IN AMERICA, they say, everyone gets 15 minutes of fame. Peter Capaldi

got his first 19 seconds yesterday when he walked on to the podium of

the Shrine Auditorium in LA and clutched a 14-inch high gold statuette

in his made-in-Bishopbriggs hands. It was the first Oscar for a purely

Scottish film in 34 years.

His short, Franz Kafka's It's A Wonderful Life, financed by the

Scottish Film Production Fund and BBC Scotland, shared an Academy Award

for the best live action short film. As the film-maker rubbed shoulders

with Hollywood's finest at a glittering post-ceremony party, his 15

minutes looked assured. In fact, it looked like the beginning of a long

and beautiful friendship. Capaldi is a talented, witty, and intelligent

young man whose time has finally come. He will surely now go on to

become one of Britain's most successful film directors.

With customary modesty he admitted later that he had been approached

by ''a few movie people''. In fact, they have been beating a path to his

LA hotel door all week. If Hollywood loves anything, it loves a winner.

You don't get a second prize in the Oscars.

Franz Kafka, a surreal black comedy made for #30,000 three years ago

in the first batch of the BBC's Tartan Shorts scheme, starred Richard E

Grant and Elaine Collins, Capaldi's actress wife. It would be churlish

not to point out that, in a rare Oscar twist, it tied for yesterday's

Oscar with an American short film, Trevor.

Both Capaldi and the film serve to prove that rejection in the showbiz

industry is not necessarily a bad thing. The actor failed to gain

entrance to drama college in Glasgow (and went instead to art school)

while the movie was turned down in somewhat snooty fashion by the London

Film Festival because the organisers did not think it was good enough.

BBC Scotland beamed a collective smile when news of the Oscar success

came through in the early hours of the morning. They even organised a

hugely expensive satellite link with LA to give the Scottish press an

opportunity to speak with Capaldi and head of television Colin Cameron,

who accompanied the film-maker to LA.

So what went through Capaldi's mind as he made the long walk towards

the stage with his producer and business partner, Ruth Kenley-Letts?

''I have to say that the only way I can describe it is it is sexual,''

he quipped. ''And then when you get up on the podium and you look down

and Steve Martin is looking at you and Jeremy Irons is there; you can

imagine it is a sensational kind of feeling.

''It is more than dreamlike. There you are surrounded by all these

people. In a strange way I don't think I was really nervous because I

didn't think we were going to win. But it is wonderful; a great

experience.''

Of the approaches which have been made to him during the past week in

Hollywood, Capaldi said: ''There is so much stuff going on it is hard to

figure out what is the right thing to do. What the award means to me is

that I now have some profile. I suppose it means that we will be able to

do some work which is funded and supported from over here.''

Asked what he thought would be the impact of the award on the Scottish

film industry, he commented: ''I would hope it means that there will be

greater confidence. One of the very, very exciting things I have found

here in LA is that no one talks to you about being Scottish. Whereas, if

you are in London and you are trying to put films together and be a

film-maker, there is a kind of unspoken sense that, if you are Scottish,

you have something to overcome or else you cannot really do that

project. Here (in LA) they talk to you completely as a film- maker.

''No one has once said to me 'What's it like in Scotland' or 'My, what

a lovely accent you have.' It is wonderful.''

Capaldi made his first significant breakthrough in Bill Forsyth's

Local Hero. He went on to feature in Dangerous Liaisons and the TV

movie, Selling Hitler. He wrote the script for the award-winning movie

Soft Top, Hard Shoulder, in which he also starred with his wife. Franz

Kafka's It's A Wonderful Life is his directorial debut.

He paid a warm tribute to BBC Scotland, where he started his career in

the costume department. ''I'd like to thank them, but not just for

funding this particular film. It was where I started. BBC Scotland is a

great place to learn,'' he said.

His Oscar is more than either BBC Scotland or the Scottish Film

Production Fund could ever have hoped for. The Tartan Shorts initiative

was set up specifically to address the problem of a lack of

opportunities for new Scottish film talent. Its future is now secure for

at least the next three years, according to BBC officials.

Colin Cameron said: ''The whole purpose of Tartan Shorts was to give

some kind of opportunity to individuals who have talent, to give them

confidence and I cannot think of any greater confidence booster than to

win an Oscar. It's very important that we encourage the talent base we

have in Scotland. We are doing as much as we can to develop it.''

Mr Eddie Dick, director of the Scottish Film Production Fund, said:

''In terms of film industry accolades, the Oscar is truly world class.

For Peter's film to have won this award is an extraordinary

achievement.''

Peter Capaldi is following in the footsteps of a highly select few

Scots who have made the stroll to the Oscar podium. The last was Sean

Connery in 1987 when he was awarded the prize for best supporting actor

for the movie The Untouchables. In 1980, the comedy film Dollar Bottom

won an Oscar in the short live action movie category. However, though it

was filmed in Scotland and starred Scottish actors, it was

English-financed. The last purely Scottish film to gain an Oscar was the

John Grierson documentary, Seaward The Great Ships, in 1960.

Sir Hector Monro, MP, Minister for the Arts at the Scottish Office,

has sent a letter of congratulations to Capaldi.

He said yesterday: ''I would like to offer my congratulations to Peter

Capaldi and everyone else who was involved in the making of the film.

This is not the first award which the film has received but it is

perhaps its finest moment. This is a major achievement for Scottish

film-making.''