Film festival focus on Doric
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
BANFFSHIRE film-makers have been urged to get involved in a festival which celebrates the dialect of the area.
The first Doric Film Festival is being launched this new year by Scots Radio.
Schools, individuals and community groups are all encouraged to take part and participants are not required to be film-making experts as the key skills will be taught, for free, at training sessions across the north-east.
The idea is to express north-east stories, personal or otherwise, in the Doric language and reflect its cultural identity – with the theme of What the North East of Scotland Means to Me.
There are six categories – primary schools, secondary schools, community groups, students, individual (professional) and individual (non-professional) – with a £500 prize in each category.
Director of Scots Radio, Frieda Morrison, came up with the idea for the first film festival in Doric.
She said: "The Gaelic Film Festival has been enjoying success for 11 years and there's ample media support for film creativity in English.
"So Scots Radio wishes to encourage and shine a light on story-telling in Scots – and in this first instance, on north-east Scots or Doric.
"It's the perfect time to use 21st century technology to celebrate the Scots language in this remarkable corner of Scotland.
"It would be a plan to develop this throughout Scotland, but we take this first step in the north-east.
"The film competition is also about bringing folk together. We'd love to see local community groups and school bairns learning new film skills by recording their own tales or stories.
"It's about self-expression – feeling free to speak in your own language to cover the adventures, history, struggles or plans of the local area and beyond."
To find out more and register, visit www.doricfilmfestival.com
