Two pupils from Lochaber High School will attend the International Film Festival in Venice at the end of May.
Lochaber High School will be representing Scotland at the UNESCO Ciak Junior festival, with their Gaelic short film ‘Origami’, which won the Best Youth Film at the 2019 FilmG Awards.
The film, Origami, focuses on bullying – but unusually gives the viewer a look at life from the bully’s perspective and culminates in an unexpected and uplifting twist.
The school pupils wrote, starred and directed the film with support from independent filmmaker, Dòmhnall Eòghainn MacKinnon, originally from Scalpay in the Western Isles.
Pupils Floraidh Stevenson and Faye MacKinnon will travel to Venice to attend the festival.
Floraidh said: “Making Origami was such a fun and creative experience for all of us. I got to direct the film and also had a small part in it, but unfortunately couldn’t make it to the awards ceremony for FilmG, so this is a great consolation prize.”
FilmG’s project manager, Flòraidh Forrest will also travel to Venice with the group. She said: “When young people have the opportunity to travel and see other cultures it can help in developing creativity and offers them the opportunity to gain a stronger sense of their own identity, language and culture. Something we are keen to encourage in young Gaelic speakers today.”
The festival takes place in Venice on May 24 and 25. To watch Lochaber’s film Origami, visit the FilmG website.