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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
	THREE MUSKETEERS, the DE TRE MUSKATERER [7206] Add to my films This animated film follows D’Artagnan who, after being taught fencing by his father, leaves for Paris. In Paris he at once offends the three musketeers Aramis, Porthos and Athos. With the help of the beautiful Mrs Bonacieux, D’Artagnan saves the honour of the Queen, defeating the Cardinal, finally becoming a musketeer.		2006 sound col
	TICKETS FOR THE ZOO [4968] Add to my films Set in Edinburgh, this is the story of a down-at-heel, homeless couple (Carol and George) as they struggle to dig themselves out of the squalid city underbelly and build a life and a home for themselves.		1991 sound col
	TINHEDZ [8509] Add to my films Interactive space-based animated series using a unique technique of delivering 3D style animation but with very small file sizes.		2006 sound col
	TO A MOUSE [5966] Add to my films The misdaventures of a man who is forced to confront the realities of his life when he promises his estranged wife that he will get a pair of football boots for his son at any cost.		2000 sound col
	TO MORAG [7979] Add to my films Shiftwork Physical Theatre Company present a short film about love and loss expressed through movement. Memories are triggered when an elderly man finds a wedding dress and other personal belongings in a trunk in the attic.	Onsite only	1995 sound col
	TOKUGAWA ERA, the [6058] Add to my films A short animation using authentic Samurai painting techniques, in the classic Yoritimo style.		2001 sound col
	TOLL [7616] Add to my films Working the lonely nightshift, a tollbooth operator is haunted by a memory that won't lie still. Dawn brings a terrible realisation.	Onsite only	2005 sound col
	TOMMY'S HONOUR [13878] Add to my films The intimate, powerfully moving tale of Tom Morris and his son Tommy, the real-life nineteenth century founders of the modern game of golf. Set in St. Andrews, Scotland, during the hidebound Victorian era, the story opens in 1866 as 15-year-old Tommy Morris (Jack Lowden) heads to the links with his father Tom Morris (Peter Mullan).		2017 sound col
	TOMORROW'S FAIRGROUND [8114] Add to my films Victor Reeves looks back on several generations of his family that have consistently worked as travelling showpeople. He is now passing down his family's generational traditions of the fun-fair to his daughter while his two sons decide to stop travelling and follow their dream of building and repairing thrill-rides.		2009 sound col
	TOON FAIR, the [7869] Add to my films Using a cast of 400 local people, a town fair was recreated in Wigtown for two days to shoot ‘The Toon Fair’, a tale of gossip and exaggeration in a small Scottish town.		2002 sound col
	TOTAL RUBBISH [7672] Add to my films Since 1974, Glasgow has produced seven and a half million tonnes of waste. Total Rubbish follows the men who get their hands dirty in a never-ending cycle of collection and disposal.		2004 sound col
	TOTH - TOP OF THE HILL [7873] Add to my films TOTH, a depiction of life lived at the Top of the Hill, Dundee's infamous Hilltown district. Can ex-TOTH gang member Steve Martin find a way to connect with his son and prevent him from trying to follow in his footsteps?	Onsite only	2005 sound col
	TOUR [8193] Add to my films A car trip around Glasgow as seen through a combination of low shutter speeds and time-lapse facility.		2000 sound col
	TRACKS [7617] Add to my films In a life where violence begets violence, 13 year old Nico reacts to a beating from his brother by stealing his cat. He then engages in an act of wanton brutality with devastating consequences, in this powerful and affecting film.	Onsite only	2006 sound col
	TREE OFFICER, the [7674] Add to my films A day in the life of a man stuck in the wrong job. The Tree Officer is a brilliantly observed, award-winning stop-motion comedy that expertly parodies fly-on-the-wall documentaries.	Onsite only	2004 sound col
	TREEFELLERS [7673] Add to my films In 1942, nine hundred Belizean lumberjacks left the tropical rainforests of British Honduras to help Britain fight fascism by felling trees in Scotland. Three of the men who stayed on after the war look back on their extraordinary lives.	Onsite only	2004 sound col
	TROMPE L'OEIL [8102] Add to my films A humorous look at how the British have borrowed the Parisian culture to suit their own, sometimes less refined, tastes.		2004 sound col
