Documentary wins dialect award

A FILM based on a book by local author Laughton Johnston has won the Screenplay festival’s first dialect award.

Havera, directed by JJ Jamieson, won the Shetland ForWirds sponsored cash prize for the most effective use of local dialect at the film festival.

Amy and Alex Garriock-Wright’s silent film Magnie’s Fine Day and Roseanne Watt’s Alfie were runners up.

Jamieson said he hoped the new award will encourage more filmmakers to use Shetland dialect in their work.

“There were quite a few excellent films using dialect at Screenplay this year,” he said.

“Hopefully the award will encourage more film makers to use it. I’ve been utterly fascinated by it since I first heard it thirty five years ago. I find it beautiful and truly special.”

The documentary was inspired by Laughton Johnston’s book about life on the now uninhabited island of Havera in the 19th and early 20th century.

Shetland ForWirds’ Mary Blance added that she hoped the award would become a regular feature of the Screenplay film festival.