Biography of 'Scottish Amateur Film Festival (SAFF)'
Amateur film festival organisation
SIAFF had its origins in the Open Competition for cine enthusiasts organised by the Meteor Film Producing Society, held in Glasgow in October 1933. By 1934 it had been launched as an annual competition named Scottish Amateur Film Festival, becoming Scottish International Amateur Film Festival in 1970.
The Festival went into abeyance during the Second World War, resumed in 1948 as an annual event, until 1978, with only three festivals 1981, 1983 and 1986 to follow. Festival historians claim that it was the first competition of its kind to be organised in the world and the first of the three major amateur competitions in Great Britain (citing Institute of Amateur Cinematographers and Amateur Cine World as others).
The SIAFF was unique for its adjudication system and the appointment of a professional from the film industry as Adjudicator. These industry contributors have included John Grierson, Alfred Hithcock, Michael Powell, Paul Rotha, Sidney Furie and Alan Parker. The Festivals were organised by the Scottish Association of Amateur Cinematographers from 1949, in association with Scottish Film Council. The public presentation of prizewinning films was made in the Cosmo Cinema in Glasgow.
Researcher: National Library of Scotland Moving Image Archive
Films associated with 'COCOZZA, Enrico'
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AFRICAN ANIMALS [0147]Add to my filmsShows animals in Kruger National Park near Johannesburg, Hluhluwe Reserve near Durban, and Nairobi National Park in Kenya. Illustrates how colouring of animals blends with surroundings and portrays spraying of disinfectant against tsetse fly. |
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1951 silent col |
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ALL ON A SUMMER'S DAY [0528]Add to my filmsVarious activities enjoyed on a summer's day by a young couple including swimming, golfing and a picnic. |
Onsite only |
1933 silent bw |
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AMATEUR CINEMATOGRAPHY [0105]Add to my filmsDemonstration on how to make a film, made as a trailer for the 10th Scottish Amateur Film Festival held in the Cosmo Cinema, Glasgow. |
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1948 sound bw |
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APPLE A DAY, an [2718]Add to my filmsA prize-winning film at the 8th Scottish Amateur Film Festival, 1941, it tells the story of two children, who because of their pranks, become ill from eating too much stolen fruit and have to be given a dose of castor oil! |
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1941 silent bw |
APPLICATION OF EXPERIMENTS PART I [2476A]Add to my filmsAn educational film to show how to control burning by excluding air/oxygen. |
1958 mute col |
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APPLICATION OF EXPERIMENTS PART II [2476B]Add to my filmsAn educational film demonstrating how to increase burning by lighting open hearths and stoves. |
1960 mute col |
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ARDNAMURCHAN [0932]Add to my filmsA prize-winning film at the 1950 Scottish Amateur Film Festival, it shows life in the crofting community on the Ardnamurchan peninsula. |
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1950 silent col |
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AROUND WICK HARBOUR [0450]Add to my filmsThe fishing fleet in Wick Harbour. Steam vessels leaving and returning with a catch of herring to be gutted and packed. |
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1939 silent col |
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ARP: A REMINDER FOR PEACETIME [2769]Add to my filmsCommended at the 7th Scottish Amateur Film Festival in 1940, Frank Marshall's film shows a household preparing for the black-out, using petrol coupons and an air-raid shelter. |
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1940 silent bw |
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AT THE MUSEUM [2464]Add to my filmsExhibits in the Kelvingrove Museum, Glasgow including suits of armour, models of ships and stuffed animals. |
Onsite only |
1953 silent bw |
AUTUMN: A Study in Colour [3953]Add to my filmsSymphony in colour. A series of beautiful autumn landscape studies, interspersed with poetry from Keats' 'Ode to Autumn'. |
1949 silent col |
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AYR - BARNCLUITH, WINNOCKS, QUEENS TERR. GLG SKERRYVORE [9917]Add to my filmsHome movie of a family relaxing in a garden and on a visit to the beach. |
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1940 silent col |
BANG GOES THE SHOW [5850]Add to my filmsA series of short comedy sketches. |
1951 silent bw |
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BEAUTIFUL BELLEISLE [6749]Add to my filmsGeneral views of the Belleisle Estate, Ayr, mainly focussing on the spectacular gardens. Accompanied by classical music and intertitles. |
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1950 sound col |
