The Shadow Scholars

Director: Callum McCulloch-Nowlan

Year: 2026

Rob Beaton has been weaving tartan and tweed in the Scottish Borders since he was 14. Now 84, he is Scotland's oldest and longest-serving mill worker, operating 100-year-old traditional shuttle looms. With no apprentice to carry on his craft, the mill where he has worked for over four decades may soon be forced to close. But elsewhere in Scotland, a different story is unfolding. At another mill in Highland Perthshire, a young apprentice is learning the trade, and the ancient rhythms of the looms are being passed to a new generation. Once, Scotland's textile industry employed nearly 75% of the population. Today, that figure stands at just 0.2%. Against the backdrop of that decline, the stories of these two mills paint a portrait of an industry at a crossroads. Through his film, Callum McCulloch-Nowlan celebrates the workers, machines, and spaces of Scotland's weaving tradition, while exploring the urgency of preserving a disappearing craft.

Director: Lee Arthur Patterson

Year: 2026

Edinburgh has a developed network of greenways. One key 60 year old route, The Roseburn Path, is under threat of being significantly transformed into a Tramway. The documentary explores the history, development, social and wellbeing benefits for residents of the path and contrasts the competing needs of development and connectivity.

Director: John Smith

Year: 2026

After the world premiere of his film Being John Smith at the Toronto International Film Festival, an unexpected encounter in a hotel elevator leads the filmmaker to question the nature of reality.