Skip to main content

National Library of Scotland

Biography of 'Scottish Screen Collection'

Publicly funded film collection

In April 1997, the Scottish Film Council, Scottish Screen Locations, Scottish Broadcast and Film Training and the Scottish Film Production Fund merged to form the non-departmental government body Scottish Screen. Creating a ‘one stop shop’ for the screen industries was important and built on the momentum of success stories such as Braveheart (1995), Rob Roy (1995) and Trainspotting (1996). Scottish Screen had an ambitious remit - concerned with cultural and educational access to screen heritage as well as the business and resourcing of film-making in Scotland.

As the parent body of the Scottish Screen Archive, Scottish Screen had an obligation to preserve films funded from the public purse, particularly relevant now distribution of Lottery funds was its responsibility. Although funding arrangements existed between its predecessor bodies and other organisations (eg. broadcasters), Scottish Screen also introduced a clause in production agreements that provided for a copy of the finished work to be deposited for archival preservation.

In 2007, the Scottish Screen Archive transferred to the National Library of Scotland, and with it, the responsibility to continue collecting film, video and born digital work. Scottish Screen transferred their former distribution collection and back catalogue to the Archive, much of which was earlier work not covered by the new arrangements. This diverse collection of modern Scottish film production now promises to grow in partnership with Creative Scotland from 2010 and far into Scotland’s digital future.

The collection contains creative and factual documentary, experimental artists film, video dance, animation, comedy, horror, drama …. They include films made by people of all ages, some featuring Scottish actors ‘before they were famous’, and there are plenty of lesser-known titles to explore, eg. THE EVANESCENT HERB GARDEN OF DEATH (1993)

Dating from the early 1980s onwards, such works have generally been made through a variety of funding and training initiatives. Scottish Screen and its predecessor bodies ran such schemes in collaboration with partners, ensuring vital broadcast and theatrical exposure for new filmmaking talent.

First Reels (1991 - 1999), in collaboration with Scottish Television, offered small financial incentives (£50 - £2000) but more importantly, hands-on experience and exposure. The scheme proved a springboard to greater things for talent such as Peter Mullan, David Tennant and Hannah Robinson, yet supported community groups (Pilton Video, Castlemilk Elderly Forum), individual animators, dancers, students and video artists. Prime Cuts (1996 - 1998) followed, encouraging innovative films on 16mm between 5 – 7 min, from documentary to experimental. Graduates of this scheme include acclaimed video dance artist, Katrina McPherson and directors Morag MacKinnon, Justin Molotnikov and Elly M. Taylor. Tartan Shorts (1993 - 1996), Tartan Smalls (2002 - 2005) and the Gaelic language Geur Ghearr (1996 - 1998) - schemes working with with BBC Scotland and Comataidh Craolaidh Gaidhlig - led to short films shown on family television sets across the country, and those same titles distributed to festivals across the world. Amongst this collection is the Oscar-winning FRANZ KAFKA'S IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1993), This Scotland (2002 - 2005) and New Found Land (2000 - 2004) are examples of schemes co-funded by STV and Grampian that produced a variety of productions with longer running times of up to 25 min and a strong emphasis on quality documentary.

Around 2002, a slight shift away from shorts to predominantly Scottish-funded features as well as international co-productions is evident. These range from the hard-hitting 16 YEARS OF ALCOHOL (2003), to the lighthearted STONE OF DESTINY (2008). SEACHD - INACCESSIBLE PINNACLE (2007) is the first feature film in the language of Scottish Gaelic to achieve mainstream cinematic distribution. (The archive holds deposit copies on 35mm as well as HD). International co-productions include SKAGERRAK (2004) and animated THE THREE MUSKETEERS (DE TRE MUSKATERER) (2006).

Aside from the funded schemes, there is much to enjoy. Music video 4 Minute Wonders (2001 - 2003) feature Scottish bands and record labels (Soma, Chemikal Underground). Bridging the Gap (since 2004) remains an intelligent, creative force in Scottish film-making. Scottish Students on Screen (started c. 1999) material ranges from GUID MAN OF BALLENGEICH (2001), made by schoolchildren in Stirlingshire, to COLD TAPE (2000), shown at Tate Britain. Interviews, stills, scripts, and other supporting documentation relating to the films are all kept.

There are just under 700 titles recorded to date. As well as basic content information, much of which has been taken from secondary sources (title, release date, synopsis, director, producer, production company, sponsor), full cast and credits are transcribed directly from viewing the source material. For the first time, the full scope, range and amount of Scottish publicly funded film in the last three decades has been brought together in one searchable set of data – with open public access worldwide.

