A film dedicated to tragic Angus man Ross Ramsay has tasted success at a major UK festival.
Scottish writer/director Ruth Paxton began work on the film Pulse at the time of Ross’s disappearance.
Ross was found dead in Glasgow in 2013 after going missing from his home in the Maryhill area of the city.
He had embarked on a promising career in the music and theatre industry and had secured a new job with the National Theatre of Scotland before his death.
The 30-year-old was regarded as a friendly, modest and talented man but one who was sadly affected by mental health issues, which had eventually led to his death.
Ruth told The Courier: “Ross’s story and his suicide had a huge impact on me and my writing of the film.
“I followed Ross’s story in the press and news and took on board the comments his mum Sandra Ramsay made about a lack of education about mental health issues and about the serious and gripping nature of depression.
“I felt a significant personal connection with Ross’s struggle and a responsibility to explores themes about mental health and the distress and isolation that people who experience mental ill health can feel.”
Ruth won best female director at the 12th London Short Film Festival for Pulse, which was set in Glasgow.
The film was commissioned by the Royal Philharmonic Society and brought Ruth together with British/Bulgarian composer Dobrinka Tabakova.
Ruth added: “I began work on the film at the time of Ross’s disappearance.
“He was a very talented young man developing a successful career in music and sound design, who experienced episodes of depression before he died.
“I was preoccupied with notions of peril, sinking and rescue, darkness engulfing someone; the brink of no return and their need for a saviour to revive them back into humanity.
“The main characters are both people with mental health problems and although the film does not follow a conventional linear narrative style, the culmination of the story is that these two people reach out to each other to offer support and humanity at a time when both are extremely vulnerable and depressed.
“I have always thought of myself as an advocate for mental health issues but I now realise how essential it is that mental health be discussed openly and often.
“I know, from experience, that talking about mental health can strengthen friendships, aid recovery, break down stereotypes and drain the taboo from something that affects everyone. I’m also aware that it saves lives.
“My producer and I contacted Sandra through the Scottish Association for Mental Health in the wake of filming, as I felt passionately about dedicating my contribution to this project to her son Ross.
“Sandra granted me permission to do so when I met with her. I am hugely grateful to her for sharing her stories with me about Ross and for listening to me.
“She is a remarkable person.”
The world premiere of the 13-minute impressionistic noir opened last year’s Glasgow Short Film Festival, accompanied by a live rendition of Tabakova’s gamelan-based score.
It was held in the Arches in Glasgow in March, where Ross used to do work, and Ross’s mum Sandra said she was delighted to hear of Ruth’s success.
“I think there is something unique about Ross and his suicide,” said Sandra.
“Exactly what this is, I can’t put words to but he has left a more of a legacy through his life than I ever will.”