Reece Cargan selected by Screen International as 'Rising Star Scotland'

Bombito producer Reece Cargan has been selected by Screen International as one of the 11 'Rising Stars Scotland'. This programme is designed to identify and promote the next generation of Scottish film talent to the international industry.

Image courtesy of Rob McDougall / Screen International

Rising Stars

Screen International, in association with Screen Scotland, collaborated to create this new talent spotlight for Scottish filmmakers. The collaboration is Rising Stars Scotland.

Screen International, with almost two decades of finding the world’s top creative film talent in the UK & Ireland Stars of Tomorrow, has selected ten up-and-coming film actors, directors, producers and writers who are on the cusp of their first major professional breakthrough.

The programme

Each Rising Star will be matched with an industry mentor who can help move them on their next career stage. Reece will be matched with his mentor very soon.

Screen Scotland will work with the participants to offer a bespoke package of professional development over 12 months. Support offered will focus on connecting talent to key decision-makers and influencers to elevate their international profile and progress career objectives.

The selection was made by Screen’s chief film critic and reviews editor Fionnuala Halligan, who has overseen the trade publication’s UK talent selection for the last 12 years.

Reece Cargan

I am honoured to be part of this impressive lineup and can't wait to get started on the programme with my cohort and with my mentor.

I am excited to see where this goes and thrilled to be able to gain more momentum with my current slate of projects.

Screen Scotland Executive Director Isabel Davis:

“We want to share our excitement about the next generation of exceptional Scottish talent coming through short film work and features in development and we know they deserve greater exposure.”

More information

Read the full article in Screen Daily and see the other 10 rising stars profiles.

A Good Spell selected for Inside Out finance forum in Toronto

We are beyond thrilled to be one of the 8 projects selected for the Inside Out finance forum in Toronto with 'A Good Spell' from writer Michael Lee Richardson. Produced by Reece Cargan of Bombito Productions.

The forum is staged by Inside Out, the Canadian 2SLGBTQ+ film festival and content distributor, and designed to provide queer-led creative teams with 2SLGBTQ+ content an opportunity to pitch their projects directly to decision makers.

A Good Spell

Glasgow, 1970s. 13 year old Charlie Adair is an outcast, who prefers dancing to Kate Bush over playing football. When his mother tells him he’s a witch, Charlie has to learn to find power in his own uniqueness.

A Good Spell was selected for development with Torino Lab at treatment stage and is a current project on EAVE Producer's Workshop while at script and packaging stage. It has travelled Europe and now we start the journey to North America.

A Glasgow based film with a truly international appeal.

A Good Spell is one of the first projects of Short Circuit's first feature scheme and has been developed with the assistance of Screen Scotland and BFI NETWORK with its delivery partner Short Circuit.

Michael and Reece will be in attendance in Toronto from 1st June to pitch that witch!

Read the full Screen Daily article.

Prosopagnosia wins at Academy Award qualifying festival and wins a Marvel of Media award

We are pleased to announce that Prosopagnosia by Steven Fraser won best film in its category at the 15th edition of the Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival (SDFF) and has also won a Marvel of Media Award from the Museum of the Moving Image (MOMI).

Academy Award qualification at Sebastopol

This festival is an annual celebration of non-fiction filmmakers from around the world.

Winners of SDFF's Jury Award and Audience Award are academy award qualifying in the short film category.

The short film jury selected Prosopagnosia as best film and the jurors said:

“A personal, vulnerable, and vibrant exploration of a fascinating yet little known topic – face blindness. The jury was impressed by the visually rich design and stop motion animation, poignant narration, and profound questions raised.”

This is great news for the film and for what happens next. Bring on the OSCAR race 2023!

Marvels of Media Award

The Museum of the Moving Image recently unveiled the winners of its inaugural Marvels of Media Awards, which are:

“the country’s very first media awards ceremony, film festival and exhibition celebrating media-makers on the autism spectrum,”

The awards were developed by the museum’s education department and leadership in partnership with Josh Sapan, a longtime member of New York-based MoMI’s Board of Trustees and the executive vice chairman of AMC Networks.

The award for Prosopagnosia

3071 submissions were entered from 117 countries and Prosopagnosia was selected as the winner of the Experimental Film Award.

Director Steven Fraser will attend the ceremony in New York. There is also a screening and exhibition running alongside this with artefacts from the film. More information is available in the Hollywood Reporter article.

The screening and exhibition at MOMI

The screening is via the ReelAbilities Film Festival and takes place on Saturday, Apr 9 at 13:00 in the Bartos Screening Room.

Catch the exhibition from Thursday, Mar 31 - Sunday, May 1 at Amphitheater Gallery.

Future Festival screenings for Prosopagnosia

After all this success, the film is still going strong and we are continuing the festival journey of the film with the following upcoming screenings:

Reel Abilities: New York

We are elated that Reel Abilities supported the film as they are the largest festival in the USA dedicated to promoting awareness and appreciation of the lives, stories and artistic expression of people with disabilities. They were also instrumental in the submission regarding the Marvel of Media Award.

These screenings are supported by AMC Network and you can watch the film at Reel Abilities where it is showing both virtually and live across two venues.

1. The Museum of the Moving Image - Saturday April 9th 13:00

2. Marlene Meyerson ICC Manhattan - Sunday April 10th, 12:00pm

Steven will be in attendance at the Museum of the Moving Image screening when he receives his Marvel of Media Award.

European Independent Film Festival: Paris, France

On Saturday 9th April - Prosopagnosia heads to Paris for the17th edition of ÉCU – The European Independent Film Festival. The festival’s mantra is to discover, project and promote the best independent filmmaking talent from around the world.

Steven was interviewed by The New Current about his selection at the festival.

Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF): Seattle

Prosopagnosia heads back to North America where it will screen at the 48th Seattle International Film Festival, April 14–24, 2022. Everyman by Bombito will also be screening at the same festival!

Both films will screen as official selections of SIFF's ShortsFest Weekend, April 15–17.

• Prosopagnosia at SIFF

• Everyman at SIFF

Annecy International Animation Festival: Annecy, France

Showing in competition at Annecy - the premiere Animation Film Festival and Market in France from 13-28 June.

The film

Prosopagnosia uses expressive animation to investigate intimacy, communication and memory.

Prosopagnosia means face-blindness and to understand this neurodiverse behaviour, the contents of a memory box are intricately explored.

Sketchbooks, photographs and diaries unravel to tell a unique and personal story.

Further information

• Developed and supported by the Scottish Documentary Institute's Bridging the Gap programme and Screen Scotland

• Written, animated and edited by Steven Fraser

• Produced by Reece Cargan

• Composed, sound designed and mixed by Tom Drew

• Colourist: Jack Lang

What's next

As we make plans for a potential Academy Award longlist in the future - there are still more festival selections, award announcements and a very exciting way to watch the film online -coming very soon.