Free screening of Arran comedy film
The first public screening of the comedy film Uncowed will be held tonight (Saturday) at 7pm at Arran High School, followed by a short documentary of the making of the film.
The screening is free but optional donations can be made towards the high school students’ 2019 trip to Tanzania.
Uncowed was filmed entirely on Arran last July, with an island cast including Stuart Gough, David Simpkin, Andy McNamara, James Smith, Geoffrey Botterill, Sheila Gilmore, Charles Currie, Marvin Elliott, Val Waite, Isla Blair, Mark and Natasha Nelson. Other locals make cameo appearances. The comedy film has the serious purpose of empowering people to stand up to bullying.
Sean Bruce Monteith a film student studying at SAE Institute in Glasgow, spent two weeks on the set and here shares his experience working on the film.
He writes: ‘Shooting on location on Arran, I worked as a production trainee helping in every area I possibly could. In two brief summer weeks I learned a great deal about film-making.
‘Touring the island as we filmed enabled us to capture the beauty of Arran, incorporating the landscapes and even some local buildings into numerous scenes.
‘When you watch it, keep an eye out – you might just recognise a few places. This also proved to be a great bonding experience for the cast and crew, some with years of experience in the industry and others, like me, being relatively new to the game.
‘Those with more experience were always encouraging, demonstrating the professional way to operate equipment and through their work teaching me how a film set should be run.
‘An atmosphere of creativity filled the set each day, every member involved in production doing their best so in turn the film would be better for it.
‘Ideas were constantly being shared as we approached each and every scene, some of mine even made it in there.
‘What did I learn? I managed to develop on my previous ability and gain many new skills. From camera operation, audio and even editing, every step of the process is a valued experience to me.
‘Each individual crew member, actor and actress made this experience a great one. However, I simply cannot talk about this film without giving my personal thanks to Chris Attkins, writer and director, and Jan Attkins, writer and producer. Their work to get this film from concept to reality is simply remarkable and without them giving me this opportunity I would have never had this fantastic experience.
‘With a strong antibullying message and a lot of laughs along the way, Uncowed will undoubtedly be worth the watch.’