[CONVERSATION TRANSFERRED FROM ORIGINAL FORUM]

We want Seachd to be the start of a new Gaelic cinema. How can we make that happen?

Posted by Simon Miller on Feb 13

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Scripts and money! The perennial problem for minority language filmmaking....

I still don't think cinema is considered as an artform that is worth investing in by the Welsh language establishment. Theatre, poetry and literature are all seen as being above cinema, which explains why there is still no proper competition for screenplays or completed films in the National Eisteddfod.

And with writers encouraged to move towards these other artforms (which also happens to be where they can make a livelyhood!) where are the scriptwriters going to come from?

I feel that with so many good Welsh language novels about, that adaptation is the key to cheap, quick feature film making. We need to get on a roll!

I'm so glad that Seachd is getting the ball rolling again in Scotland.

Pictiwrs Posted on Feb 26

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My (naturally) optmistic feeling is that what matters most is the script (the story) since if a film has that then funders will be found - whether from organisations supporting a particular minority language or not.

I believe both the Mod and the Eisteddfod should be expanded to encourage additional artforms - especially since tv and film can be made so much more cheaply nowadays (witness the explosion of mobile phone filmed content on youtube!). Seachd will open the Celtic Media Festival in Skye this March - perhaps that festival could build links with the existing national competitions in the traditional arts of Celtic communities...

Simon Miller Posted on Feb 26

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The Celtic has it's good points and bad points. One bad point I'd say is that there is an extortionate entry fee, especially if you've made a short film. Unless you;re willing to stump up the cash yourself, which, let's face it, not many young filmmakers are. Or you either have to have your film submitted through a broadcaster or tv company. Many fantastic short filsm therefore don't even get seen by the jury, which weakens the competition and robs it of some validity. I have to stress that this complaint only really applies to short films (and maybe web competitions).

Having said that, if you're film does make it through, it's a great place to meet people who are in the right place to get you some work. And the singing is superb at the end of the night!

Having been to the ones in Cardiff and Cornwall, I'm not sure if I will make it to the Celtic this year. I would love to be there for your premiere. I hope it goes marvelously!

Come down to show the film in Aberystwyth, I guarantee you will get a great receptive audience, and you can crash at our house!

Pictiwrs Posted on Feb 26

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I agree with that many film festival fees are extortionate and that - given the much lower cost of media creation nowadays - that this trend ought to be reflected within the major and minor film festivals.

The technology for this community site is provided free by http://www.ning.com who also provide the technology for your own youtube. Every festival could easily create their own youtube like, free to enter/upload, online competition space for all comers and festival goers or online users could vote for the best. What do you think?

Would love the film to be shown in Wales. We're working on cinema and tv distribution right now - and after Cannes, we'll be working on our film festival plans.

Digital intermediate post (grading and transfer from HD to 35mm) was done at Dragon DI in South Wales by the way! Keeping it in the Celtic family...

Simon Miller Posted on Feb 28

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Just heard the news yesterday that there will be a Welsh language feature produced this year. It has been written by a writer named Delyth Jones and it's title will be "CWCW" (if I have my facts straight!). It is being produced by Fondue Films. They were responsible for a quirky drama series equally loved and despised (a good thing I guess!) titled "Fondue, Rhyw a Deinosors" (Fondue, Sex and Dinosaurs).

They intend for it to have a theatrical release this year!

I agree that more stuff should be put onlin now, it's so much easier and cheaper than before. Check out the Welsh language group on YouTube (www.youtube.com/group/sianelamgencymru) - there are over 300 entries there now. Some of it (some...) is really good.

Pictiwrs Posted on Feb 28

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That's what we like to hear. Good stuff is normally loathed and loved in equal portions...

Simon Miller Posted on Mar 1

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Personally, if a film has soul and heart, and you can feel what the characters are going through, and there aren’t any major production glitches, it doesn't matter if it's subtitled, and in a foreign language. What does matter to me is it having an authentic feel.

Take for example the recent American TV Series Heros, the Japanese speak Japanese. Now if they had shot a scene in Japan, and all the Japanese actors were speaking with American English accents, that would ruin it for me.
Instead of having an exciting intense feel to it, it would just become comedy and I’d start laughing.

Another example would be, if you shot a film where the time was 2007 and you went around Scotland and everyone spoke Gaelic, that would spoil it for some, while if it was a period piece where the majority spoke Gaelic, then that would be consistent, and having actors that actually care for the subject matter helps.

David464 Posted on Mar 10

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I certainly agree - although there are some parts of Scotland where the majority of people do speak Gaelic...

Simon Miller Posted on Mar 12

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Some stats on distribution of Gaelic speakers in Scotland...http://www.seachd.com/index_gaeldom.html

Simon Miller Posted on Mar 12

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If you get the chance, could you make one about Bonnie Prince Charlie, the raising of the Jacobite clans & the Culloden aftermath, all set in the Highlands & Skye, and perhaps with dialogue that alternates between Gaelic & English. Oh yes, and give Alan Cummings a screen test for the lead role.

