The goNorth festival is an important showcase for creative talent from the north of Scotland and across Europe. This year it plans to do more with film than ever before. We spoke to screen and broadcast director Amanda Millen to find out more about the changes and just what attendees can expect.
“We have a mandate to develop the independent broadcast production sector, to set up trade groups and develop economic strategy,” explains Amanda, talking about the organisation behind it all, ScreenHI. “We want to encourage creative work but we also want to make sure people are making money from it.”
To do this, independent filmmakers and other creative professionals need to get their work seen by potential funders, buyers, and other key figures in the industry. goNorth, which is held in a variety of small venues across Inverness, aims to make the magic happen. But it's not just about showcasing the work of those based in the Scottish highlands and islands.
“No-one told us what to do but we have to have creative diversity,” says Amanda. “We're trying to link up with other festivals and develop alliances. For instance, we run the Gaelic strand at the Glasgow Film Festival and we're working with the Celtic Media Festival. We met with a lot of people from European festivals last year – in Estonia, Latvia, Hungary, France, Spain and also Tunisia – and we're hoping to form collaborative partnerships. We think this is a strong route for showcasing diverse work and some of the films from those festivals will culturally resonate with audiences here.”
There is definitely an appetite for films like these, Amanda says. “We've already had screening tents at lots of big music festivals and we got great feedback from that. As well as screenings we plan to introduce some of the filmmakers and run masterclasses. Billy Boyd ran an acting workshop for us before and he's keen to come back with his band Beefcake. We hope to have Scottish acting and writing talent in attendance.”
goNorth will also be helping the creators of short films to get their work seen. Amanda says she is looking for shorts up to 20 minutes in length that can play in support of curated features. She's open to work in any genre and her focus is on high quality films with exciting, engaging stories - “Good content, basically.”
The festival will use venues including the Mercure Hotel where its events are based, the ironworks, local pubs and even rooftops. “We like it when our attendees don't quite know what to expect but know they're going to be delighted,” she concludes.
