Calling Scotland's Young Filmmakers!
Aged 26 and under? We want to see your films about today’s Scotland.
The culture, the landscape, the people, the food... whatever inspires you.
If you create a film for the competiion, you'll get to take advantage of the unique opportunity to utilise and re-purpose content from the National Library of Scotland Moving Image Archive.
We invite you to get creative and tell a new story about Scotland today!
The best films will be shortlisted and shown at a special event in 2027 at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, where prizes will be awarded.
Winning films will be placed in the National Library of Scotland Moving Image Archive, as part of Scotland’s story for future generations.
Our competition is inspired by the original Films of Scotland, which ran from 1938 until 1982.
GENRE
About any subject you like and can be in any form - documentary, animation, drama, experimental, etc.
LENGTH
5 minutes or under
DEADLINE
31st January 2027
Language
We encourage entries in Scots, Gaelic, BSL or any other language you use.
If your film is shortlisted, we will ask for it to be captioned in English before the screening.
BSL-ENG Interpretation will be available during the awards presentations.
The Original Films of Scotland
Back in 1938, the Empire Exhibition was held in Glasgow and to promote Scotland, a committee was formed and 7 films were commissioned to showcase Scotland.
These initial Films of Scotland were seen by vast audiences both nationally and internationally.
Films of Scotland re-formed after the war and ran until 1982. Well known Scottish filmmakers like Bill Forsyth, Charlie Gormley, Murray Grigor and Iain Smith worked on them, and they form an incredible archive of Scotland's moving image culture
Resources
The films below have been specially produced to give young people, teachers, tutors, youth group leaders the opportunity to explore the background to the original Films of Scotland, hear from some of the people involved and see how these films shaped the modern Scottish film industry.
You'll also find archive footage, which can be downloaded and used in your films!
Info Videos
Archive Videos
You can download and use these videos from the National Library of Scotland Moving Image Archive & Visit Scotland in your own films! Just click the Vimeo link.
*Please note that the archive content is only for free use in the Films of Scotland competition, and you must include any clips you use in your film credits.
Archive Audio Files
You can download and use these audio files from the National Library of Scotland Moving Image Archive in your films!
*Please note that the archive content is only for free use in the Films of Scotland competition, and you must include any audio clips you use in your film credits.