Scot may start international film school

Film: Perthshire director David MacKenzie linked to Armenia project

A highly acclaimed Perthshire film-maker is reportedly in talks about opening a cinema school in the former Soviet Union.

David MacKenzie, whose modern-day western Hell or High Water was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar, is said to be investing more than £4 million into the project.

The proposed School of Film and Television would be opened in Yerevan, Armenia, according to local press.

The move was revealed by Armenian Prime Minister Karen Karapetian at a cabinet meeting last week.

Politicians heard that the school would link with a similar school in Los Angeles and would use film-making equipment from America and other countries.

Ms Karapetian has told the country’s ministry of culture to study the proposal and assess the possibility of inviting the director to begin negotiations.

MacKenzie, who is from Trinafour, near Pitlochry, began his career after completing a photography degree at Dundee University’s Duncan of Jordanstone at college in the 1990s.

Before working on his 2016 breakthrough thriller, MacKenzie honed his skills with his first film, The Last Great Wilderness, which was mostly shot on a sheep farm in Dunkeld.

His big break came when he directed Ewan McGregor and Tilda Swinton in Young Adam. The 2003 film was shot in locations across Scotland, including Gullane in East Lothian and in parts of Perthshire.

Recently, MacKenzie was tipped to direct a reboot of the classic Al Pacino crime drama Scarface. The remake is to feature Star Wars: Rogue One actor Diego Luna as a Mexican gangster chasing the American dream.

Meanwhile, Scottish ministers are still considering a major film studio plan which could have significant benefits for Courier Country.

Developers behind the six-stage studio at Straiton are in talks with the owners of the Abercairney Estate, near Crieff, about using its land and mansion house for outdoor shoots.

The Scottish Government is under mounting pressure to approve the development, more than two years after the plans were lodged.