New Found Land the film series is returning to Scotland’s TV screens for a second year to give six more production teams a chance of shooting short-form drama. The fruits of this year’s production efforts is to be showcased in Edinburgh.

A joint production between Scottish Media Group television and Scottish Screen, New Found Land 2001 will unveil six 24-minute films at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, ahead of their broadcast this autumn on Scottish Television. Designed as a boost up the ladder for developing film directors, producers and writers from the low budget short film towards a full-length feature film, the project, launched originally in 1999, has once again produced a few pearls.

In Leonard, an obsessive-compulsive - played with an uncomfortable intensity by Denis Lawson — has to cope with the arrival of his estranged son. It is a bittersweet script from Richard Smith, a 24-year-old who replied to an advert in the List and is now represented by the same London agent as the writers of Billy Elliot and The Full Monty.

Last Legs is a black comedy directed by Amy Jenkins, the creator of This Life, in which a Big Issue seller loses his legs and discovers the Minister for Health has got them and that only a white witch can get them back. Or how about Blackout, a hilarious romp where the residents of a towerblock have to cope with broken lifts, missing sofas and flying binbags?

Raw Film Making

Cynics may grumble that STV winds up with three hours of cheap programming - each film was shot for £48,000 on digital video, a quarter of an average drama’s cost - but viewers should appreciate a break from the relentless round of cop dramas and sitcoms. This is Scottish film-making in its chrysalis stage: raw but moving and unquestionably beneficial to the participants. As Carolynne Sinclair Kidd, producer of Lost, a study of a family’s breakdown and reformation, explains: "If short films are poems, this is like experimenting with a novella before moving on to a novel. It is incredibly important that we have this chance to develop our skills."

For Christeen Winford, the writer and director of Saved, shot in an old people’s hospital with real people as extras, the experience was a dry run experimenting with a new style of shooting, which she hopes to develop in a feature film set among Scotland’s travellers. "You have to enjoy what you are doing for what it is, but it has also allowed me to experiment, to experience and then solve problems which will stand me in good stead for my next project."

Becoming Experienced

No-one is expecting the participants to relocate to Los Angeles next year or clear room for their Oscars. Instead the experience is being stored up, ready to be re-applied on a bigger canvas. As Mark Grindle, series executive producer, explains: "We don’t mind if people go on to work for the BBC or Scottish Television or move into feature films; the important thing is that they are being given the chance to stay and work in Scotland."

Application forms for next year’s series are now available from Scottish Screen. Grindle is hoping for a few more comedies as well as the usual tenement tragedies that usually get swept ashore on this New Found Land.

New Found Land, Filmhouse, Edinburgh, 16 and 17 August