Highland talent from Inverness, Drumnadrochit, Dingwall, Gairloch and Staffin among the big winners at prestigious FilmG awards ceremony in Glasgow’s SEC
Ross-shire filmmaking talent has been recognised after youngsters from Gairloch and Dingwall won titles in the prestigious FilmG competition.
The popular Gaelic short film contest’s latest annual winners were announced in front of a packed 500 strong audience of filmmakers, industry professionals and FilmG enthusiasts in Glasgow’s SEC at the weekend.
And there was a strong showing from Highland talent, with five of the winners in the under-18 competition coming from the wider Highland region - and two from Ross-shire.
These included Dingwall Gaelic Primary School (Best Youth Group), Staffin Primary School (Power of Gaelic), who collaborated with Gaelic organisation Comunn na Gàidhlig; and two individual winners, Lexie Jack from Gairloch High School (Best Performance) and Uilleam MacDonald (Technical Excellence Award) from the Inverness area.
And Glen Urquhart High School in Drumnadrochit hit a chord with the public, after winning the FilmG Choice Awards’ under 18 category with Am Blà - a witty spoof of BBC ALBA's An Là.
The coveted Best Drama 18+ award, meanwhile, went to Inverness duo AllanWith1Eils for their thrilling short, Falach-Fead - a twist on hide and seek that gripped the audience. The filmmaking couple Allan Crook and Eilidh Johnson are frequent FilmG entrants and also collected the top award two years ago, in 2023. Eilidh was a solo FilmG winner in previous years.
Eilidh Johnson said: "We're thrilled to win Best Drama! FilmG gives us a creative outlet, and it's an honour to be recognised by the judges again. We always try to surprise the audience, so I'm really happy that's worked, and hopefully, we can surprise them again in the future."
Poetic film Orient by Dàibhidh Ó Briain about cycling in the Hebrides won Best Documentary 18+. The filmmaker is from Inverness but lives and works in Canada. His film has been active in film festivals and marks his first entry to FilmG.
A' Cluich by Riochdachadh Rambling Celt won Best Comedy 18+, with director Róise Nic An Bheatha splitting her time between Inverness and Skye, where she currently works at the Gaelic college Sabhal Mòr Ostaig. Her fellow collaborator, Rob MacNeacail, of Skye stock, won the Technical Excellence 18+ award for his audio production of the film.
In the -18 competition, Parker Dawes won Best Drama (-18) for Air Choire, marking another milestone for the young filmmaker, whose first commissioned film, Dà Sgadan, aired on BBC ALBA at Christmas - all while still in high school. Parker is the most successful individual winner in the history of FilmG, with this being his sixth win.
Parker Dawes expressed his excitement: "Winning Best Drama means so much to me. I loved making Air Choire, and to see it recognised in this way is amazing. FilmG has played a huge part in my journey, and I'm grateful for the support and inspiration it has given me."
FilmG Project Director Murdo MacSween said: "It's inspiring to see over 500 attend the awards to help celebrate Gaelic short films, and we're excited to see what the future holds not just for the winners but also those who might be spurred on by what they saw."
Maggie Taylor, Head of Publishing at MG ALBA, which owns FilmG, added: "A huge congratulations to all our nominees and winners and a special thank you to Siobhan for keeping the audience captivated throughout the evening. The FilmG Awards continue to highlight the importance of Gaelic voices in Scotland's storytelling landscape."
A complete list of winners is available at www.filmg.co.uk, and the full FilmG Awards livestream can be viewed on the BBC ALBA YouTube channel.
