The event will be structured around the screening of two films, Lionel Mills’ Us Boys (co-funded by RTÉ, Northern Ireland Film & Television Commission and The Irish Film Board), and Deaglán Ó Mochain’s The Hamely Tongue: Cultúr Ceilte (funded by TG4, BAI, Foras na Gaeilge and The Ulster Scots Agency).  The film screenings will be followed by a discussion about the films, and about Ulster Scots culture and language in film and television in general. 

 

The film Us Boys (1999) is a poignant fly-on-the-wall film about two Ulster Scots hill-farming brothers in County Antrim and The Hamely Tongue: Cultúr Ceilte (2009) is an unusual nuanced perspective on the Ulster Scots language and culture in a film directed by an Irish language activist.

 

The two directors will be joined by Laura Spence, Producer of Ulster Scots Programming in the BBC, who will also discuss the BBC’s Ulster Scots programming agenda, and Jim Millar, director of Education at the Board of Ulster-Scotch.  It is hoped that someone from Northern Ireland Screen will give information on the new Ulster Scots Broadcast Fund in Northern Ireland.

 

The event will be completed with a reception in our new Hospitality Pavilion Tent, and guests will be invited to join us there for a glass of wine, where The Board of Ulster-Scots will present some display materials about their work.

 

The aim of the whole event is to make the general public and our non-industry visitors aware of the rich Ulster Scots traditions, especially in Donegal, and to also take the opportunity to brief programme makers and industry visitors about the opportunities that currently exist, and will exist in the future for programmes to be made about Ulster Scots.