Movie-makers are rallying support for a new short film celebrating Perthshire’s Picts.
Red Thistles is a 16-minute drama about a Pictish Prince in 5th Century Scotland.
It’s described as “a story about integrity, self-worth, and the dangers of comparing yourself to others, all set against the haunting beauty of ancient Scotland”.
The team behind it have launched a £20,000 GoFundMe fundraiser to help make it happen.
They have already filmed test scenes at locations such as the Scottish Crannog Centre at Loch Tay.
And they’ve enlisted Hamish Lamley, of Tibbermore-based Pictavia Leather, as historical consultant on the project.
Film-maker Lewis Ward says he is grateful for the local expertise, and determined to make Red Thistles as authentic as he can.
“It’s really important to us that we make this story as historically accurate as possible,” he said.
“People have been amazingly generous so far, and we’re all really excited to get started.”
Extras needed to play Picts on film
Writer and director Lewis has worked with leading networks such as the BBC, Netflix, Channel 4, Discovery, and MTV.
He says he fell in love with Pictish culture years ago on a visit to Scotland and went off and studied all he could.
The fundraising campaign will help to cover production costs.
And Lewis wants as much of the money as possible to be spent in the local area, from set design and costumes to catering and logistics.
He and the crew will be collaborating with local artisans and craftspeople.
They’ll also be looking for extras to appear in the film further down the line.
And 10% of the funds raised will go to support the work of the Scottish Crannog Centre.
Film will show Picts as they really were
Hamish is also a veteran of other filming projects and is advising the makers of Red Thistles on Pictish materials and culture.
He even stood in as Prince Talorc while the team were filming test shots in Perthshire and elsewhere recently.
The Perthshire leatherworker and tattoo artist says he’s impressed with Lewis’s approach.
“Right from the start he told me ‘It’s not my culture, it’s yours. Help me to get it right’,” he said.
The pair have compromised on some elements, such as filming locations. Glencoe might not have been in the Picts’ Perthshire heartland, but it will provide a stunning backdrop for some scenes.
And Hamish says he’s excited about this opportunity to portray the Picts as they actually were.
“A lot of the time people have this Victorian-era idea of the Picts as blue-painted savages and barbarians,” he said.
“It’s my job to show they were a people with beautiful clothes and crafts and language.”
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