UilleamMacFhionghuin Posted on May 17

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Did any of the Stuarts ever have have a world of Gaelic? I know they tried to eradicate it. The Gaels' faithful attachment to their non-Gaelic monarchs is one of the great tragedies of history (the rise of feudalism and monarchy being another). I should like to see a film about World War I and the disproportionate number of Gaels who died for nothing in that wholly unecessary battle of empires. And then a movie about Somhairle MacGillEain, one of the few Gaels who had a decent political outlook.

AlasdairFitheach Posted on May 26

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I think Fo Sgàil A' Swastika (Domhnall Iain MacDhomhnaill) is ripe for the big screen treatment. The vast bulk of the highlanders in WWII were cut off from the Normandy landings, and I really wasn't aware of it until I read the book. The length of the ordeal these people faced is hard to imagine.

Heck -- Domhnall Iain even left us with the perfect theme song for it: Hó ro 'illean.

GunSrac Posted on May 2

Did any of the Stuarts ever have have a world of Gaelic? I know they tried to eradicate it. The Gaels' faithful attachment to their non-Gaelic monarchs is one of the great tragedies of history (the rise of feudalism and monarchy being another). I should like to see a film about World War I and the disproportionate number of Gaels who died for nothing in that wholly unecessary battle of empires. And then a movie about Somhairle MacGillEain, one of the few Gaels who had a decent political outlook.

AlasdairFitheach Posted on May 26

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As far as I`m aware, James IV was the last Scottish king to be able to speak Gaelic. This is according to all the Scottish history books I`ve ever read. It`s a line oft repeated.

hey

A question.

Where will the film be seen? Like will it be in cinemas?

Yes. Well be in UK and Eire cinemas in the Autumn and we're working on international deals right now. We'll also be at film festivals all over the world in 2007 and 2008. And eventually (mid-2008 onwards) well be on DVD.

Simon

thats awesome! :D
i live in wales, so i'll be able to see it then?

Going back to the original question, it's all got to be about innovation.

Seachd's budget (£655000) has been described as "modest". That's fair enough if we consider it as a mass market film, but a new Gaelic cinema movement would have to justify itself within the community and couldn't expect quite the same level of outside interest.

Comparing the number of Gaelic speakers worldwide with the number of English speakers worldwide, Seachd's budget is on a par with Spiderman 3, Hollywood's most expensive feature to date. A new industry cannot be founded on those economic terms.

Standard filmmaking techniques are beyond our means, and we need cheaper ways of telling a story and realising it on screen.

Is CG/Blue-screen cheap enough yet? Is technology along the lines of that used in Casshern and Sky Captain affordable?

Alternatively, what about stripping back the on-screen experience? Maybe trying to recreate Dogville would be a step too far, but if you consider Mac-Talla nan Eun, the opera that was webcast from Stornoway at the weekend, there was a very effective counterpoint of <myspace>style</myspace>s.

We had the on-location film of Daibhidh Walker to represent the piece's "present", and the abstract of the stage scenes as the memories. I was quite surprised by the interplay between these two elements. The natural lighting in the location shots seemed two-dimensional compared with the high-contrast stage lights. Also, even home viewers saw the location shots on the back wall of the stage. As a result of these two things, the overall effect was of a past more "real" than the present (or near-present at least).

OK, so even Dogville's budget was $10 million, but that was probably just Nicole Kidman's fee. Mac-Talla Nan Eun was about £1.6 million, but the expensive parts were the operatics, the silly wall-dancers and the fact that it had to be connected by satellite links, acted live and simultaneously web-cast.

What were the key costs for Seachd?

As I was developing Seachd as a project I did not actually primarily think of the project as a Scottish Gaelic film, rather simply a film. In that sense, whilst there would be obvious interest amongst Gaelic speakers I was trying to make a film for everybody. I don't think it makes sense to compare our truly low budget (in the context of any feature film) with the number of Gaelic speakers, since I think good "art" should always have the capability of travelling across borders however they're defined.

I case in point, dare I say it, is "Gruth Is Uachdar" (Crowdie and Cream) which was far far more expensive to make per minute than Seachd and if I'm being honest has not lived up to its potential of travelling beyond Gaelic television. For me, that was a great waste.

I think it is terribly important for Gaelic films to be made at a level that they might have a chance of getting into foreign cinemas and onto foreign television channels. Of course, there are cases where budgets as low as £20k have achieved this for films (e.g., Blair Witch Project) but actually they are few a far between. The budget of Seachd was right down to the bone in terms of the script we intended to shoot. Not one member of the cast and crew received a full date rate, every department was under-resources and over-worked and we were shooting by the seat of our pants quite often!

Having said all that, great drama can be made for lower budgets than you might imagine. Dr. Who - for example - has a far lower budget per minute that (say) Lost or 24, and survives on the strength of its scripts and ideas. This is where good drama starts.

