AUGUST 2020

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What a joy it is to be back out filming! After being cooped up for so long it's been a wonderful relief to be (safely) pursuing creative projects with other people once again. 

Beautiful highland weather, good risk assessments and small experienced crews have allowed us to operate within the Covid guidelines - and hopefully we'll produce some superb content as a result. 

We've all got to do our part to ensure we get through it,  but there's no point denying that it's been really tough at times. One thing the pandemic has taught us is how lucky we are to work as documentary filmmakers. It's been so rewarding and energising to be back out in the wild. Long may it continue. 

We're delighted that 'Our Fathers' is now available on BBC iPlayer, following its broadcast on BBC Scotland. We've had some lovely feedback - plus a variety of print and radio coverage in the last few days.  

Zoe and Kieran also took part in a zoom call with the SDI to chat about making the film. You can catch it here:

https://www.scottishdocinstitute.com/masterclasses/making-our-fathers/

Huge shout-out to the wonderful Zoe Hunter Gordon, Thomas Hogben and Erike Iesse - and everyone at the Scottish Documentary Institute, Screen Scotland and BBC Scotland. We hope you all enjoy watching the film as much as we did making it. 

Every 10 years since 1952, Sight & Sound magazine has compiled a list of the greatest films ever made. Chosen by critics, the most recent edition saw Citizen Kane knocked off the top by Vertigo. The list is fascinating and now I realise how many classics still need to watched!

https://www.bfi.org.uk/greatest-films-all-time

Thankfully, one of the few opportunities of lockdown has been the chance to sort this out. We've been rewatching the likes of Citizen Kane and Casablanca - and viewing Tokyo Story for the first time. This morning we had the pleasure of watching Man With A Movie Camera (1929) - commonly recognised as the greatest documentary every made. Such a wonderfully vivid, innovative and compelling film. 

'Our Fathers' will premiere at Glasgow Film Festival - before it subsequently broadcasts on BBC Scotland and BBC iPlayer.

Tickets for the screening on 3rd March are available here: 

https://glasgowfilm.org/shows/right-here-long-live-livitime-to-flyour-fathers-nc-15

For more information about the SDI's Right Here initiative, click here: 

https://www.scottishdocinstitute.com/2020/02/03/right-here-gff/

In the last couple of weeks, plenty of people have announced their top films of the 2010s... and we didn't want to miss out on the fun! Cinema (like the decade itself) has had its ups and downs - but there have been some superb additions to the big screen. After lots of deliberation - our ten favourite films of the decade are:

10. Lady Bird (2017) Dir. Greta Gerwig

9. Arrival (2016) Dir. Denis Villeneuve

8. Blade Runner 2049 (2017) Dir. Denis Villeneuve

7. Moonlight (2016) Dir. Barry Jenkins

6. The Act of Killing (2012) Dir. Joshua Oppenheimer

5. Free Solo (2018) Dir. Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin

4. Get Out (2017) Dir. Jordan Peele

3. Searching For Sugarman (2012) Dir. Malik Bendjelloul

2. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) Dir. George Miller 

1. Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) Dir. Ethan Coen and Joel Coen