Cannes Short Film Festival has screened a BBC ALBA short film on the glitzy French Riviera.
Tha thu air Aigeann m’ Inntinn (You are at the bottom of my mind) commemorates the 100th anniversary of the Iolaire Disaster, one of Britain’s worst maritime disasters.
In the early hours of 1 January 1919, the naval yacht HMY Iolaire, carrying sailors returning from the war, sank after hitting rocks on its approach to Stornoway, tragically killing over 200.
Commissioned as part of BBC ALBA’s Hogmanay schedule last year, the hand-drawn animation was a labour of love for the Dutch-based Scottish animator Catrìona Black.
Catrìona said: “BBC ALBA gave me the opportunity to tell this story for its audience, and that it’s now gaining international interest is wonderful recognition for the film. It’s a hugely important story, one that’s not even well known in Scotland, so to be showcased on the European stage like this obviously means a lot.”
BBC ALBA has had an impressive year, earning multiple plaudits at the Royal Television Society of Scotland annual television awards, including nods for the channel’s first sketch-comedy show, FUNC.
As the home of Scottish women’s sport, BBC ALBA’s schedule will include a broad selection of live sport including international, European club and domestic football, international rugby and domestic shinty and curling.
To mark this announcement, four of the biggest names in Scottish women’s sport – curling’s Eve Muirhead, football’s Nicola Docherty, rugby’s Rachel McLachlan and shinty’s Kirsty Deans – met at Scotland’s iconic Forth Rail Bridge to highlight the strength of BBC ALBA’s commitment and the collective potential to transform the profile of women’s sport.
The channel’s announcement follows a fabulous year of coverage of women’s sport, including the Women’s Six Nations, and landmark coverage of Scotland in the FIFA Women’s World Cup – the culmination of a journey BBC ALBA has shared with Scottish women’s football over the past decade.
The latest action kicks off on Friday 30th August with Scotland v Cyprus in the qualifiers for Euro 2021 – the team’s first competitive fixture since the World Cup. At European club level, Hibs Ladies’ and Glasgow City’s UEFA Womens Champions League home fixtures will be screened, with Hibs facing Slavia Prague live on BBC ALBA on 11th September at Easter Road, and Glasgow City’s home leg against Russian side Chertanovo a fortnight later.
Coverage of the women’s domestic league continues in September with Forfar vs Motherwell on 20th September, with BBC ALBA continuing its coverage of the SWPL Cup and the SSE Scottish Women’s Cup Final.
In rugby, BBC ALBA will continue its coverage of the Women’s Six Nations, broadcasting all of Scotland’s home fixtures. Discussions are also underway to look into covering key domestic fixtures as well.
Coverage of shinty will feature the Valerie Fraser Camanachd Cup final on BBC ALBA on Saturday 7th September as Badenoch Ladies defend their title from Skye Ladies challenge. Curling is planned for early in 2020, with 10 teams competing across 4 days at the Perth Ladies International event in the beginning of January.
Iseabail Mactaggart, Director of Strategy and Partnerships at MG ALBA, which operates BBC ALBA in partnership with the BBC, said: “As the home of Scottish women’s sport, BBC ALBA offers a platform that raises awareness and exposure not only to the individual sports but also to the Gaelic language. We’re privileged to be a broadcast partner in women’s football, rugby, shinty and curling – and we’re committed to working as hard as we can with all of our partners to raise the profile of the games, encourage participation and attendance, as well as growing our TV audience and through that, opening the door to Gaelic.”
A short film which visualises the terror and drama facing soldiers in one of Britain’s worst maritime disasters has been selected for the Cannes Short Film Festival.
The BBC ALBA short animation Tha thu air Aigeann m’ Inntinn (You are at the bottom of my mind), based on the Iolaire Disaster, is set to a poem of the same name by acclaimed Gaelic bard Iain Crichton Smith.
In the early hours of 1 January 1919, the naval yacht HMY Iolaire, carrying sailors returning from the war, sank after hitting rocks on its approach to Stornoway, killing over 200.
