Projecting the nation : constructions of Scotland in film since 1979
Emily Torricelli harpercollege.academia.edu
This thesis examines questions of the continued significance of national cinemas and identities, focussing on the case of Scottish cinema. As a small, devolved nation with relative autonomy from the United Kingdom, Scotland presents an interesting
Stereotypes and clichés weave through the heart of Scotland. From the picturesque hills and heather of the Scottish Lowland to the hard man/woman of Glasgow. This paper explores how Scottish people in the first instance may cringe at the way that Scots are imagined in film. However, on further investigation it can be argued that Scots themselves embrace and create these distortions for their own gain.

The study examines the ways in which Scotland as a country is depicted as well as how Scottish identity and culture is portrayed in films made before the 1990s. It also assessed the impact of the examined representations in films with Scottish themes that were made after the 1990s.

Based on my PhD research on Scottish film policy of the last twenty years, this paper discusses the problem with national film in an increasingly international market. It focuses on the dual remit of Scottish Screen, a former public funding institution, charged with promoting national film at the same time as developing local talent to work both the domestic and international film markets. I argue that there is a worrying, counter-effective mismatch between government cultural policy that supports Scottish talent and domestic productions against the need of industry professionals working in an increasingly interconnected, multi-national scale. I conclude that despite a clearly nationalistic cultural policy remit, in practice, at the implementation stage, investment panels at Scottish Screen rarely used ‘Scottishness’ of the script or crew as a decisive factor in their selection of subsidised projects. However, practical elements such as shooting location, studio base, nationality or residency of filmmakers and production crew remained an excluding guideline in the funding agency’s guidelines, forcing talent to seek funding outwith Scotland as they reached an expert level of experience, eventually moving production elsewhere in the UK or abroad. As a result, stalling the devolvement of a national industry.