Little Pictures Industry Screening – Glasgow Film Festival 2024

Written by GMAC Film intern, Miriam Mathie

Bright and early on Tuesday 5th March, a crowd of people gathered at Renfrew Street Cineworld for the Little Pictures short film showcase at the Glasgow Film Festival! Smiling faces all-round, chatting and sharing stories before the screening began.

But…what is Little Pictures?

Little Pictures is our micro budget commissioning scheme here at GMAC Film, supported by Screen Scotland and the National Lottery which nurtures new talent to make their first funded short film in fiction, documentary, animation, or experimental genres. The commissioned projects are worked on over the course of a year and showcased on the big screen in front of funders, actors, crew, and mentors who were part of the journey.

You’ll now understand why the room was filled with a buzz of excitement, eager to watch their hard work on the big screen as part of the Glasgow Film Festival’s industry strand.

Screen 1 held some of our scripted short films:

Hope (directed by Sabina Torres, produced by Kieran Padraig Smyth)

Look at Me (directed by Benedetta, produced by Ursula Grant)

A Prayer for Father (directed by Jay Alexander-Ali, produced by Debbie King)

Bear (directed by Kate Hammer, produced by Isabella Bassett)

Next in Line (directed by Seyma Dag, produced by Katriona Tweedie)

While Screen 2 held the remaining scripted films and documentaries:

The Letter (directed by Jack Guariento, Produced by Andrew Hart)

Whits Fur Ye (directed by Ashely Catherine Dick, produced by Gabija Linkevičiūtė)

Hugh (directed by David Robertson, produced by Kitty McMurdo-Schad)

Return to Arabia (directed by Mar Felices, produced by Lynne Cowie)

Both screenings were followed by Q&As where hosts and audience alike could ask the talent any questions surrounding the process of making such poignant pieces of work.

After anecdotes and advice were exchanged, we caught up with our directors and producers about the impact Little Pictures has had on their creative careers, what makes somewhere like GMAC so special, and their future plans.

“GMAC and Little Pictures has significantly impacted what I have done and what I am going to do”

says Jay Alexander-Ali, director, and actor in A Prayer for Father, a short, scripted film about a young man learning about religion after the loss of his Dad.

“It has allowed us small creatives a chance to explore what we’re good at and passionate about, while giving us a platform to raise awareness for the issues close to our hearts, whether that is for deaf people, like Benedetta’s film, or for young people on their journey of faith like mine. Without GMAC, we wouldn’t have that at all and we’re so grateful.”

Ask anyone – participant, mentor or spectator and the sentiment of the day would be the same – encouraging. We’re sure that the vibrancy of Scotland’s film sector will only be strengthened by these wonderful creatives coming out of our programmes. Well done and congratulations to all involved.

Pictured (left to right): Katriona Tweedie, Seyma Dag and Isabella Bassett