NEW FOUND LAND COMPETITION DETAILS ANNOUNCED

SMG Television and Scottish Screen have announced details of the New Found Land competition 2001.
New Found Land, now in its second year was developed to enable emergent film-makers to make the transition from short form drama to longer length projects - using digital technology - suitable for cinema exhibition and television transmission.
The project, the only one of its kind in Scotland is vital to the development of the indigenous screen industry and to encourage the use of new technology. Where it differs from its contemporaries - other than in the use of new technologies - is the finished length, in this case 24mins instead of the usual 8 or 10mins. This allows the producers, writers and directors to fully explore their projects.
Donald Emslie, Chief Executive of SMG Television, said: “Steve McIntyre, Head of Production Development at Scottish Screen is delighted with the standard of entries New Found Land has continued to attract. This competition is very important in developing a strong indiginous production community in Scotland. This year’s crop of dramas is very exciting and quite different and I am sure will be greatly appreciated by audiences both at the Edinburgh International Film Festival and on television.”
The six films this year form an eclectic mix of characters and situations. ‘Leonard’ is an obsessive, compulsive loner whose life is turned upside down by the reappearance of his long lost son. In ‘Lost’ a tragic event forces a family to re-evaluate what is precious about life in a haunting supernatural drama. ‘Saved’ asks the question what’s real, what’s delusion and who decides? That’s the dilemma Laura is pitched into as she starts her first adult job. Esther and Spike in ‘Small Love’ struggle together with enormous difficulties. He is a run away from an abusive background and she is suffering from schizophrenia. The film traces their journey from a near accident, through their struggles to come to terms with the past and present, to a conclusion which shows the healing power of unconditional love. ‘Blackout’ Flying bin bags, missing sofas, broken lifts and a total power failure make it an interesting night for tenants in a council tower block. Finally ‘Last Legs’ is a comedy horror about Rob, a Big Issue seller whose legs are mistakenly transplanted onto Sebastian Menzies, the Minister for Health. Can Kate a gothic white witch sort out the chaos? (CD)