Russell Hunter, Olegar Fedoro, and Stevan Rimkus. The plot is about a Scots-Italian fish and chip shop owner who gives refuge to his Mafia relatives when they go on the run. It was voted one of the top three Scottish films of all time by readers of The List magazine.
Shona Auerbach is a British film director and cinematographer.
Martin Smith is a film maker who wrote and directed the 2006 Scottish BAFTA Award winning short Tracks and the BAFTA winning series Armchair Detectives. He has also directed music videos for acts such as Arab Strap, The Delgados and King Creosote amongst others. His first short film Accidents featured Kate Dickie.
Thomas "Tomm" Moore is an Irish filmmaker, animator, illustrator and comics artist. He co-founded Cartoon Saloon with Nora Twomey and Paul Young, an animation studio and production company based in Kilkenny, Ireland. His first three feature films, The Secret of Kells (2009), co-directed with Nora Twomey, Song of the Sea (2014) and Wolfwalkers (2020), co-directed with Ross Stewart, have received critical acclaim and were all nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
Norman Hector Mackinnon Maclean was a Scottish Gaelic comedian, novelist, poet, musician and broadcaster. He is the only person to have won both Bardic Crown and Gold Medal at the same Royal National Mòd. His struggles with alcoholism are documented in his autobiography, The Leper's Bell: Autobiography of a Changeling.
The School of Scottish Studies was founded in 1951 at the University of Edinburgh. It holds an archive of approximately 33,000 field recordings of traditional music, song and other lore, housed in George Square, Edinburgh. The collection was begun by Calum Maclean - brother of the poet, Sorley MacLean - and the poet, writer and folklorist, Hamish Henderson, both of whom collaborated with American folklorist Alan Lomax, who is credited as being a catalyst and inspiration for the work of the school.
Anthony Wonke is a film director. He is an Emmy and triple BAFTA winning director and an Oscar nominated and Emmy winning executive producer. He has also won, amongst other awards, the Prix Italia, Peabody, Grierson and RTS for his films. Wonke is known for his original feature documentaries Ronaldo, Being AP, Fire in the Night and The Battle for Marjah as well as his documentary series The Tower: A Tale of Two Cities. Wonke's work ranges across a variety of genres always highlighted by intelligence, visual flair and emotional insight. His work has been shown at film festivals in the US, Canada, the Far East and the UK, as well as being televised on BBC 1, BBC 2, Channel 4 and HBO.
Scarlett Mack is an Irish/Scottish actress, best known for her role as Amy McConachie in the film Blackbird.
John Maclean is a Scottish film director, screenwriter and musician. He is best known for writing and directing the 2015 film Slow West.
Chloe Pirrie is a Scottish actress. She has played main roles in the 2014 miniseries The Game, the 2012 film Shell, and the 2015 television film An Inspector Calls. She has also appeared in the 2016 miniseries War & Peace, the 2015 film Youth, the 2015 film Blood Cells and "The Waldo Moment", a 2013 episode of Black Mirror. In 2015 she also co-starred in the Academy Award winner for Best Live Action Short Film Stutterer.