Commissioned as part of BBC ALBA’s Hogmanay schedule commemorating the 100th anniversary of the disaster, the short film was a labour of love for the Dutch-based Scottish animator Catrìona Black.
Catrìona said: “We have very little visual record of the Iolaire disaster and it was a deeply emotional experience to create one. I’m pleased that the film is finding its way out into the world to share this important story with as many people as possible.”
The programme also earned Am Bocsa, Catrìona Black’s production company, a nomination at the RTS Scotland Awards for Animation & VFX.
The Cannes Short Film Festival takes place from 5-8 September. For more information click here.
Live coverage of Belladrum returns to BBC ALBA with Scotland’s friendliest music festival welcoming headliners Elbow, Jess Glynne and Chvrches.
Fans can catch much of the weekend festival action live on BBC ALBA, hosted by Fiona MacKenzie and Niall Iain MacDonald, from Thursday 1st through to Saturday 3rd August, with festival highlights also available on the new BBC Scotland channel on Friday and Saturday nights.
The 16th annual festival takes place in the Scottish Highlands, on the Belladrum Estate near Inverness. The festival’s main stage, in the estate’s idyllic Italian walled garden is the central location for three nights of lively music and festival colour which will be broadcast live on BBC ALBA. Coverage will also include some very special acoustic sets and on-site interviews with many of the headlining artists.
Belladrum’s reputation as the festival hot ticket with an eclectic line-up sees the rootsy folk machine Skerryvore rubbing shoulders and sharing stages with Johnny Marr, Tom Odell, Dodie and the fabulous Lewis Capaldi and Jess Glynne, bringing a great final evening to a close.
BBC ALBA has broadcast live from Belladum since 2011 and this year partners with the new BBC Scotland channel to offer more coverage than ever before across the two channels.
BBC ALBA’s Head of Service, Margaret Mary Murray: “Belladrum lies at the heart of BBC ALBA’s summer schedule and is much anticipated and greatly appreciated by audiences. We are delighted that this year’s music festival collaboration with BBC Scotland, which started so successfully at TRNSMT, continues at Belladrum and will offer enhanced and extended coverage, which we are sure music fans will love.”
Thursday 1 August
BBC ALBA, 9.30pm – 11.00pm
Friday 2 August
BBC ALBA, 9.00pm – 11.00pm
BBC Scotland, 11.05pm – 12.00am
Saturday 3 August
BBC ALBA, 9.10pm – 11.00pm
BBC Scotland, 11.05pm – 12.00am
MG ALBA has requested an urgent review of Gaelic broadcasting whilst launching its 2018-19 Annual Report.
The organisation that operates Scotland’s Gaelic-language television channel in partnership with the BBC has called upon the BBC, Ofcom, the Scottish Government and the UK government to engage in a dialogue aimed at reaching a new settlement for Gaelic broadcasting.
Currently, BBC ALBA is severely challenged by a 75% repeat rate, whilst 50% is the expected limit for BBC Scotland; and is available only in standard definition (SD) on television.
Writing in his Chair’s Message, Allan MacDonald states that “there is no acceptable basis for Gaelic speaking viewers to have a second-class service.”
MG ALBA has called upon its BBC partner to ensure that BBC ALBA enjoys the same opportunity and quality of provision as the new channel and the other minority language services of the UK.
In 2017, the BBC publicly announced up to 100 hours of additional programmes per year for BBC ALBA coming in the wake of the new BBC Scotland channel investment.
Allan MacDonald has sought assurances on the delivery of this ambition: “We will encourage the BBC to be open and transparent about the principles and protocol on which it bases its allocation of resources to Gaelic broadcasting, and how it ensures parity of approach between the indigenous minority languages which are part of its overall cultural responsibility across the UK.”
BBC ALBA celebrated its 10th anniversary last year and announced some momentous achievements, including the launch of its award-winning sketch comedy show FUNC and in establishing itself as the Home of Women’s Sport in Scotland.
BBC ALBA created the story of the night at the Royal Television Society Scotland Awards 2019 by receiving four awards.
