FESTIVAL DATES FOR JANEY, LIFE AND OTHER PROBLEMS AND BILL DOUGLAS MY BEST FRIEND

We’ve very excited for some upcoming premieres for three of our feature docs in the coming weeks.

The hotly anticipated JANEY will have its worldwide premiere at the closing gala of the Glasgow Film Festival on the 10th March.

This documentary shadows Janey as she embarks on her ‘Not Dead Yet’ tour whilst undergoing treatment for cancer. It’s as hilarious and uncompromising as Janey herself, and tells the story of her extraordinary life, with guest appearances from Nicola Sturgeon, Jimmy Carr, and of course Janey’s daughter the comedian Ashley Storrie. It’s only right that the film gets shown first in Janey’s home city before it goes on tour with Janey in the spring.

If you miss it in Glasgow you can see it in the Spring with Janey there in St Andrews, Greenock, Stirling, Edinburgh, Boness, Inverness, Kirkaldy and Cumbernauld

Have a peak at the trailer for JANEY.

LIFE AND OTHER PROBLEMS directed by Max Kestner will open the Copenhagen Documentary Festival on March 12.  

It was produced by Hopscotch Films’ John Archer in co-production with Denmark’s Bullitt Film and Sweden’s Plattform Produktion.

It’s an extraordinary documentary that starts off with the story of a two year old giraffe, Marius, being shot at a Danish zoo – then spirals off into everything we know about morality, micro- organisms, fir trees and how much imagination a giant salamander really has. A euphoric and funny trip through the multiple meanings of life.

BILL DOUGLAS MY BEST FRIEND directed by Jack Archer has been selected for the Dublin International Film Festival and will play at the Lighthouse cinema on the 29th February.

The following week it will have its UK premiere at the Glasgow Film Festival on 8th March. The film is the story of the extraordinary friendship between filmmaker Bill Douglas and his lifelong friend and collaborator Peter Jewell, illustrated by some never-before-seen home movies the pair made in the 1960s.

LOCHNESS: THEY CREATED A MONSTER

Bringing a fresh take on Scotland’s most famous stories, Loch Ness: They Created a Monster will be making its screen debut on the 3rd of November at Inverness Film Festival.

This affectionate, funny, shocking and wondrous documentary shows monster hunters from all over the world who come together to the remote highlands of Scotland. From WW2 veterans, curious scientists and hairy hippies, they all gather hoping to find the search of the century, evidence of the Loch Ness Monster.


Directed by John Macclaverty


The Inverness Film Festival will be taking place from the 3-9 November



BAFTA SCOTLAND NOMINATIONS

We are excited to announce that our productions My Old School and Dog Days have garnered a number of BAFTA SCOTLAND nominations.

Huge congratulations to director Jono McCleod on his Best Director Factual nomination for My Old School, and to the entire team at Hopscotch for the Best Feature Film nomination.

Conor McCarron is nominated in the Actor Television category, for his jaw droppingly authentic portrayal of homeless busker Zoso in Dog Days, the first production from Channel X Hopscotch.

Both productions are available to watch on BBC I-Player for a few months only.

Danish Beast attracts UK Hopscotch and Sweden’s Platform

“BEAST” documentary brings two of Europe’s top cutting-edge production houses - Glasgow-based Hopscotsh Films, and Ruben Östlund’s Plattform Produktion, have signed up for Kestner’s playful journey of self-discovery and life questioning, featuring among other things…a dead giraffe.

With the starting point of the doc focusing on the death of Marius the giraffe in Copenhagen Zoo in 2014 which caused outrage around the world, it explores our relationships with animals and humans’ place in the ecosystem, combining a scientific vantage point with existential thoughts.

The film co-financed by TV2 Denmark, with support from Nordisk Film & TV Fond, has just started production. The preliminary release date is set for the spring 2024.

For more information check out this article by Nordisk Film & TV Fond

The Story of Film: A New Generation Hollywood Reporter Review

We are thrilled to read Hollywood Reporter’s wonderful review of Story of Film: A New Generation, written by Sheri Linden.