	TROUBLE SLEEPING [9103] Add to my films Edinburgh – a group of Refugees do what they must to survive.		2008 sound col
	TROUT [7604] Add to my films Alex is a dreamer, Mari is a realist: two Highland lovers living in a caravan in the West of Scotland. Trout is a kooky tale of what happens when a bizarre chain of events shakes up their quiet life.	Onsite only	2006 sound col
	TRUE NORTH [7197] Add to my films Drama. A Scottish trawler ship, The Providence, is enlisted to smuggle some Chinese immigrants into Britain by the desperate ship's mate. But the ship's cook becomes aware that food is vanishing...		2006 sound col
	TRUTH [8022] Add to my films Man appears in a car park and hands a woman a leaflet advertising a hypnotist. At the show, the woman is hypnotised and she reveals all the family's dark secrets.		1996 sound col
	TRUTH ABOUT TOOTH, the [7608] Add to my films A true insight into the meticulous work of the Tooth Fairy. From the active imaginations of young children to the mundane, grimy reality of the Tooth Fairy Factory, this creative documentary explores the growing need for myths and lies.	Onsite only	2006 sound col
	TUMSHIE McFADGEN'S BID FOR ULTIMATE BLISS [7872] Add to my films The sensualist's guide to the gratification of the senses. Ejockulation [ee-jock-u-lay-tion], to stimulate orgasm using footage of darts champ Jocky Wilson. A fast paced, visceral comedy about one man's attempt to devise the supreme pleasure experience.		2004 sound col
	TURNING TIDE, the [7838] Add to my films Three men on a beach, one of them buried up to his neck in sand - with the tide coming in fast...		2002 sound col
	TWO DAYS IN SPRING [7841] Add to my films A couple singlehandedly try to save humankind in this stylish quasi-philosophical, sci-fi short. They closely guard a mysterious metal case while being pursued by authoritarian figures.		1997 sound bw
	TWO FINGERS: A Portrait of an Awkward Bastard [7919] Add to my films A portrait of George McAuley, a former Clyde shipyard worker, paratrooper and diver and a leading member of Scotland's "awkward squad". He has rejected the idea of a consumer culture to find freedom on the margins of society.		1997 sound col
	TYLER'S TERRIFYING TOUR [8230] Add to my films Ghostly animation made by primary 6 pupils at St. Vincent's Primary School, Dundee.		2001 sound col
	UJBAZ IZBENEKI HAS LOST HIS SOUL [7600] Add to my films When Ujbaz Izbeneki descends into Hell, nobody is prepared for the chaos that follows in the wake of the man who has lost everything... and anything!	Onsite only	2006 sound col
	UNBEARABLE WHITENESS OF BEING, the [8052] Add to my films An eye-opening glimpse into the world of Asian skin lightening, following a small ambitious skin lightening company who are hoping to hit the big time.	Onsite only	2007 sound col
	UNDER MY SKIN: Voices of Two Artists [7899] Add to my films "Under My Skin" explores the evolving identities of two immigrant artists (Priya Sreekumar and Suhayl Saadi) against the backdrop of a multicultural Scotland.	Onsite only	2002 sound col
	UNDER THE SKIN [11156] Add to my films Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin starring Scarlett Johannson as a voracious alien seductress who scours remote highways and backroads for human prey.		2013 sound col
	UNEXPLAINED PHENOMENA [7640] Add to my films After her mum disappears in mysterious circumstances, Lorna grows up with a fascination for the unexplained. She and her boyfriend, Gordon, set off together in search of the truth.		1997 sound col
	UNSCREW: 11 Ways To Leave Your Lover [7861] Add to my films A couple split-up and everything in the flat has to be shared out. While fighting over who gets what, Judy realises there is one more of Sam's things she just has to have.		2001 sound col
	UPSTAIRS [8164] Add to my films A moral tale about money, family and growing up in which a young boy finds himself unwittingly entangled in a financial dispute.	Onsite only	2000 sound col
	VICTIM OF GEOGRAPHY [7924] Add to my films At the height of the Balkan conflict in the 90s, film maker Doug Aubrey went to film a war with his camcorder. A road movie following and documenting the shock-waves of war across Europe		1999 sound col
