The BAFTA Scotland awards took place on Sunday, November 16, crowning the best of Scottish cinema. The ceremony was hosted by Scottish television and radio presenter Edith Bowman, with 13 competitive awards across the evening, as well as two BAFTA Special Awards and an Audience Award. Scottish drama ‘On Falling’ and its Edinburgh-based director and writer, Laura Carreira won not one, but TWO BAFTA Scotland awards. The film, which exposes the horrowing conditions inside fulfilment centres, was awarded the best Feature Film and the best Writer Film/Television.
And that is not all – ‘On Falling’ has been nominated at the BIFAs for Best Director and Best Screenplay, as well as the Douglas Hickox Award for Best Debut Director and Best Debut Screenwriter. It’s also been nominated for the European Film Awards European Discovery – Prix FIPRESCI. Now that’s quite the list!
What is more, the lead actor, Joana Santos, was awarded the Portuguese Golden Globe for Best Actress for her role as Aurora.
The drama is produced by Ken Loach’s production company, Sixteen Films, and distributed by Glasgow-based Conic, an independent distributor. Inspired by Laura Carreira’s own experience juggling her work and studies in Edinburgh, the plot follows a Portuguese migrant worker, grappling with the isolation of being away from home and sharing her living situation with flatmates, as well as the never-ending pressures of working as a “picker” in a massive warehouse.
Director Laura Carreira, who was also named Best Director at San Sebastián International Film Festival, said: “We’re so honoured to have won two Scottish BAFTAs. It matters that stories like these are recognised, because they reflect what is happening right now to millions of people in the UK who are struggling to stay afloat.”
“We wanted our film to look at the reality of dehumanising work and growing inequality and to call out the systems that are trapping people in precarity.”
Jen Davies, co-founder of Conic, the independent film distributor championing distinctive filmmaking, added: “Laura’s debut feature has struck a chord with festivals, awards voters and audiences because it shines a light on working lives that are so often unseen.”
“It’s an exceptional achievement for a first feature, and we’re so pleased to see it acknowledged in Scotland, where the film is set.”