From Writer Fraser Coull (Cops and Monsters, Night Is Day) and Director Lucy Linger ( Yoga In Isolation, Jess and Maggie) comes Faithful, a live action short film which can now be seen on the STV player.

I have been following the development and production of Faithful for a while now, having remotely edited the behind the scenes footage for Silly Wee Films, and also shared their much needed crowdfunding links over the important budget seeking period of the film. I try to do my bit for independent film but my participation is small potatoes compared to the super hard work that the crew and cast put in and I’m okay with that. One of the pure joyful things about doing what I do here at frompage2screen.com and on my podcasts is that pretty much everything I do, can be done from my home ‘office’ remotely, and warmly. The cast and crew of the films that I help support do the really hard work and writer Fraser Coull has had Faithful as a passion project for a long time now, and finally the film is out there in the wild (well at the moment its viewable for free on the STV player) and I am really hoping that at some point a Faithful feature length version becomes a reality as I do want more, and I know there’s more to the Faithful story and writer Fraser Coull, and director Lucy Linger hopefully are hard at work prepping the feature length film (I don’t know that they are- but I really hope that they are) for a team up once again.

Faithful is a such a heart-warming funny in places, sad in others, rollercoaster of emotions short film and in its short 18 minute run time, it packs more heart than so many feature films out there. Im always impressed when a short film not only tells its story in a small running time, but also when that film and its characters stay in my mind, way beyond the end credits. Its been nearly a month since I saw the film at its premiere in Glasgow, and it feels like it was yesterday when the lights dimmed and the audience entered the story of Vaila, a young Scottish girl who encounters a mythical faerie Cù-Sìth (pronounced koo-she) the dogs of the underworld who hunt and drag people through the portal of death.In Faithful we see Vaila trying to come to terms with the death of her Mother, Vaila blames herself and hopes to trick the dogs into finding her Mother and bringing her back to the world of the living.

As id mentioned, Faithful has so much heart and not only is this my personal opinion of the film, but I witnessed the audience at the premiere laughing at the right places, and welling up in all the right places too. To go through the rollercoaster of the story which only lasts 18 minutes, is a testament to the films production, the casts performances, and of course the script that became the blueprint of the film. For a film that was for the most- crowdfunded,the team behind the film have done a fantastic job- the beautiful score by Steve Dunster, the heartwarming ‘In The Wee Hours’ end credit song by Josie Duncan, the glorious FX that perhaps might not live up to the level we see in Avatar, but Faithful had for its budget probably a tiny fraction of a single days catering budget for a single department on a James Cameron film. What the team behind Faithful have done with the resources they had is pretty stunning- its a real heartwarming tale filled with a wonderful cast. Lily McGuire in her debut is a natural and it is pretty hard to believe that this is her first film. It certainly wont be her last film that’s for sure.

So if you have yourself 20 minutes to spare (and we can all spare 20 minutes at some point in our week cant we?) then head to the STV Player link here and check out Faithful. It’ll put a warm smile on your face and give your heart a much needed hug!

Written and produced by Fraser Coull

Directed by Lucy Linger

Produced by Valerie Andrews

Line Produced by Lindsay Jenkins

Produced and supported by Simon Webster and Kiran’s Trust

The cast features Lily McGuire as Vaila (in her feature debut), Gary Hollywood as Campbell (Mrs Brown’s Boys,Taggart, Neds), Kimberley Nixon as Annabelle (Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging. The Tuckers, The Salisbury Poisonings), Juliet Cadzow as Audrey (River City, Balamory, The Wicker Man), Greg McHugh as Michael (Fresh Meat, A Discovery of Witches, Man Vs Bee) and Ethan Docherty as Harrison (in his feature debut)