	VILLAGE IN A BOX [8047] Add to my films A Scottish artist owns an unusual collection of WW2 French identity cards. Prior to creating a piece of art with them, he returns to France to meet some of the survivors of those cards.	Onsite only	2004 sound col
	VISIONS [7827] Add to my films Music video produced for '4 Minute Wonders' scheme, featuring the track 'Visions' by Slam. In her flat, a woman is haunted by disjointed visions of the night.	Onsite only	2001 sound col
	WACKY WIND THING: A Green Energy Wind Sculpture [8229] Add to my films A green energy sculpture is designed and constructed by Gylemuir Primary schoolchildren and installed at Dun Law Wind Farm.		2002 sound col
	WATERLOO [7059] Add to my films A chance reunion in a cafe; a remembrance of a childhood acquaintance set against a vivid landscape of recollection.		1997 sound col
	WAY WE PLAYED, the = KAKO SMO SE IGRALI [7631] Add to my films On the eve of war in Bosnia, two best friends go looking for treasure. Oblivious to the encroaching danger, what they discover changes their lives forever. A tale of friendship despite prejudice.	Onsite only	2005 sound col
	WEARING THE ONE BUTTON SUIT [7884] Add to my films Why are so many Scots throwing off their clothes in wild abandon to embrace the midges and chilly climate of Scotland? Because it’s liberating!	Onsite only	2003 sound col
	WEE THREE [7070] Add to my films Three naughty children imprisoned, within a classroom with a mind of its own - can the wee three escape further punishment? The film examines the complex relationship between the orderly authority of the adult world and the most basic of bodily functions.		1998 sound bw
	WELCOME TO THE SCREEN MACHINE [8067] Add to my films The Screen Machine is an articulated lorry which transforms into an indoor cinema, bringing movies to isolated communities in the Scottish Highlands and Islands.	Onsite only	2003 sound col
	WEST SKERRA LIGHT [13884] Add to my films A group of city dwellers have arrived on the island of Skerra to view the local lighthouse, which is up for sale. What they don't know, is that all who set foot in this lighthouse are cursed, and before the night is out, they will have swapped their superficial city problems for an altogether bigger dilemma - how to escape from the malevolent presence that is stalking them.		2016 sound col
	WHAT DO BUSY PEOPLE DO ALL DAY? [7664] Add to my films Set in the frenetic urban environment of a modern British city, we follow Harry on a journey that isn’t quite what it seems. Who is Harry and what does he do all day?	Onsite only	1999 sound col
	WHAT WE DID ON OUR HOLIDAY [13908] Add to my films What We Did On Our Holiday tells the story of Doug (David Tennant) and his wife Abi (Rosamund Pike) who travel to the Scottish Highlands with their three children for Doug's father Gordie's (Billy Connolly) birthday party. It's soon clear that when it comes to keeping a secret under wraps from the rest of the family, their children are their biggest liability.		2014 sound col
	WHEELS [7646] Add to my films "Wheels" is a comedy short, set during the summer of 1982. "Come on Eileen" by Dexy's Midnight Runners is at the top of the music charts and in the towns of Britain, cars, Citizen Band radios and alcohol are the icons of popular youth culture. Imagine an American 'bubblegum / cruising' movie, substitute the drinking of vodka down alleyways for milk-shakes in diners, vinyl roofed Ford Escorts for open top Chevrolets, and the High Street of a small Scottish highland town for the sidewalks of middle America, and you get some idea of the atmosphere and style of "Wheels".		1994 sound col
	WHEELS [8128] Add to my films Experimental observational piece about 'wheels'. Explores wheels on different forms of transport, toys and sports.		1996 sound col
	WHEN I'M 21 [7598] Add to my films Filmed on the streets of Glasgow, this is a short documentary that touches on the hopes and objectives of seven dispossessed and homeless teenagers. Asked what they would like to be doing when they reach the age of 21, their reactions are both uncomplicated and sobering.		1997 sound col
	WHERE YOU'RE MEANT TO BE [13888] Add to my films Cult-pop raconteur Aidan Moffat sets out to explore Scotland’s past by rewriting and touring its oldest songs. But he doesn’t count on running into 79-year-old force of nature Sheila Stewart – a travelling balladeer who upturns Moffat’s folk assumptions. He believes the old songs are ripe for updating. She does not.	Onsite only	2016 sound col