I have been arguing for a while that cast and crew rates are probably unrealistic and uncompetitive in the UK compare to (say) the US independent film sector. I would rather see every member of the cast and crew paid less but given a share of revenue ("from the first dollar") as recompense. Films would be instantly cheaper to make by this method and so more films would be made and each of us would work on more films over a year, giving us each a "portfolio" of films that hopefully would include enough successes that we would be decently recompensed (perhaps even more than we are today).

Digital film-making and processing is reducing the costs of that part of the process more and more and as the digital cinema network grows in the UK, eventually the cost of making 35mm will disappear in favour of simple broadband distribiution to cinemas. So not only will shooting films be cheaper but processing and distributing will be also. This has the potential to revolutionise the industry (although it won't happen over night).

I'm optimistic that these trends are taking hold and a Gaelic film industry can find a place for itself within it. However, I think it's crucial that every film that is made (in whatever language) is a film that is designed to tell a great story and to be a work of art on film that is for everybody. The fact that a film is in Gaelic is neither here nor there in terms of whether its any good - so what we need to find and train are great Gaelic writers and directors who will make low cost, engaging films with great stories....

Simon

If we're talking of Gaelic cinema as part of the general arthouse movement, we've got the problem of there not being much arthouse in the Gaidhealtachd.

Maybe bringing screenings from Shoot First to places like An Lanntair and Club Film could help raise awareness of the possibilities of independent film and would encourage others (including Gaelic speakers) to get involved.

The Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival is also prime for Gaelic involvement. What demographic other than the Gaels has such free access to the Highlands? You can almost chose your day for filming to avoid the Scottish weather lottery (a luxury not afforded to visiting crews!).

The question is: would this really be Gaelic cinema? It sounds more like Scottish cinema in the Gaelic language to me, and while that's not a bad thing, I think a dedicated Gaelic short film event -- or even just a Highland event -- would be of great help, but it's all a little chicken-and-egg. Without films, there can't be one, and without one, no-one's making films. A call for films by Féis an Eilean or HebCeltFest could just be enough as a kickstart.


Moving on, the reason I asked about the most expensive parts of the film was this:

Roughly half of the Gaelic-speaking population live near the coast and roughly half in the cities. An urban film would seem very artificial if there wasn't a lot of English in it, but it wouldn't really be a "Gaelic" film if it had too much English. That leaves me thinking of the sea, but I imagine that filming at sea is pretty expensive. Would filming on or from a boat be practical without steadycam or some equally pricey camera stabiliser (unless you're looking for a particular effect)? And once you put any cast or crew on a small boat -- particularly child actors, as you did -- I imagine you've got to float a RIB with an RYA certified safety boat skipper. Doable on a small budget, but not really on a microbudget. Are the regulations less stringent on inland lochs? There are many stretches of fresh water in Scotland that could double as sea-lochs if shot carefully. Maybe I'm judging it wrong, were the mountain scenes more expensive simply due to the high ratio of travel time to shooting time involved? Then again, it could have just been costumes -- period pieces are always notoriously expensive due to the furniture and costumes.

When I talk about cutting back, I'm thinking of things like Yougfilms' The Final Curtain. In all, the studio scenes where Adrian Lester's character was being interviewed must have been less than 10 minutes of the film, but I'd have thought that filming in a studio dressed as a studio is about the cheapest and easiest type of filming possible, and that those few minutes would have saved thousands on the final cost of the film.

I'm not asking "what did you do expensively in Seachd?" but rather "what did you do in Seachd that was expensive?" I'm trying to get a handle on what amateurs can expect to be able to emulate, and what's just unrealistic without a professional budget. Or equally, what's commercially viable as a script if a writer wants to pitch something professionally.

I agree with you on the question of royalties -- it's certainly a much more Gaidhealach way of doing things and could be attractive to the community-owned land trusts (as well as making the safety boat more realistically affordable!). But I can also see why people are reluctant to work without a guaranteed pay-cheque....

A filmaker should be free to do whatever they want...Films don't have to be realistic in terms of language...Realism isn't a barometer of quality... I honestly don't believe that many people would care if the language wasn't the spoken language...People will be interested in it if its a good film

No, realism isn't a barometer of quality, but willful suspension of disbelief has its limits.

Take, for example, Morvern Callar. Man kills himself. Woman buries man's body, lives off his money. I spent the whole film waiting for the police to turn up.

The end result wasn't that my expectations were confounded or subverted, but that I couldn't "believe" the film. I couldn't lose myself in the story, because it just seemed absurd.

I firmly believe that any inner city Gael would find it impossible to relate to an inner-city drama scripted entirely in Gaelic, because it would be simply too far removed from reality. In a fantasy film, yes; because you build your own world. In a drama, no; because you attempt to model the real world.

I am so excited to hear about this film. Although I live in Washington, in the US, I am almost fully Scottish, and have a passion for the Gaelic language and for it's revival. I am working on learning the language, and am unbelievably excited to see the new movie, although, I haven't heard much about it, and am not sure it will be in theatres here. I will do whatever I can to see it. Good luck, I can't wait!
Sincerely,
Sarah

I unfortunately missed the film in cinemas. Will it ever be released on DVD?