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.''
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