A HELENSBURGH man drew on his upbringing in the town when working on the film which won him a BAFTA in November 2006.
Writer and director Martin Smith, a former Hermitage Primary and Hermitage Academy pupil says that he was thrilled to accept the Russell Hunter Award for Best Short Film at the BAFTA Scotland awards ceremony in Glasgow for ‘Tracks’.
Shot on location in the central belt, ‘Tracks’ featured non-actor children from Glasgow schools. It is a shocking story about the cruelty of children, and has been selected to screen at film festivals around the world.
“The idea for 'Tracks' came from many places, but principally from a couple of situations I witnessed as a kid,” he said.
“The first was hearing about a boy killing a cat in the fields near our house, and secondly some of my mates blowing up a dead cat on a railway line! The gaps in between were put together by stories from kids I have worked with and through the development process.
“I’m aware of how emotive a subject the mistreatment of animals is, and I’m also aware of the kind of psychological effect this can have on someone and the potential this has to lead to future violence, so overall it wasn’t a project I took on lightly.”
'Tracks' was commissioned by DigiCult with funding through the UK Film Council, Scottish Screen and GMAC and made with La Belle Allee Productions. The film was Highly Commended at the TCM Turner Classic Shorts Competition and Nominated Best UK Short at Raindance.
Martin, whose family moved to the town when he was five, considers that he owes a lot to teachers like Mr Skinner and Mr Fleming, both in the Academy art department, and geography teacher Mr Swanson. He is still in touch with many of his burgh friends.
“Apart from being in bands, I suppose I was just like everyone else in hanging around the arcades at night and by the waltzers in the summer, trying to avoid getting battered!” he recalls.
“We used to have some great sessions at our home in Helensburgh, and when I started photographing people, it was my mates who were my subject material. Then I started to make short films, and my friends were in them again.
“A lot of the scripts I write now are informed by those times. I guess living by the sea is something that comes back as a theme in my work, and also that whole small town atmosphere.”
After studying at film school, he worked on music videos, and directed a lot of work for major record companies. In 2004 he directed a series of short films for Channel 4 on Edinburgh, seen through the eyes of Scottish painter John Bellany, boxing champion Alex Arthur and ‘Garbage’ vocalist Shirley Manson.
'Tracks' was the first of four award-winning short films Martin has written and directed, as well an award winning documentary 'Jimmy'.
His latest short 'Seagulls', made with Creative Scotland's Scottish Shorts, Hopscotch Films, Screen Productions and DigiCult had its World Premiere in competition at the Berlin International Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Crystal Bear for Best Short Film.
The film won The Golden Reel Award for Best Short Children's Film at the Tiburon International Film Festival California, won the Outstanding Achievement Award from the State Of California Senate at the Borrego Springs International Film Festival in California, and has screened at over 40 film festivals, picking up Best Short Film nominations in twenty international competitions.
Following selection for DocuWeeks™ — the International Documentary Association’s yearly theatrical showcase where it screened for seven days in New York at the IFC Center — the film qualified for the Academy Award® Best Short Documentary nomination. The film was also nominated for the BAFTA New Talent Award, won the Franklyn Marshall Award for Short Film at the CurtDoc International Documentary Festival, Spain, and won Second Prize at the ICCL Human Rights Film Awards in Dublin.
'Accidents' was was funded with National Lottery funding through Scottish Screen and made with Sugartree Productions. The film won 'Best Short Film' at Appledore, and was nominated Best Short Film at the Jim Poole Scottish Short Film Awards, and Nominated Best UK Short at the Edinburgh International Film Festival.
'Liar', his third commissioned drama short, was commissioned by Collabor8te. The film was made by Blue Iris Films in association with Rankin Film Productions, The Bureau and Dazed Film. It won the BAFTA New Talent Award for Best Writing, and had its International Premiere at the IndieCork International Film Festival in October 2013 where it was Nominated Best International Short. It then screened in competition at the Bilbao International Short Film Festival, being Nominated Best International Short.
'Jimmy', a commission for the Scottish Documentary Institute, Creative Scotland and BBC Scotland, gave a unique insight into the life of disabled rights campaigner Jimmy McIntosh MBE.
Martin has also made a number of documentary shorts, and directed popular TV series including 'Armchair Detectives' in 2017 and 'Holby City' in 2021. He was selected by the Toronto International Film Festival to participate in their Talent Lab where he was mentored by Danny Boyle and John Collee.
His Knife Crime film for the Scottish Government won the Gold Award at the 2016 Drum Roses Awards, his 'Give A Child Their Smile Back' campaign for Children 1st won Best TV at the 2019 Nods Awards, his 'Hey Europe, Scotland Is Open' campaign for Scotland.org won Best International Campaign at the 2020 Star Awards, and his 'Europe - Scotland Is Here' campaign for Scotland.org won Best International Campaign at the 2021 Star Awards.
2021 also saw Martin selected for the prestigious initiative BBC Elevate. Its aim is to unlock any barriers to progression and ensure off-screen disabled talent are reaching their full potential.
He said: "This is the most amazing initiative run by the incredible Nichola Garde. It is an opportunity for deaf, disabled and neurodivergent TV talent to progress their career up the ladder or change direction. It offers paid placements on BBC shows, training, mentoring and 121 support."
