Screen Machine’s Iain on BAFTA red carpet
Iain recognised for services to film and cinema
Tighnabruaich’s Iain MacColl, senior operator of Scotland’s mobile cinema the Screen Machine, rubbed shoulders with stars of the big screen at the prestigious BAFTA ceremony on Sunday February 10 as joint winner of BAFTA and EE’s first For the Love of Film competition. The Screen Machine is a regular visitor to Lochgilphead and Tarbert. Iain is pictured with his wife Liz.
Screen Machine senior operator Iain MacColl was recognised for his services to film and cinema with a trip down the red carpet on Sunday February 10.
As part of the BAFTA and EE’s For the Love of Film competition, the Screen Machine operator from Tighnabruaich, rubbed shoulders with stars of the big and small screen at this year’s BAFTA ceremony, gracing the same room as Joanna Lumley, Olivia Colman and Rami Malek.
Launched in December, For the Love of Film recognises individuals from across the UK who have done something amazing simply For the Love of Film. People across the UK were encouraged to submit applications on behalf of friends or family who they felt should be recognised.
Iain MacColl, as the senior operator of the Screen Machine, the UK’s only full-time, self-contained mobile cinema, serves more than 40 communities across the Highlands and Islands of Scotland by driving into rural towns to deliver the best Hollywood can give.
Iain has been with the service since it was launched in 1998 and his dedication has ensured the Screen Machine continues to visit many of Scotland’s smallest and hardest to reach communities, including Tarbert and Lochgilphead, bringing the latest mainstream movies and arthouse films, projected to the highest technical standards.
The Screen Machine operators do everything on the ground: drive the machine to its location, set it up, sell the tickets, welcome the audience, project the films, then close up and move on to the next location. Increasingly, the operators are also delivering special events for Into Film school clubs, for those living with dementia and working with archive and artists’ films.
In 2018, its 20th anniversary year, the Screen Machine’s annual audience numbers topped 30,000 for the first time. The touring circuit continues to expand, reaching the island of Jura and Bunessan in the South of Mull for the first time last year.
Over the years, Iain has taken the Screen Machine to the G8 summit at Gleneagles and to Bosnia, twice, to entertain the troops and welcomed the children of parents who, as children themselves, first came to the Screen Machine nearly 20 years before.
After enjoying the glitzy BAFTA ceremony at the Royal Albert Hall, hosted by Joanna Lumley, Iain headed straight back to Lochinver for the Screen Machine’s February season.
Iain MacColl said: ‘It is amazing to see the work of the Screen Machine being recognised by BAFTA, and all the hard work that not just myself, but everyone at Screen Machine has put in over the past 21 years.’
Robert Livingston, director of Regional Screen Scotland, said: ‘I’ve had the great pleasure of working with Iain since the launch of the Screen Machine in 1998. It’s no exaggeration to say that, without his dedication, this lifeline service wouldn’t exist today.
‘So I’m delighted that his achievement, and the wonderful world of the Screen Machine, have been recognised through winning such a prestigious competition.’