Glasgow Film Festival 2023 Mentorship - cinemabang.com

The selected candidates for the third year of Glasgow Film Festival’s New Talent Mentorship Scheme have been announced. The Mentorship Scheme is for emerging professionals working in film, high-end television or animation, from under-represented backgrounds in the Scottish screen industries.

Applications to the 2022/23 programme were opened earlier this year to those from minority ethnic groups, LGBTQIA+, low or no income backgrounds, and people with disabilities who live in Scotland and are not in full-time education. Each of the successful mentees will receive practical support and training over the next six months from leading industry professionals, as well as receiving complimentary accreditation for Glasgow Film Festival (GFF) 2023.

The scheme is funded by The Austin and Hope Pilkington Trust and the William Grant Foundation. Mentors for the 2022/23 programme will be announced soon. The full list of successful mentees for 2022/23 are:

Nathalie Ahmadzadeh

Nathalie is an emerging Swedish-Azari Iranian screenwriter based in Edinburgh. Since graduating from the MA Screenwriting course at Edinburgh Napier University in 2019, Nathalie has taken part in several talent programmes and has several projects in development, in both Scotland and Sweden. She is passionate about stories focused around cultural identity and female sexuality, told through a comedic or horror lens.

Aidan Duckworth

Aidan is a filmmaker living in the Scottish Borders who will be mentored in producing. He enjoys the production of drama, with a particular focus on drama which utilises Scotland’s unique and ancient landscapes for the art of film.

His current projects include a series of online cooking tutorials for low-income families and a short film drama about fox hunting.

Hannah Hunter

Hannah is a filmmaker from Kilchoan, Ardnamurchan whose work embraces Scotland’s diversity and creative talent. A Royal Conservatoire of Scotland graduate, her films touch on womanhood, rural living and the ever-changing experience of being Scottish.

Mona Khanzaya

Mona is a Mongolian/Northern Irish entry producer in short fiction film work. She hopes to collaborate with Glasgow’s new talent and bring inspired stories to the screen.

She recently graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in filmmaking from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and is delighted to be starting her career in the GFF Mentorship programme.

Misha McCullagh

Misha is an actor and creative producer. She is currently developing a feature film about prison reform in the 1980s and producing a stop-motion animation with BFI Network. Recent shorts she worked on include Candy, The Queen’s Speech and Howl, and she has also worked as a television production coordinator for the BBC.

She is driven to create work that amplifies under-represented voices whilst diversifying and promoting the wealth of Scottish talent on and off screen.

Conor Molloy

Conor is a screenwriter based in Glasgow. Through his work he intends to portray the funny, ugly, sad, brave, realistic, romantic and beautiful elements of life, while critically engaging with present day realities.

His own experiences with the UK’s medical, benefit and education systems inform this, and he aims for his films to empower audiences through a sense of empathy and solidarity, with characters that are perfectly flawed.

James Reid

James comes from a gypsy traveller background and gained a degree in television production during the pandemic. He has received several awards and nominations including a Royal Television Society nomination.

He is a very immersive filmmaker with interests in multiple genres of film, which results in something different with every new project.

Fraser Scott

Fraser is a director and writer based in Paisley. He is a graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with a BA in Filmmaking. His most recent short won the inaugural Young Scottish Filmmaker Prize at GSFF 2022, as well as the New Visions Award at EIFF 2022.

Fraser also works in theatre and this year directed Land at the Edinburgh Fringe and new Scottish musical Thread at Renfrew Town Hall.

Mentors who will be working with the successful candidates include director Johnny Barrington, producer Ciara Barry, producer Reece Cargan, director John McPhail and director Martin Smith.

GFF Co-director Allison Gardner said: “I am delighted to welcome this year’s mentees who have a number of very exciting ideas for their projects. Nurturing and developing filmmaking talent in Scotland is a crucial part of the arts, cultural and film industries and we are excited to work with this new generation of budding filmmakers.

“Part of Glasgow Film Festival’s unique role is to bring together industry professionals at all stages of their careers, to collaborate and grow the film community in Scotland. We’re grateful for the support of the highly accomplished directors and producers who will mentor this cohort of emerging filmmakers.”