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Private Notes
When people disappear, they leave holes in the lives of friends and family that can never be filled.
The writer Andrew O'Hagan and the artist Graham Fagen have both created works on this highly emotive subject. O'Hagan's play for the National Theatre of Scotland, The Missing, was adapted from his 1995 book of the same name. Fagen's companion piece - a moving image work called Missing - was commissioned by the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.
ArtWorks Scotland followed the making of both the play and the film and revisited, with Andrew O'Hagan, some of the people and places featured in the original book. The programme combines intimate footage from the rehearsal room and research and filming by Graham Fagen with moving testimony from those left behind by the missing.
The late Jack Bruce fronted the 1960s supergroup Cream alongside Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker and has played with everyone from Marvin Gaye to Jimi Hendrix and from Lulu to Lou Reed. ArtWorks Scotland tells the story of his life, from childhood in Scotland to global superstardom, through some of Jack's favourite songs and with contributions from Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, Flea of Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Adam Clayton of U2.
The story encompasses some of the biggest riffs and rifts in rock, taking in family tragedy, drugs and near death. A specially chosen set of six songs mark crucial moments in Jack's life, including Cream's Sunshine of Your Love. Jack rerecorded the tracks with some of Scotland's finest musicians including folk trio Lau, percussionist Jim Sutherland, keyboard player Andy May, guitarist Taj Wyzgowski, drummer Chris Peacock, his nephew Nico Bruce on bass and string ensemble Mr McFall's Chamber.
Fittingly in this Olympic year, one of the highlights of the Edinburgh International Festival is an extraordinary combination of sport and art. For NVA's Speed of Light, hundreds of people have been climbing Arthur's Seat after dark to watch runners wearing specially commissioned light suits perform choreographed moves. The spectators are part of the work too as they carry staffs that emit sound and light, bringing the hills to life. This ArtWorks Scotland documentary follows the creation of this hugely ambitious project and finds out why people run and what motivates endurance athletes to push their bodies to the limit.
In June this year a group of children from the Raploch estate in Stirling played alongside one of the world's most celebrated orchestras in front of an audience of 8,000. The Big Noise Orchestra joined the Simon Bolivar Orchestra of Venezuela to launch the London 2012 Festival under the baton of star conductor Gustavo Dudamel.
Big Noise began in 2008 with the aim of transforming the lives of children in Raploch through music. With help from the violinist Nicola Benedetti, all primary school children are offered the chance to learn an instrument and play together as an orchestra. This ArtWorks Scotland documentary follows the preparations for the Big Concert and captures what happened on the big day.
Peter Darrell was already a successful and ground-breaking choreographer when he became the first artistic director of Scottish Ballet in 1969. He laid the foundations for the company's current success and created a catalogue of ballets that deserve reviving.
To coincide with the 25th anniversary of his death at the age of just 58, this film explores what made Darrell's work so innovative and influential with the help of dancer/choreographer Michael Clark, whom he mentored, and Matthew Bourne, who is widely considered to be the UK's most successful contemporary choreographer. Especially for the programme, Scottish Ballet restages an extract from Darrell's ballet Cheri.
In the year they both turn 50, the two stars of Gregory's Girl return, for the first time together, to the school where the film was shot to share memories of making and promoting the film as teenagers. For ArtWorks Scotland, they trace their subsequent parallel careers as actors, singers - Clare in the band Altered Images and Gordon in stage musicals - and more recently as authors.
Annie Ross was the red-headed bombshell at the swinging heart of the post-war jazz scene. Raised in Glasgow, her eight-decade career runs from precocious child star - the 'Scottish Shirley Temple' - to indefatigable living legend.
In this intimate and revealing ArtWorks Scotland profile, Annie discusses her many lives: Parisian singer in the 1940s, incomparable vocal gymnast in the 1950s and Covent Garden impresario in the 1960s.
Tales of shoplifting with Billie Holiday, shooting up with her lover Lenny Bruce and of her deep abiding affection for her brother Jimmy Logan are underscored by Annie's beguiling and distinctive vocals performing a generous selection of jazz standards and her own compositions.
