‘From Film Bang to Filming Boom’ is a self-guided audiovisual exhibition showcasing 50 years of screen production in Scotland. It presents a selection of 12 films and television programmes made between the 1970s and the present time, which form part of Scotland’s national moving image collection held by the National Library of Scotland Moving Image Archive.

The content includes documentary, drama, animation, children’s television and Gaelic-language programming, tracing back historical changes in working practices and commissioning priorities within the Scottish screen production sector.  In the 1970s, the focus was on sponsored documentary films. The 1980s saw the emergence of new opportunities for independent production across film and television. In the 1990s and 2000s, short film schemes fostered new Scottish creative and technical talent. Among the works selected are short films from the well-liked Tartan Shorts scheme; inserts from the popular Glasgow-based late-night show Halfway to Paradise, aired on Channel 4 in the 1980s and 1990s; Murray Grigor’s seminal dramatised documentary Scotch Myths (1982), a satire on Scottish traditions and stereotypes; and an animated comedy about the Loch Ness Monster escaping and rampaging through the city of Edinburgh.

The content was curated by SGSAH-funded PhD researcher Nelson Correia as part of his collaborative doctoral project investigating 50 years of work histories in the Scottish screen production sector, which involved Edinburgh Napier University, the University of Edinburgh and the National Library of Scotland, under the SGSAH ARCS programme.

Locations

The exhibition is currently on until January 2026 at the National Library of Scotland in Glasgow (Kelvin Hall) and Edinburgh (George IV Bridge), and can be accessed via individual touchscreen displays at each location.

In Glasgow, the displays are located within the Moving Image Archive's public area at Kelvin Hall (1445 Argyle Street, Glasgow, G3 8AW)

In Edinburgh, the content can be accessed at the National Library Café & Discovery Space at the Library’s George IV Bridge building (57 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1EW)

First published: 27 August 2025

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