“Describing what we see on the screen, he imbues it with new meaning. If, like me, you have a never-ending list of movies to watch, you’re more than likely to add a few titles to it after watching Cousins’ documentary.”

Full Article:

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/the-story-of-film-a-new-generation-cannes-2021-1234976931/

The Story of Film: A New Generation Guardian Review

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We are delighted to read the praise The Story of Film: A New Generation got by the Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw:

“What is invigorating about The Story of Film is that each new clip, each new comment, is an exercise in back to basics, an exercise in looking, and looking again and looking harder”

Full Guardian Article:

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/jul/06/the-story-of-film-a-new-generation-review-invigorating-study-of-21st-century-cinema

The Story of Film: A New Generation Exclusive Screening at Festival de Cannes 2021

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It is with great pleasure and excitement to announce the exclusive screening of The Story of Film: A New Generation at Festival de Cannes 2021.

Examining the most powerful movie images of the last decade, filmmaker Mark Cousins updates his classic The Story of Film with A New Generation. Spanning from 2010 to 2021, including the recent pandemic, Cousins spins an epic and hopeful tale of cinematic innovation from around the globe as he helps to uncover new ways of seeing and being in our eclectic and voluminous digital age.

The film will be showcased to the press and festival attendees in the afternoon of Tuesday, July 6th in the Debussy Theatre of the Palais des Festivals.

Festival de Cannes Article:

https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/infos-communiques/communique/articles/the-story-of-film-a-new-generation-by-mark-cousins-an-exclusive-screening

Alasdair Gray: Life in Progress

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To commemorate the life and passing of one of Scotland’s most influential artists, our documentary Alasdair Gray: Life in Progress was screened last Saturday at the Glasgow Film Theatre with friends and fans in attendance

Director, and close friend of Gray, Kevin Cameron introduced the film at the screening paying tribute to a giant of Scottish arts:

 “It still seems strange that Alasdair has died – he’d survived so many illnesses over the latter part of his life I don’t think anyone was expecting it. Since his death it’s been a revelation to see work that I didn’t know about – such as the prints at the print studio and also last week getting a tantalizing glimpse of his notebooks spanning his whole life when I was taking some video of his flat before it’s sold. It’s all reminded me that the film you are about to see is a partial account albeit one that his friends and family have told me captures the Alasdair they knew, who could be by turn exasperating as well as fascinating and charming.”

The film is now available on Vimeo:

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/alasdairgray?

Full notes from Kevin’s introduction:

https://kevincameron.wordpress.com/2020/02/24/a-brief-description-of-how-i-came-to-work-with-alasdair-gray-and-how-it-was-brought-to-some-kind-of-conclusion/

Eminent Monsters: A Modern Manual For Torture... Guardian Review and Cinema Tour

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We are thrilled that our documentary feature film Eminent Monsters: A Modern Manual for Torture kickstarts a cinematic tour across the UK starting in Inverness this Sunday! A recent Guardian review hailed the film as an “effective documentary (which) examines why no one is held to account over torture and how close the UK is to adopting techniques used in Guantánamo.”

Eminent Monsters spotlights the horrors of torture being done in our name and traces it back to Scottish psychiatrist Ewan Cameron… the Eminent Monster

Guardian Article:

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/feb/13/eminent-monsters-a-manual-for-modern-torture-review-moazzam-begg

More information on dates and screenings:

https://reprieve.org.uk/update/eminent-monsters/

Harry Birrell Guardian Review and UK Cinema Tour

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We were delighted to read the praise heaped onto Harry Birrell: Presents Films of Love and War by the Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw:

“There’s warmth, intimacy and real archive fascination to this true-life tale from the second world war: a rare example of a regular soldier being allowed to tell his own story.”

This review coincided with the film’s imminent tour in cinemas around the UK! Check out the listing on our website to find a cinema near you:

https://www.harrybirrellpresents.com/