Bearsden's John wins film award

A Bearsden filmmaker has won a top award at a Gaelic festival in Glasgow.

John Nicholson (22) won Most Promising New Director at the FilmG awards in March for his film Bròn.

It was also selected to be shown at the Assumption Studios short film showcase at SWG3 in Glasgow in July.

Clever writing and a dark atmosphere combine to create the feeling of isolation – which many of us can relate to over the past year as a result of lockdown and the pandemic.

Bròn tells the story of two brothers who drifted apart and finally confront each other and their past.

It then comes to light that one of them killed their father as a result of a freak accident and lived with the guilt for all those years.

Speaking about his success, John said: “To think that I’ve only just started out and my short film has won an award and has been screened at a festival gives me the inspiration and the hunger to create more films and be even more creative.

“I really enjoyed writing and directing my own film which was made better by the chance to include my Gaelic.”

John’s passion for filmmaking began when he got the chance to do some work experience for BBC ALBA and he discovered he had a talent for directing and writing scripts.

A recent graduate from Edinburgh Napier University, the talented young filmmaker studied a BA (Hons) in Television, after previously studying at Glasgow College.

John grew up in Glasgow and attended Sgoil Ghàidhlig Ghlaschu (Glasgow Gaelic School) Primary and Secondary, where he immersed himself in learning through the Gaelic language.

Debbie MacKay, FilmG Project Manager, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for John.

"We hope to see many films from him in the future and look forward to tracking what we believe to be a very promising career.”

This year’s FilmG competition will be launching soon, with this year's theme announced on social media as ‘Lorg’ (Find).

Watch John Nicholson's film Bròn on the FilmG Website.

Directing wasn’t an area John initially thought he would enjoy.

However, he found that, after writing his own script, he became more passionate about it.