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BRAEMAR GATHERING [2639]Add to my filmsThe Highland Games at Braemar with shots of the various events including tossing the caber, throwing the hammer and Highland dancing. King George VI, Queen Elizabeth and the two Princesses are among the spectators. [Highly commended film at the SAAC 1941] |
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1940 silent col |
BROWNIE STEPPING STONES [8691]Add to my filmsBrownies from the 227th pack in Glasgow perform the various stages of a ceremony in a park. |
1953 silent col |
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BURMESE HIGHWAY: Part Two [4104]Add to my filmsTravelling through Mandalay, Amarapura, down the Irrawaddy river to Rangoon and close to the Chinese border at Bhamo, this film visits beautiful pagodas and palaces, witnesses the silk weaving and teak trades and observes everyday life of the Burmese people. |
1939 silent col |
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CAMERA MAKES WHOOPEE [1098]Add to my filmsThe Annual Fancy Dress Ball at Glasgow School of Art: "Something New Under the Sun". Includes two ballets, "Hungarian" and "Machine Age" and animated sequences. |
Onsite only |
1936 mute bw |
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CARNOUSTIE [10468]Add to my filmsAmateur film about a wet weekend in Carnoustie for members of the Scottish Association of Amateur Cinematographers, with a poetic accompaniment. |
Onsite only |
1966 sound col |
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CATGUT FILM, the [6823]Add to my filmsThe history, preparation and use of surgical catgut explained in detail. Includes processes such as washing, storing, filing, unwinding, stretching, sterilising and packing. The use of catgut in surgery is also covered. |
Onsite only |
1953 sound bw |
COUNTRY LOON, the [3889]Add to my filmsA warm-hearted comic tale, very much in the "Frank Marshall style", on the virtue of honesty. A boy playing by a river helps a wealthy estate owner and is given a silver coin as reward. Discovering he has lost the money when he tries to buy a toy boat, he returns to the river where he meets the older man again, who generously replaces it. The boy then buys his boat but finds the first coin by his spot on the river. He takes it to the wealthy man's mansion, explains, and is allowed to keep it for his honesty. |
1957 silent col |
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CRAGSMAN'S DAY, a [1086]Add to my filmsRock climbing on the "Cobbler". [Awarded first prize by Michael Powell in the 1948 Scottish Amateur Film Festival]. |
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1946 silent bw |
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CRIEFF MR T.H. THOMS ETC PRE 1958 [10451]Add to my filmsOut-takes from an unfinished amateur short comedy film, shot during the Scottish Association of Amateur Cinematographers' annual members' weekend in Crieff. |
Onsite only |
1957 silent bw |
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CRIEFF ODD SHOTS JANET, RAINBOWS ETC. [10444]Add to my filmsBehind the scenes footage of activities at the Scottish Association of Amateur Cinematographers' weekend at Crieff Hydro. |
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1968 silent col |
CROSSING NORTHERN LATITUDES [0131]Add to my filmsHoliday scenes in Iceland, Spitzbergen and Norway. |
1936 silent bw |
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DAUGHTER OF CHARITY [4190]Add to my filmsDramatised story of a young woman from Glasgow who decides to give up her secretarial job to join the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul. She travels to London, Paris and Dublin to study, before finally returning to Glasgow to work with the poor. |
1963 mute bw |
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DEAR LITTLE JAMMY FACE SONG [9307]Add to my filmsJammy faces all around in this fun singalong film for children! |
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1952 sound col |
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DREAM COME TRUE, a [3892]Add to my filmsA film about a little boy's dream about what he would like from Santa. His dream comes true and he gets the toy that he was wishing for. |
Onsite only |
1953 silent col |
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EPISODE OF SUMMER, an [9305]Add to my filmsAn amateur award winning film by Dr. Iain Dunnachie . A mysterious and unsettling summertime walk by the sea is not quite what it seems... |
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1957 sound col |
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FAMILY CHOICE [9304]Add to my filmsThe Dunnachie family's dilemma - how to choose where to go on a family holiday? This fun film records how they do so in Pitlochry, Kinloch Rannoch and St. Andrews. |
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1959 sound col |
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FANTASMAGORIA [1170]Add to my filmsA fictional story of a Dracula-type character who terrorises the Coltness Estate in Wishaw. |
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1948 sound bw |
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FEATHER CHRISTMAS [3862]Add to my filmsChildren prepare for Christmas around their house and the two brothers look after their mischievous baby sister. |
