The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Our man in Crimea... the unlikely Perth movie star
Fame for man who made movie about trip east
A Perth man has told how he is adjusting to life as an unlikely global movie star.
Les Scott’s new-found fame saw him asked to sign autographs on the red carpet at the movie premiere of Brit in Crimea in Moscow, which has now been watched in 40 countries.
He has also gathered a growing online following of movie fans from across the world.
Mr Scott said the attention he has received has been “very humbling” after his “holiday” to Crimea was turned into a movie and released worldwide.
Crimea was seized by pro-Russian forces in 2014 when it became the focus of the worst East-West crisis since the Cold War.
Graham Phillips, a former Dundee University student, covered the conflict for the state television network Russia Today and returned two years later with the Perth business owner to “challenge preconceptions about the region”.
“The premiere was unbelievable and very humbling,” Les said.
“There was a huge positive interest in Moscow despite the fact nobody had yet seen it or truly knew how it would be portrayed. “The feedback has been great so far. “Obviously family and friends are biased and mum has messaged to say she is very proud.
“But everyone seems to take something different from the film, which I love.
“It has a great feel-good factor and skips along as a fun adventure with a little bit of culture and politics thrown in.
“My highlight would have to be the signing of autographs at the premiere — which really went down a storm.
“The film has massive potential and I hope people who watch can see that it strives to give a truly honest and accurate representation of life in Crimea exactly as it is.”
Mr Phillips said he probably would never have attempted to make the movie if he had known how complex a project it was going to be.
He added: “We literally just went there, went on holiday, and just went from there.
“The process of making that into an actual film, with relevance, resonance, and of quality, was epic, and video production was done by a guy called Oleg Somov in Donbass. Oleg actually fought in the people’s militia there in 2014 and 2015, in his hometown of Lugansk, but was wounded.
“At home, he turned his attentions to video production and, self-taught, has become something like a master, and this is our third full-length film together, but the first in English.
“Oleg put his heart and soul into the film, and it would never have come out without his incredible input.
“The reaction to the film has been amazing and it’ll be interesting to see where things go from here – maybe a load more people from the UK will visit Crimea on holiday?
“Perhaps a lot of Russians who see Perth in the film will visit Perth?”