Over the last twenty years the academic study of film has shown that cinema represents an enormously powerful tool in constructing ideas about how we see ourselves. When somebody asks us questions about who we are how do we choose to answer them? Do we try and describe ourselves as coming from a particular place? Do we describe ourselves by what race we come from? Or do we describe ourselves in terms of what we do for a living, what economic background we come from ?

The studies of film which have taken place over the last few decades are very concerned with studying the way in which our concepts of ourselves are expressed in film. They have also been concerned with the way in which filmmakers have depicted people from cultures different from their own. These questions have been especially important to Scots over the last century. For a long time the majority of the images of Scotland and the Scots which appeared on film and in television were created by people from outside Scotland. Most of these images of Scotland painted a certain picture of the country and it’s people which the majority of Scots felt uncomfortable with.

Historically it has always been hard for Scottish filmmakers to make films in or about Scotland. There are a number of reasons for this:

• Scotland has a very small population (approx. 5.5million). This means that it is impossible for a Scottish film to make a profit just from being shown in Scotland. At current budget levels everybody in the country would have to go and see the film before it would break even. Even Britain as a whole is not large enough to support feature film production on the same kind of scale as Hollywood.

• Feature film production in Britain has always been based in London. The production companies and film studios which grew up at the start of the century were all based in London. This is because London is the economic centre of Britain which means that it is much easier to try and find finance for films there. It also has a population roughly the same size as Scotland, but which is concentrated in a much smaller area. This means that it is much easier to distribute films in this area. A lot of the time a film will get shown in London before it is released in the rest of the U.K. If the film does badly then the distributor may decide not to risk losing more money by releasing the film in the rest of the country. All of these factors mean that anyone from Scotland who wants to work in the film industry has had to move to London to find work. This means that it is hard for Scotland’s experienced filmmakers to pass on their knowledge to other people in Scotland.

• British films have always had to compete with American films. Because Britain and America share the same language American films can be released in Britain without having to be translated. Language is usually seen as one of the most important aspects of national identity, and some people believe that the popularity of American film and television in Britain means that American culture and values have become just as important to the British as their own cultural values.

This website is intended to give a simple introduction to the question of how national identity is shaped by, and can help to shape, film. To help do so the site is divided up into several sections.  You can move between these sections by clicking on the links at the top of each page:

	This section looks at the economic reasons why Scotland has historically been marginalised within film production. It explores the contribution of Scottish filmmakers to British and American cinema and it looks at the way in which Scotland’s relationship to film has changed over the last ten years.
	This section looks at some of the issues surrounding the way in which Scotland has been pictured by non-Scottish filmmakers and issues arising from the way in which Scottish films have depicted Scotland.
	Ten years ago it was not possible to speak about any kind of Scottish film industry at all. This section looks at the way in which the Scottish film industry has developed and the roles which various organisations have had to play in creating the Scottish film industry.
	This section provides links to a lot of organisations and companies involved in Scottish cinema and provides information about other sources of research.