And the winners are… the talented movie makers of the north-east who scooped top places in the Doric Film Festival at a glittering ceremony on Royal Deeside.
The unique event – which celebrates Doric language and culture through film – saw the north-east’s own Oscars handed out in the schools, individuals and group categories, plus a special Spirit Of The Festival award.
The winning films were selected from a shortlist of 14 entries before being screened at the festival, held in a special ceremony at the Barn in Banchory, attended by the filmmakers and guests today, Friday June 24.
Tough choices for judges in the Doric Film Festival
All the films were five minutes long and explored the theme of “a sense o’ time”, celebrating all aspects of north-east life through comedy, nostalgia and celebration.
Festival director Frieda Morrison, who founded the event in 2019, said: “We received some lovely films again in this year, some of which are very moving and all of which have been made with care and enthusiasm.
“This year it has been extremely tough to choose the winners because the standard has been so high. It took the judges twice as long this time as last time, and eventually we had to create a special prize, the Spirit Of The Festival award.”
The schools category – sponsored by the P&J – was won by pupils from Mearns Academy with their film Sense O’ Time as pupils explore their local history after their teacher falls asleep.
There were joint winners in the individual category. Charlie Abel’s film looking at the history of Aberdeen’s Trinity Hall shared top spot with Seamus Logan’s poignant piece, Far Has I Time Geen, featuring Margaret Scott sharing her memories of life in the fishing village of Broadsea.
Pride in the culture of the north-east, past, present and future
Winning the group category was Doric TV with a film entitled Doric Future, in which of the north-east talk of their pride in Doric culture, past, present and looking to the future.
The winners each received £500 to continue their film-making activities.
New for the Doric Film Festival this year was a special award from the Doric Film Festival. It went to Torry’s Big Noise for their film showcasing the organisation’s activities in setting up and running an orchestra for children and young people.
The festival also featured a special showing of a film by writer and director Mike Gibb about the life of Aberdeen opera singer, Mary Garden.
Doric Film Festival brings people back year after year
Frieda, who is also the director of the award-winning Scots Radio, said: “The Doric Film Festival now has an established and much-anticipated place on the events calendar, resulting in some folk coming back each year with a different film – and even more ability.”
For more information on the Doric Film Festival visit doricfilmfestival.com
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