A far from sleepy Sunday morning comedy screening!  Our annual HippFest initiative -  inviting young musicians from Falkirk district schools to compose, arrange and perform new scores for Scottish archive shorts - is back with a bang.

The Junior Trad band will accompany Highland Pink Elephants, a comical tale about one man’s attempt to beat all the odds to get a sweet taste of whisky.
 
The Senior Trad band will accompany An Apple a Day by prolific amateur filmmaker Frank Marshall. Marshall’s children , Muriel and Nairn star in this enchanting family film about the misadventures of two cheeky young apple scrumpers.

The playful programme concludes with musicians from Grangemouth High School performing their own composition for a ‘compilation of animated shorts’. These films are a legacy of the brilliant Paisley educator and artist: Falconer Houston, an early proponent of moving image education whose groundbreaking work with school children achieved wins at international competitions. This school project made with pupils skilfully tests out a range of animation styles and reflects the zeitgeist of the 1970s. Expect hijacks and high jinks!

NC/U | 1hr 15m incl. Q&A chaired by film historian Richard Weeks

An Apple a Day: Dir. F., Marshall | UK | 1941

Highland Pink Elephants: Filmed by members of Scottish Assoc. Of Amateur Cinematographers | UK | 1958

Animation Shorts: Dir. Falconer Houston | UK | 1973

Performing live: Laura Namyslo, Sunny Li, Charlie Franklin, Jack Cunningham, Timi Somefun, YMI Falkirk Junior and Senior Trad Bands

Screening material courtesy of National Library of Scotland’s Moving Image Archive and the Scottish Association of Moviemakers

Online programme notes by Kevin Cameron