Winning the major prizes in Comedy, Children’s and Sports programming, BBC ALBA was recognised for the quality of its programming across its 10th anniversary year.
BBC ALBA’s technical and craft excellence was also celebrated with a win for Daibhidh Martin of MacTV in the Professional Excellence: Camera category for his outstanding work on Sùlaisgeir: An t-Sealg.
BBC ALBA’s Head of Service Margaret Mary Murray said: “We are thrilled to receive these awards as they further highlight the skill and creative ingenuity of our producers. All our winners and nominees are superb examples of the fantastic work production companies who supply BBC ALBA achieved not only across the past very special year, but in the past decade.”
FUNC, the daring comedy sketch show, was an instant audience hit on BBC ALBA and across social media in 2018. Michael Hines creator of FUNC, commented: “I’m extremely proud to have won. We have a wonderful young cast, great crew and some brilliant writing. There aren’t many channels that show so much trust in programme-makers and so much commitment to up-and-coming talent and I think the show reflects that trust and we can’t wait to bring out FUNC series 2 later this year!”
Children’s drama, Buidheagain from Sorbier Productions was competing against large-scale productions from CBBC in what was BBC ALBA’s debut nomination in the category. The programme, created as part of a scheme by the European Broadcasting Union was directed by former River City star Tony Kearney and told the story of a young traveller girl’s campaign to make a farm her home.
Patsi MacKenzie, director of Sorbier Productions and writer of Buidheagain, said: “This is great for Sorbier and for what we’re trying to do with BBC ALBA. We’re creating programmes that are perfect for our Gaelic-speaking audiences but also that can be easily versioned for our European partners and this award is proof that it’s working!”
PurpleTV celebrated a hat-trick of RTS Scotland Awards with the success of their Tommy Burns documentary, matching the achievement of Purple’s films on Jim Baxter and Jock Stein.
Director, Margot McCuaig: “I would love to thank Tommy’s family for sharing their story with us. BBC ALBA has a track record for commissioning honest and emotional stories and it is an honour to have been part of that journey as well as winning RTS Scotland Awards over the past few years.”
Sùlaisgeir: An t-Sealg (The Hunt) from MacTV received three nominations in this year’s awards. It was short listed in the Science and Natural History category; Neil Campbell was shortlisted in the Director Category and Daibhidh Martin went on to win the award for Professional Excellence: Camera – a first for BBC ALBA at the RTS Scotland awards. This documentary has already seen success in the past year with a prize at the Chicago International Television Festival and was shortlisted for the globally prestigious Grierson award.
Winning Camera operator Daibhidh Martin paid tribute to his director, Neil Campbell, who was also nominated for an RTS Scotland award: “It was thanks to Neil that we gained access to film on Sùlasgeir. I’d also like to thank the men for trusting us to tell their story. Neil and I had to truly embed ourselves with the guga hunt, and we had to go the extra mile to bring this programme to the screen – not only while we were on the island but in the months beforehand. I’m really delighted that the programme has been received so well.”
The RTS Scotland Awards 2019 took place at The Old Fruitmarket venue in Glasgow on Wednesday, 12 June, 2019 and the awards were hosted by Jennifer Reoch and Des Clarke.
BBC ALBA has been successful at the Royal Television Society Scotland Awards 2016 with the channel’s Jim Baxter programme, produced by purpleTV, winning the Best Sports Programme category.
The award ceremony took place at Òran Mòr, Glasgow last night (Wednesday 25 May) and was hosted by newsreader, Catriona Shearer and popular TV actor, Sanjeev Kohli, with awards being presented across 13 categories, including Best News Programme, Best Current Affairs, Best Live Event and Television Journalist of the Year.
The Jim Baxter film, presented by Alex O’Henley, provided an intimate portrayal of the personal and professional life of the renowned Scottish football legend who died of pancreatic cancer in 2001 at the age of 61.
Tartan Pride, also produced by purpleTV for BBC ALBA had been shortlisted in this award category. Tartan Pride, again presented by Alex O’Henley, documented the rivalry between Scotland and England since the world’s first ever international fixture, the ‘Auld Enemy’, was staged in Glasgow in 1872.
