Top industry names heading to inverness for Celtic Media Festival
Issued by the Celtic Media Festival
Following a record 500 entries to the prestigious awards, big name guests from the film and TV industry are set to descend on Inverness this week as the city prepares to welcome Celtic Media Festival across 22nd - 24th April. The 3-day celebration of film, television, radio and digital media which promotes the unique languages and cultures of the Celtic nations and regions is primarily delegate based, but also includes a Public Event strand offering film and TV fans the opportunity to enjoy a snapshot into the wider delegate programme.
Celtic Media Festival 2015 programme highlights include:
A variety of panel discussions and workshops featuring key commissioners from BBC, Channel 4, RTÉ, BBC NI, BBC Scotland, UTV Ireland, S4C and TG4, plus the festival’s keynote speech delivered by MSP Mike Russell and opening night party at Bogbain Farm welcoming the Scottish Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs, Fiona Hyslop. The key players responsible for breaking Edward Snowden’s NSA revelations as a news story - Stuart Millar, the Guardian’s Head of News, and Ewen MacAskill, the Guardian’s Defence and Intelligence Correspondent, will appear alongside Luke Moody from Britdoc, the distributor of Laura Poitras’ Academy and BAFTA award winning documentary on the subject, Citizenfour, which will be screened before the talk.
Discussion of the Scottish Independence Referendum campaign featuring David Harron (BBC Scotland’s Executive Producer for Commissioning), Stuart Cosgrove (former head of Creative Diversity at Channel 4), Maurice Smith (owner of TVI Productions, creators of the Torc Award nominated The Bridge: Fifty Years Across the Forth), Irish Times media correspondent Laura Slattery and The Scotsman’s senior reporter Martyn McLaughlin, will focus on the campaign’s use of new media platforms and the explosion of websites including Wings Over Scotland, Newsnet Scotland and Bella Caledonia.
Organisers were inundated with a record-breaking 500 entries for the prestigious 2015 Torc Awards, a 30% increase on 2014 entries. 2015 host nation Scotland has produced a wealth of entries including Factual Single nominee The Bridge: Fifty Years Across the Forth, and sporting documentary Sir Chris Hoy: How To Win Gold. Drama Series nominations features six productions from Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Galicia, including RTÉ One’s critically acclaimed crime drama Love/Hate, TG4/Magamedia’s Corp + Anam, Gaelic drama Bannan and BBC/Hartwood Films’ Sherlock. Other nominated entries include Five Fables, the animated series depicting Aesop's classic fables in a modern translation, written by Seamus Heaney and narrated by Billy Connolly.
Festival Producer, Catriona Logan said: “We’re hugely excited to be just a few days away from launching the 36th Celtic Media Festival in Inverness. The festival programme and public events celebrate the influential media industry of the Celtic nations and regions, and the 30% increase in entries for this year’s Torc Awards is testament to the industry’s continuing dedication to nurturing Celtic talent.”
For more information on Celtic Media Festival visit www.celticmediafestival.co.uk
The 36th Celtic Media Festival, held at Eden Court Inverness from 22nd - 24th April 2015 and supported by the Highland Council, VisitScotland Conference Bid Fund, Inverness Common Good Fund and Creative Scotland as well as broadcasters and broadcast authorities from the Celtic nations and regions, will see hundreds of delegates enjoy a packed festival programme in the Scottish city. The festival continually attracts some of the biggest names in the broadcasting and film world to celebrate the unique languages and cultures of the Celtic nations and regions.