Due to rights and conditions of deposit, viewings are only offered on National Library of Scotland premises. Requests for a loan, to screen, duplicate or otherwise distribute material in the collection should be directed to Creative Scotland. Permission for such uses will only be given in consultation with rights holders.

This is a work in progress - a constantly evolving collection. The growth of the collection reflects the creativity and talent of those working the screen industries in Scotland. The collection continues to flourish, with new work produced under Creative Scotland and Screen Scotland.

Missing, believed lost?
Gaps in the collection have been identified, and it would be invaluable to find this material and preserve it in the national collection. Representation of earlier work, such as First Reels, is patchy (eg. an interview with the director of a film exists on Betacam SP tape, but the 16mm completed film is nowhere to be seen!) Some films are incomplete or in poor condition and there may still be surviving material somewhere.

Researcher: Ann Cameron

Films associated with 'COCOZZA, Enrico'

Title Release date Film reference Sound Colour Date film record added Date video added Asc Desc
	PIG STORY [7659] Add to my films After nine years of insomnia a man decides enough is enough. He goes to meet the very things which help him get to sleep at night - three flying pigs. But will this lead to a permanent cure?	Onsite only	2003 sound col
	PIKADERO [13879] Add to my films Unable to fly the nest due to the economic crisis that grips Spain, a penniless, young couple have trouble consummating their fledgling relationship in their parents' homes. As they become increasingly desperate to make love and with no money to afford a hotel, they are forced to look for local public hotspots used for sex, known as picaderos. However, things are never as easy as they seem and their relationship is quickly tested as they try to break free from the shackles of a crumbling economy.		2015 sound col
	PILGRIMAGE [8399] Add to my films A short expressionistic documentary about a call to prayer at the annual Hajj.		2008 sound col
	PIOBAIREAN BHORNAIS = PIPERS OF BORNISH [7858] Add to my films A young boy receives the gift of piping from a sinister fairy in this traditional Scottish Gaelic animated tale, complete with 21st century bagpipe soundtrack.	Onsite only	2003 sound col
	PLAYSTATION MADNESS [7900] Add to my films A light-hearted observation of the emotions involved playing football on a playstation.		2002 sound col
	PLAYTIME [8088] Add to my films I was commissioned to make this video to help promote a band called Dynamo Dresden. The narrative free approach used still photography, DV and Super 8mm film to create the idea of nostalgia and distant memories.		2002 sound col
	PLEASE STOP [7799] Add to my films On 6th April 1993, three men set out on a journey... Martin Morrison, Miles Tubb and Iain Riddick. This is a documentary about seven days on the motorways between Glasgow and London. Topics discussed by fellow hitch-hikers and drivers were politics, the state of Britain today, crime, and racism.	Onsite only	1993 sound col
	POACHED [7594] Add to my films The story of a young salmon poacher who comes to terms with his desire to leave his problematic family and homeland. Set in the rural community of the Scottish Borders.		1999 sound col
	POET ON A PLANE [7671] Add to my films The story of Liz Niven, writer in residence at Inverness Airport as she embarks on a poetic journey through the Highlands and Islands bringing poetry to the unlikeliest of places.	Onsite only	2004 sound col
	POLLPHAIL [8122] Add to my films Creative documentary painting a startling portrait of a village in limbo, through the eyes of two men who share an obsession with a strange place. Director Matthew Lloyd explores the imagined future for the village, combining unusual use of archive with stunning photography and a haunting soundscape.		2009 sound col
	POOR ANGELS [7645] Add to my films A suspense story with a comic edge about a gang of extortionists who live in the underworld of the city.		1996 sound col
	PORK CHOP [7652] Add to my films A typical day in the life of a not so typical old lady.	Onsite only	2003 sound col
	POSITIV-O [8508] Add to my films Hugs and support from your mobile phone. Loving awareness across the airwaves. Two from Positiv-O, a selection of 15 second motivational clips for all kinds of stressful situations.		2006 sound col
	POWER OF PROVIDENCE [8517] Add to my films The day to day work of the Missionaries of Charity in Glasgow, showing their work with the poor and vunerable.		1985 sound col
	PROMISE LAND [7888] Add to my films Promise Land is the funny and unflinching animated story of a fictional journalist’s self serving and helter-skelter attempt to cover the Arab-Israeli conflict.		2002 sound col