Technical awards included Best Camera, Best Sound and Best Post Production: Editing where Vilte Vaitkute, editor of media co-op’s ‘The Wee Govan Pipers / Pìobairean Beaga Bhaile Ghobhainn’ documentary, produced for BBC ALBA, had been nominated. The hour long documentary was about the setting up of a children’s pipe band in the Govan area of Glasgow.
Alan Esslemont, head of content for BBC ALBA was delighted to see BBC ALBA together with purpleTV achieve further success at the RTS Scotland awards having won the Best Sport Programme for the Jock Stein documentary in 2015.
Mr Esslemont said: “BBC ALBA is thrilled to see the Jim Baxter production claim this prestigious Royal Television Society Scotland award and we congratulate purpleTV on their latest success. The sport documentaries produced for the channel have always been very popular across a wide spectrum of BBC ALBA viewers and it is wonderful to achieve this industry recognition.
“To have had three programmes shortlisted in this year’s RTS Scotland awards and win one category is a huge testament to the high quality content available on BBC ALBA across a variety of programme genres.”
The RTS awards are the gold standard of achievement in the television industry recognising excellence across the entire range of programme making and broadcasting skills.
A superb celebration of choral singing comes to BBC ALBA this summer as Scottish choir, Alba debut at the Eurovision Choir 2019 competition in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Pitted against nine of Europe’s best amateur choirs, Alba will perform in a live spectacular, broadcast to a Europe-wide audience on Saturday 3 August. Each choir will try to impress a panel of international choral music stars by performing an unaccompanied selection of music in a variety of styles.
Musician and television presenter Joy Dunlop leads the forty-strong Alba choir, drawn from all over Scotland. The Mod medalist from Connel in Argyll, equally well-known as a tv and weather reporter, has sung all her life and took on the task of assembling a choir with typical enthusiasm.
Joy said, “As a lifelong fan of Eurovision, I’m absolutely thrilled to lead a choir for such a prestigious singing competition. I’ve always had the secret dream of performing on a Eurovision stage and this is a real honour. Bringing a Gaelic Choir to Gothenburg this year is a big step. This competition provides the opportunity to introduce viewers from across Europe to our Gaelic language and heritage. I can’t wait to represent Scotland in a competition of this magnitude in our native tongue. This is a priceless opportunity and one that myself and the choir are whole heartedly embracing.”
Ahead of the live broadcast in August, the journey that Joy and her choir make will be documented by BBC ALBA in a programme to be shown in the run up to the competition. The half hour film will chart the progress of the choir, through the trials of rehearsing, wardrobe decisions, anxiety over musical arrangements, choreography and nail-biting deadlines.
To prepare for the biggest event of her life, Joy takes advice from conductors, dancers and even Graham Norton, the voice of Eurovision. She travels to Wales to meet Ysgol Gerdd Ceredigion the choir representing Wales at Eurovision and chats to award-winning conductor, Islywn Evans
Singing in an arena in Gothenburg is the biggest challenge that her she and Alba will face. To get an idea of the scale of the competition, Joy travels Tel Aviv to soak up the atmosphere of the Eurovision Song Contest, an event that caught her imagination as a youngster in Connel and has obsessed her ever since.
Margaret Cameron, Channel Editor BBC ALBA, added “We’re proud a Gaelic choir will take to the stage for Eurovision Choir 2019 and that audiences Europe-wide will get a real flavour of Gaelic song at the highest level. We’re excited to see Alba take on choirs from all over Europe and to bring a new experience to the BBC ALBA audience with a great look inside the trials and tribulations, and joys, of mounting an entry to the competition from scratch”.
The documentary and live competition show this Gaelic choir setting foot on the biggest stage that any of them have seen. Blending spectacular staging and a live stadium ambience with eclectic musical performances from a wide range of traditions and cultures, Eurovision Choir 2019 will again take viewers on a colourful journey in search of Europe’s best amateur vocal group.
