For a handful of Scotland’s film-makers, two programmes of shorts at the Edinburgh International Film Festival might just be the first step to international success.

This year’s Tartan Shorts bill and the films developed under the auspices of the New Found Land scheme represent the bulk of Scottish artistic input in this year’s film festival. Indeed, after a difficult few months in the history of Scottish Screen, you could be forgiven for thinking shorts are what it does.

Recent attacks on Scottish Screen have focused on the agency’s apparent inability to invest in features that are certain box office winners. According to James Lee, the chairman of Scottish Screen, the criticism is not fair. He says that immediate box office success is not the yardstick which should be used to judge films, directors or indeed Scottish Screen.

"I’m extremely clear that lottery funding is about developing talent," says Lee, whose agency handles the disbursement of £3 million in lottery funds to film-makers. "That doesn’t mean the first film by a director has to be a commercial success. The point is to back talent and then hopefully wean them off subsidy and help them develop in their own right."

Testbed Fan

This year’s offerings include one feature-length drama - Kenny Glenaan’s Gas Attack (see separate article in Northern Exposure) - and a documentary, Rivers and Tides. The rest of the Scottish input comes in the shorts (Bobo by David Cairns, Manji by Rene Mohandas and Tangerine, directed by Alison Peebles) and the six 24-minute films funded under the umbrella of New Found Land. Lee declares himself "a great fan" of these little testbeds and, like everyone associated with the industry, points to the emergence of some sharp talents - Peter Mullan, David Mackenzie and Lynne Ramsay - as proof of their worth.

"Both the Tartan Shorts programme and the New Found Land scheme are incredibly important," says Lee, "fundamentally because they form a training opportunity for young directors to learn their craft."

First Rung

The lottery funding of these films has helped young film-makers reach the "first rung on the ladder" he says. He remains convinced that those involved with the films would not have moved forward without his agency’s support.

While Scottish Screen co-funds short films with British broadcasting companies, Rivers and Tides was a joint venture with German and Finnish television. The film shows the artist Andy Goldsworthy at work, and watches the transformation of his sculptures as the elements play on them.

Reluctant Broadcasters

The only regret for those involved in the project is the reluctance of the BBC to help - a sign perhaps of the changing nature of public service broadcasting in the UK. Despite that worrying trend the small group of people who have seen the 90-minute film are ecstatic about it.

Although this year’s feature programme will seem spartan to some, in June a further four longer films moved a step closer with the backing of the agency. All of them have created a stir of excitement: Sweet Sixteen, the latest in Ken Loach’s "Glasgow trilogy", comedian Craig Ferguson’s All American Man and an adaptation of Alexander Trocchi’s novel Young Adam, directed by Mackenzie. Each received Scottish Screen’s maximum grant of £500,000. Richard Jobson’s first foray into features, Sixteen Years of Alcohol, was awarded £200,000.

Archer Departure

It was another transaction this year, the non-precedental £620,000 awarded to Mullan’s Magdalene which proved more controversial. That award (amongst others) brought allegations of cronyism in its wake, and the ensuing row over funding contributed to the departure, a year ahead of schedule, of Scottish Screen’s former chief executive, John Archer.

The agency, along with Scottish Enterprise Creative Services and the Scottish Arts Council, is now under keen scrutiny from the Scottish Executive, who are seeking to cut out duplication of funding and effort between the organisations. As well as the question of Archer’s successor, the other pressing decision to be made is whether to build a studio at Pacific Quay, next door to the proposed new BBC Scotland headquarters. But it is the allegations of nepotism which rankle with those in the film industry.

Who Picks Winners?

"I’d decry any notion of cronyism within Scottish Screen or with the producing community in Scotland," says Ros Borland of the Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television, who, like most of the industry’s defenders, makes the simple point that the film community is small. "Who else," she asks, "is qualified to pick which projects to invest in, if not the industry professionals? Butchers? Sailmakers?"

As for the direction Archer’s successor should take, Borland goes on: "We need a strategic thinker with vision. It’s a time of great change within the industry, which offers great opportunities for producers, if we get it right. There are new platforms for growth in all the markets in which we work - film, television and increasingly on-line."

International Showcase

In Edinburgh, the film festival will represent the most important audience the shorts’ makers have ever reached, according to Ginnie Atkinson, the event’s managing director.

"The good thing as far as the indigenous film industry is concerned is the fact that it showcases Scottish work and ensures it’s seen in an international context.

"There’s a great pot of talent here for people to see, and the audience drawn from all over the world. The festival shouldn’t just show homegrown work - the point is to show in the context of your peers internationally."

Hollywood, here comes Scotland’s talent…..with a bit of luck and a following wind.