	PROPOSAL, the [8069] Add to my films A scriptwriter and producer struggle for control over a story. He is willing to compromise everything but what does she really want? A tale of two people who lose the plot and find each other.		1998 sound col
	PURIFIERS, the [7057] Add to my films The Purifiers is set in an anonymous city of the near future where gang identity is forged through a fusion of music and karate clubs. Tired of hopeless government initiatives and bad policing, younger, more focussed activists respond by creating their own social infrastructure. An attempt is made to unite all of the respective gangs as one all-powerful confederation. The story is told through the eyes of John, the fading warrior who faces his toughest moral and physical test as he turns his back on the plan and leads his gang straight into an explosive unknown terrain where the odds are stacked against them.		2004 sound col
	QUEEN'S CHOCOLATE, the [8159] Add to my films In this urban fairytale a young boy seeks to transcend the bleak landscape he inhabits via a keen imagination, discovering joy against all odds.		2000 sound col
	QUICKEN [7628] Add to my films A lyrical examination of change within a family where silent isolation is passed on from parent to child and where loss, cruelty and love are both inextricably combined and continually shifting.		2005 sound col
	R + D [7989] Add to my films East meets west in a blaze of technology. [synopsis from BFI SIFT database at http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/579370, last accessed 15/6/2009]		1997 sound col
	R.G. BALL / OVER THE RAINBOW / DISCOPIER [8186] Add to my films A trilogy of gallery pieces designed for multimedia use, each features a looped video sequence which alters in accordance with the background music.		2001 sound col
	RACE, the [7693] Add to my films Duncan and George compete to be Alasdair's best man. A race against time, against tradition and against their better judgement.	Onsite only	2004 sound col
	RAGS & RICHES [21385] Add to my films Fictional Victorian children's tale about cruel schoolmaster in workhouse. [First in Programme 1 of films by Children and Young people as part of Scottish Students on Screen, 2002.]		2001 sound col
	RAIN [7691] Add to my films A cautionary tale. It’s New Year - just another day at the office for Michael Wilson, stand-in weather man. The forecast looks good when he’s offered a shot at the big time. But there’s a small problem...		1993 sound col
	RAINDANCE [7825] Add to my films Music video produced for '4 Minute Wonders' scheme, featuring the track 'Raindance' by Light Sleepers. "No Time, No Space, No Body, No Where" - a cool, laid back muse on time.	Onsite only	2001 sound col
	RANK [7650] Add to my films Rank follows a gang of boys making their way across Glasgow to witness the arrival of a coach full of Somalian refugees.		2003 sound col
	REAL LOVE [7831] Add to my films Music video produced for '4 Minute Wonders' scheme, featuring the track 'Real Love' by Jaye Lewis. A happy outcome for this love triangle fought out on the R&B club dancefloor?		2002 sound col
	REALLY ROUGH? [7925] Add to my films An award winning short documentary about the unseen lives of the homeless living and working on Edinburgh’s Princes Street during the festive season. Those sleeping rough on the streets of Edinburgh at Christmas tell it like it really is. Drugs, food and shelter are shown.		2002 sound col
	RECYCLED [7670] Add to my films Michael MacGregor thinks he has found the solution to his problems in the form of a man-eating wheelie bin... but could he be the next item on its menu?		2002 sound col
	RED OIL [8108] Add to my films Oil, greed, power, betrayal, passion and revolution - "it's a total soap opera" in Hugo Chavez' oil corporation in Venezuela. So says insider Marienella and she should know: before she worked in oil she used to write soaps... A high octane documentary with crude oil, larger-than-life characters, and true-life cliffhangers.	Onsite only	2008 sound col
	RED ROAD [7937] Add to my films Jackie (Kate Dickie) works as a CCTV operator. Each day she watches over a small part of the world, protecting the people living their lives under her gaze. One day a man appears on her monitor, a man she thought she would never see again, a man she never wanted to see again. Now she has no choice, she is compelled to confront him.		2006 sound col
	REFLECTIONS UPON THE ORIGIN OF THE PINEAPPLE [7973] Add to my films A former actor of the silent era recalls the making of his last film, finally offering an explanation for the construction of one of Scotland's most absurd architectural follies.		2000 sound col
	REGISTRARS, the [21363] Add to my films An intimate insight into the busiest Register House in Scotland. Life, death and love pause and flow through marbled halls and infinite paperwork. Dedicated staff transition from grief to joy throughout the day as the people’s stories resonate with their own lives. [Source - Scottish Documentary Institute]		2013 sound col