Onsite only |
1958 silent col |
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FESTIVAL ADVERT [6494]Add to my filmsAdvert for the 1981 Scottish International Amateur Film Festival at the Glasgow Film Theatre. Accompanied by voiceover track. |
Onsite only |
1981 sound col |
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FICKLE FORTUNE [0509]Add to my filmsDramatised film of an incident in the life of Rob Roy MacGregor, set in the Trossachs. |
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1930 silent bw |
FILTERS AND FILTRATION [3878]Add to my filmsSimple examples of filtration; methods of accelerating filtration - fluted filter papers, longer stems, suction devices - micro filtration - industrial filtration - the filter press. Includes animated diagrams. |
1934 silent bw |
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FISHERS ALL [2705]Add to my filmsA small boy sneaks off to do a bit of fishing instead of going to church. [Highly commended at the Scottish Association of Cinematographers 1952 Festival]. |
Onsite only |
1951 silent col |
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FISHING FLEET [1595]Add to my filmsAn illustration of Lossiemouth's fishing industry detailing the preparations before, during and after a catch. The Seine fishing method is highlighted. [Prize-winning film at the 7th Scottish Amateur Film Festival 1940] |
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1939 silent bw |
FLEE MARKET, the [6752]Add to my filmsA group of children play in a deserted junk yard. Gradually their fantasies become realities. [synopsis from SCFL catalogue] |
1975 sound col |
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FOUR CAME TO CRIEFF [9298]Add to my filmsThe Scottish amateur film-making set have some fun experimenting with 16mm camera trickery during a weekend away at Crieff in the 1950s. |
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1954 silent bw |
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GLASGOW JUVENILE INSTRUCTION CENTRE, a [2106]Add to my filmsAn entry for the 1937 Scottish Amateur Film Festival, this film shows daily life at South Carntyne juvenile instructional centre, one of several in Glasgow for unemployed people. |
Onsite only |
1934 silent bw |
GOLLY'S PARTY [6747]Add to my filmsA teddy bear's picnic.. |
1952 sound col |
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GREY METROPOLIS, the [2853]Add to my filmsMade by teachers at Norton Park School, Edinburgh, the film shows the city through the thoughts and songs of R.L. Stevenson. [Winner of the Lizars Cup, Scottish Amateur Film Festival 1953]. |
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1952 sound bw |
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GREY SEALS: At Their Breeding Ground in the Farne Islands [3865]Add to my filmsA study of Atlantic - or grey - seal colony at breeding ground on Farne Islands, off coast of Northumberland. |
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1956 sound col |
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HADDOCK FISHING [2637]Add to my filmsHand line-fishing for haddock from coble fishing boats in Orkney waters. [Commended at the Scottish Amateur Film Festival 1941.] |
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1941 silent bw |
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HANDBA' AT KIRKWALL, ORKNEY [0704]Add to my filmsScenes from the Handba' festival on New Year's Day in Kirkwall. The last festival to be held until the end of the war. |
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1939 silent bw |
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HAPPY HOLIDAY 1955 [6742]Add to my filmsFamily trip around Crieff, Crathie, Ballater and Moffat. Includes Royal visit at Ballater. Accompanied by Mr Paterson's commentary and some music. |
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1955 sound col |
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HEALING HANDS IN NAZARETH [4048]Add to my filmsDepicts the day to day workings of missionary hospital in Nazareth. Shows the town and surrounding countryside, people at market and at work, details the medical work of medical staff in the hospital, graduating nurses and the importance of religion in everyone's lives. |
Onsite only |
1959 mute bwcol |
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HEIL OESTERREICH [2105]Add to my filmsAn entry for the 1938 Scottish Amateur Film Festival, the film shot in Austria, includes scenes of local festivals. [Violet Anderson was a contemporary of Norman McLaren at Glasgow School of Art]. |
Onsite only |
1936 silent bw |
HELL UNLTD [1099]Add to my filmsPowerful anti-war film detailing the cost in dead and wounded, and the resultant economic depression of the 1914-1918 war. The film graphically illustrates the horrors of another war. [Entered for the 1937 Scottish Amateur Film Festival]. |
1936 silent bw |
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HIDE FOR SIMON, a [4060]Add to my filmsStory of a young boy and a man who go bird watching and build a "hide" so they can get closer to the birds. |
1962 sound col |
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