Scottish folklore film set to take centre stage at San Diego Comic Con

The National

a day ago

The heartwarming live-action short film, Faithful, will be screened on the opening night at the San Diego Comic Con, which is widely regarded as the biggest sci-fi and fantasy convention in the western world, in July.
Filmmaker Fraser Coull hopes his adventure tale will showcase Scotland's storytelling heritage as he aims to highlight some of the country's lesser-known mythology, as he said, 'no offense to Nessie, but she's had her time'.
Faithful, which can be viewed on the STV Player, follows the adventure of a young Scottish girl and a mythical faerie, Cú-Síth, as she explores the woods in the hopes of finding the portal to the other world and rescuing her mother.
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Coull explained that the inspiration for the film came from the death of his own mother, who passed away six years ago, and how writing the story helped him navigate his own feelings of guilt.
'I found it quite cathartic to write a story about a young girl who'd lost her mum and kind of blames herself for what happened,' he said.
'My mum died of alcohol abuse, and I kind of blamed myself.
"I didn't realise how bad it was, and it was the worst it could possibly be, and I kind of felt a little bit responsible for that.'
Coull wrote Faithful with some of Scotland's lesser-known fairytales in mind, as 13-year-old Valia searches for Cú-Síth, which is based on the myth of a type of grim reaper fairy dog that comes up from the ground and drags its victims through a doorway to the other world.
(Image: Michele Dillon Photography) He added that he finds it 'fascinating' that Scots are obsessed with Marvel, Harry Potter and DC films, but are unaware there are so many incredible stories 'on our own turf'.
Coull said: 'We have so many great stories that we're just not doing anything with them.'
The filmmaker will have the opportunity to share some of Scotland's lesser-known fairytales when he takes Faithful to San Deago next month.
He hopes he can promote Scotland to thousands of fans from across the world when it gets shown on the opening night of the four-day-long convention, which is set to draw more than 130,000 attendees.
With an exhibitor waiting list that is five years long, all the major names in the Sci-fi genre attend each year with franchises like Marvel, DC, Doctor Who, Star Trek and Star Wars all prominently featured.
Coull explained that attending one of the largest comic conventions in the world has been a dream of his since he was a 12-year-old boy and that it's 'rare' for a Scottish project to be at San Diego Comic Con.
"Growing up, I was like, 'oh man, I'd love to be a part of that',' he said.
'And now we have an opportunity to be a part of it.'
(Image: Fraser Coull)
However, despite securing a highly coveted screening in the main arena of the convention, Coull (above) said he is struggling to find financial support to make the trip to the United States.
Having already self-funded Faithful, along with crowdfunding as he was unable to secure any financial help through supportive schemes, Coull is having to fork out nearly £2000 to get across and stay in San Diego just so he can showcase his film.
He also wants to take his star, Lily McGuire, who plays Vaila along with her mother, as there will be a Q&A session after the screening, which he would love the teenager to experience.
Despite having 20 years' worth of writing and producing experience, Coull edits wedding videos to make ends meet.
However, he has poured his free time into creating films and believes that an American audience has a huge amount of untapped potential.
Coull explained that earlier this year, he had attended WonderCon, which he described as the little sister of San Diego Comic Con, and the reception he received for Faithful was overwhelmingly positive.
(Image: Michele Dillon and Sonja Blietschau)
'When we were at the end of our panel and screening, everyone came up to us afterwards and said that we're starving for more original ideas,' he said.
'We're getting fed up with Marvel, we're getting fed up with Disney, we're getting fed up with DC.
'We want more Scottish fairy tales, we want more original ideas.
'We want more of what you guys are doing.'
You can donate here to Coull's fundraiser to be able to attend the San Diego Comic Con and showcase Faithful.