	RELAX [8046] Add to my films A couple on board a busy train start kissing and become engaged in full sex before their fellow passengers who ignore them. However, when the couple smoke a post-coital cigarette, they call a guard. The film challenges accepted conventions of morality, advertising and sex.		1994 sound col
	RENDEZ-VOUS [8101] Add to my films A guided tour through the real Belleville, a compact and colourful area of Paris that represents an incredibly diverse range of communities and cultures, artistic and ethnic.		2004 sound col
	REST IS SILENCE, the [7637] Add to my films From discovery to cremation this poignant and revealing documentary follows the journey of an anonymous, unclaimed body and describes the procedures and rituals that lead to its internment.		2005 sound col
	RESURRECTING BILL [7865] Add to my films Edinburgh based Julia Menzies, obsessed with Bill Hicks, looks for her vocation in life during the Edinburgh Festival.		1999 sound col
	RETRIBUTION [8149] Add to my films A Serbian hitman travels to Edinburgh to try and kill a couple of witnesses to a crime. His client has already tried once to have them killed, resulting in the slaughter of nine innocent people. When the hitman succeeds in killing the witnesses, Stan Miller, the detective in charge of their protection, is suspended but vows to hunt down their killer and his client, who as a result of the death of the witnesses is now free on remand. When the client fails to pay the hitman his second payment for the job it becomes a three-way battle leading to a dramatic conclusion.		2005 sound col
	RETURN OF PEG LEG PETE, the [7662] Add to my films An unemployed swashbuckler despairs of ever taking to the waves again in this peculiar bittersweet comedy.	Onsite only	2003 sound col
	REWIND [8157] Add to my films Rewind is a story about loss and what happens to a relationship when we cannot let go of the past. It follows the story of two German women who move to Scotland, only to find out how damaging their history has been. Sometimes we can only hang onto the imprints we leave on each other’s lives.		2009 sound col
	RICE PAPER STARS [7513] Add to my films Trapped inside the handbag-disco from Hell and drunk on Malibu and heartbreak, jilted bride Kelly-Marie is having the worst day of her life. But when the Ladies’ toilets become centre-stage for a life or death drama, the situation calls for some serious action.		2000 sound col
	RING OF TRUTH, the [7665] Add to my films Set in the Necropolis graveyard, Glasgow. A comic and magical tale about the meaning of life and a hunt for a missing diamond ring.		1996 sound col
	RIVERS AND TIDES: Andy Goldsworthy Working With Time [6162] Add to my films Portrait of Andy Goldsworthy, an artist whose speciality is ephemeral sculptures made from elements of nature.	Onsite only	2000 silent col
	RIVETER, the [8515] Add to my films Story of father-son relationship set in Glasgow and the Western Isles. The father is out of work, his wife has left him, and he is under pressure from, on one hand, social workers, and on the other, his criminal "friends". [synopsis from BFI SIFT database http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/333186]	Onsite only	1986 sound col
	ROGUE FARM [7802] Add to my films Marauding, mutated monsters plague Scotland in this adaptation of Charles Stross' amazingly original science fiction piece. Japanese anime meets cyber Scotland in this groundbreaking animation.		2004 sound col
	ROGUES RASCALS AND RUNAWAYS [8019] Add to my films Insight into the lives of horse-drawn travellers over the stormy motorway mountains and into the village of Durisdeer in Dumfries. Here the locals are asked to attend a magical night-time woodland wedding and watch a film about travellers.	Onsite only	2002 sound col
	ROOTED [7886] Add to my films Rooted introduces us to hairdressers Anna and Lindsay, their salons, their clients, and the experiences they share. An intimate portrayal of Black culture in Scotland.	Onsite only	2004 sound col
	ROSSLYN ENIGMA, the [8037] Add to my films Filmed by Tern Television, The Rosslyn Enigma was produced by Scottish Screen and Visit Scotland in advance of the worldwide blockbuster screen adaptation of Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code. The film was a specially commissioned documentary that featured real stories, myths and legends about Rosslyn Chapel to attract both potential visitors and filmmakers to the area.		2006 sound col
	RUBY [8021] Add to my films A story of unrequited love and the magic of the movies. Two lost souls in the basement of a vast film studio. Thomas loves Ruby; Ruby just wants out.	Onsite only	1997 sound col
	RUCKENLAGE UPSIDE DOWN [7906] Add to my films Ruckenlage is a visual journey through Scotland's skies and the mind of Rudolph Hess, who flew to Scotland in 1941 to 'negotiate peace' with Britain.	Onsite only	2006 sound col