45 years on

At 1.00pm on the 14th of April 1980 the very first Celtic Film Festival got underway in Iochdar Community Hall on the island of South Uist.

It originated in an idea I had during the autumn of 1979.  I was running the Cinema Sgire Film and Video Project in Uist and I thought it would be good to see what other people  working in video , film and tv were doing in the minority languages and in rural areas.

Late that year I set out to visit each of the countries and the enthusiasm was so great that I decided to try and raise enough money to hold an event that spring.   I had huge help from a whole range of individuals, but none more so than Muiris MacConghail of RTE who at at some personal cost - he was involved in some very tricky background issues in Irish broadcasting that intensified just as he arrived in the Western Isles - backed the idea whole heartedly and became a close and life long friend.

I remember that first session kicking off in Iochdar hall and the first evening of showings in Barra, with Muiris and another friend, sadly missed, the  Welsh broadcaster , minister and writer Gwyn Erfyl ,  talking about the media in their languages to an audience on Barra which was captivated by them and their work.

45 years on - to the day - the festival is going more strongly than ever and takes place in Newquay (Cornwall joined in some years after the first one) this June.   I haven't been to one since Inverness in 2015 (the Festival moves round the countries and also now takes in a much wider range of media) .  Maybe next time it comes to Scotland....?