Scottish film fest has roots in Idyllwild

In March, the Idyllwild International Festival Cinema (IIFC) is about to have its 13th opening. And one month later, the inaugural Scotland International Festival of Cinema (SIFC) will showcase new films in Peebles, Scotland, south of Edinburgh.

Stephen Savage, IIFC founder, inspired the SIFC over a lunch meeting in London in 2019. Joining him at that lunch were Trinity Houston, IIFC producer, and Mhairi Calvey, director of the inaugural SIFC.

While enjoying the lunch and sharing film making stories, Calvey mentioned, “I saw you have a film festival in Idyllwild. I’ve always wanted to do one.”

“Maybe we could have one in Scotland one day,” Savage replied politely. While continuing to eat — this was not a business meeting — the trio speculated on what that might be.

“She always wanted to do something like this and the idea came up,” Houston said. “It was time to do it.”

Calvey left the lunch and began to think about the opportunity. Films have been and are her career. She began acting at age 5 as Young Murron in “Braveheart.” After college she resumed her acting career and most recently finished “Fear the Invisible Man.”

Managing a film festival has been one of Calvey’s dreams. She said, “I love film. I love the media and the people behind it. Getting a film off the ground is an exciting opportunity. I love bringing people together.”

This explains her devotion to independent film making, not just the acting, but the entire production process — writing, casting, location, equipment and all the other tasks.

Knowing that Savage and Houston have 13 years’ experience producing IIFC was her deciding factor. “I wouldn’t do it without their experience,” she said.

Savage agreed. The IIFC crew is not simply lending a name or outline, “They’ll work hand in hand with Idyllwild,” he said. However, both Savage and Houston mentioned that COVID has limited their efforts to actually visit Scotland. Consequently, a lot more meetings have had to be online.

“It’s a lot more work than I imagined,” Calvey admitted. “I’m learning as I go. There are many issues I had never thought of, such as posters and programs.”

Nevertheless, she said happily, “I’m enjoying it, but it’s stressful at times.” And after the festival concludes, she will return to her acting career, which is how she makes her living.

The other two principal members of the SIFC team are Lesley Paterson, producer and international chairperson, and Vivien Reid, producer and UK chairperson.

Reid is familiar with Peebles and recommended it as the SIFC location. She is a screenwriter and one of her films was shown at the 2019 IIFC, where she and Savage met.

Houston noted that Peebles is similar to Idyllwild. It’s a small town with a symphony and an art community.

On July 1, 2021, more than two years after the fateful lunch, SIFC submissions began to be accepted. This week, notifications of acceptance are being distributed. Calvey said more than 80 films will be shown. And most were not Scottish.

“Submissions came from all over the world,” she said, from the U.S. and throughout Europe — France, Spain, Russia and England. One of her favorites is a German film.

With that many films, the actress’s time has been occupied in post-production. For the past couple of months, she has been screening all of those film submissions.

After IIFC concludes in early March, Savage and Houston will be boarding flights to Scotland so they can help with the final arrangements before SIFC opens April 19 and closes April 24.

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