Eurovision Choir 2019 is produced by Bees Nees Media for BBC ALBA. The documentary programme will broadcast on Wednesday 31 July at 9.30pm with the choirs’ competition broadcast live on Saturday 3 August at 7.30pm.
MG ALBA welcomes the news that Marion Sinclair has been appointed to the MG ALBA board.
Marion was nominated by the BBC, who are obliged by statute to nominate one member of MG ALBA’s board, and Ofcom’s recommendation for the appointment has been agreed by John Swinney MSP, Scotland’s Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills. This follows an independent selection process by Ofcom in Scotland.
Marion has been appointed for four years and will take up the role on 1 June 2019.
BBC ALBA has earned seven nominations at this year’s Royal Television Society (RTS) Scotland awards, at this prestigious industry event. The RTS Scotland Awards are the gold standard of achievement in the television industry, recognising excellence across a of programme making and broadcasting skills.
Last year, BBC ALBA celebrated its 10th anniversary and the nominations in seven different categories including comedy, children’s and animation acknowledge the range and excellence of the programming available on the channel.
Iseabail Mactaggart, Director of Strategy and Partnerships at MG ALBA, which operates BBC ALBA in partnership with the BBC, said:
“All of us at BBC ALBA are proud to have the quality of the channel’s programming recognised with this number of nominations. We’re proud too to work with such rich, creative talent within the Gaelic media supply sector – all of whom, those nominated and those not – constantly work to deliver the very best for BBC ALBA’s audiences. That commitment and creativity is at the heart of what makes BBC ALBA a success.”
Sùlaisgeir: An t-Sealg leads the way for BBC ALBA with three nominations, including for Documentary and Specialist Factual: Science and Natural History. MacTV’s documentary has already seen success in the past year with a prize at the Chicago International Television Festival and its shortlisting for a Grierson award.
The superb craft skills which contribute to the channel’s output have also been recognised, with MacTV’s Niall Campbell and Daibhidh Martin shortlisted in the Director and Camera categories for their work on Sùlaisgeir.
Seumas Mactaggart, Head of Production and Development at MacTV, said: “Daibhidh and Niall were embedded with the group of men who were harvesting the young gannets on the isolated island of Sùlaisgeir and had to carefully plan the logistics of filming. Powering their cameras and preserving their footage proved particularly challenging. Over the two weeks they became part of the team, sleeping in the bothy and taking their turn to cook. This resulted in a unique and revealing portrait.”
Sketch comedy was a new addition to the BBC ALBA schedule last year with the new show, FUNC, from the award winning Still Game director Michael Hines. With the help of the BBC Writer’s Room to source new writing talent over one hundred new Gaelic sketches were produced for the show which proved an instant hit with the BBC ALBA audience, both on TV and on social media.
Michael Hines, from The Woven Thread, said: “I’m extremely proud that we’ve been nominated. We have a wonderful young cast, great crew and some brilliant writing. There aren’t many channels that show so much trust in programme-makers and so much commitment to up-and-coming talent and I think the show reflects that trust.”
In the Animations & VFX category, a commission commemorating the Iolaire disaster is BBC ALBA’s debut nomination for this award. Tha thu air Aigeann m’Inntinn from Am Bocsa productions is animator Catriona Black’s beautifully poignant interpretation of Britain’s worst peacetime naval disaster set to the eponymous poem by Iain Crichton Smith.
Catriona Black said: “I made the film for the people of Lewis and Harris and it was warmly received by them but it’s great to see the film being recognised on a wider scale like this.”
Buidheagain by Sobier Productions is BBC ALBA’s debut nomination in the Children’s Category. Made as part of a European Broadcasting Union initiative it sees a family of travellers struggling to protect their way of life from a nasty farmer and his egg business.
BBC ALBA has had a great track record in the Sports category, and this year purpleTV have again received a nomination, this time for their biographical documentary about the Celtic football legend Tommy Burns.
The winners will be announced at a ceremony at the Old Fruitmarket in Glasgow on the 12th of June
