made in scotlanD film
In August 2008, the tiny Scottish town of Nairn hosted Ballerina Ballroom Cinema of Dreams, a film festival co-curated and organised by Oscar-winning actress Tilda Swinton and critic/producer Mark Cousins. Ballerina Ballroom, a disused former ballroom and bingo hall, played host to screenings of classic films ranging from Singin’ in the Rain to Fassbinder’s The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, together with Scottish classic The Bill Douglas Trilogy. Funding for the informal event, which hosted 400 guests, came from Swinton herself, Scottish Screen, Highland Council, BFFS Scotland and local cultural body Hi-Arts. "It would be totally impossible to do the work that Tilda and I do without the support of Scottish Screen. It's a simple as that,” said Cousins. “Not many film agencies in the world are so enlightened about the need for innovation in exhibition." And in March 2009, The Scottish Cinema of Dreams went to China to showcase Scottish films to audiences in Beijing. The British Council and Scottish Screen backed Cousins and Swinton to hand pick a compact programme of films spanning six decades of Scottish cinema, including the definitive Scottish pastoral tale I Know where I’m Going and Norman McLaren’s stop-motion animation Neighbours. From a standing start, the Ballerina Ballroom Cinema of Dreams has already made a name for itself, at home and abroad. And with another Nairn event scheduled for 2009, it looks like a brand which is here to stay. 42
Mark Cousins and Tilda Swinton
“This is a happening inspired entirely by a love of film. We have nothing to sell, no industry to serve, no studios to placate,” said Swinton. “We wanted the festival to serve as a reminder that cinema exists outside of the multiplex, that going to the pictures is more than just a question of checking into the latest oversold commodity, that having a favourite film, like discovering a new one, is part of life's true riches, at whatever age you discover it, for whatever reason, and that treasure lasts forever.”
Wth the press in Beijing