Documentary Sparks National Conversation About Language Suppression

The complex relationship between the Scots language, identity, pride and belonging is set to be explored in a new documentary produced by Cinora Films. Thrawn, by Scottish Director Ashley Dick, looks to unpack "how the Scots language has been dragged through the gutter and re-emerged".

The project, which is currently crowdfunding, follows Dick's own journey of redefining her own relationship with the language, while also featuring a few familiar Scottish faces from the creative industries. Clips to push the crowdfunding campaign have already sparked conversation with Scots and internationals who know the feeling of hiding their language and accent to fit in. 

Hoards of Scottish people have flooded the comments of the Thrawn instagram posts with their own experiences of being told not to speak Scots, and to sound less Scottish. From being disciplined in school to being socially isolated, the suppression of Scots Language is clearly ubiquitous. Thrawn explores how this came to be, and how the perception and use of Scots Language is currently undergoing a transformation. 

“As a working class Scot born in the 1970s, the confusion about the use of ma mither tongue plagued me for many years: Was I allowed to speak the words I heard around me outside of my home town?” - Comedian Karen Dunbar

“I can relate to this so much. After years of being mocked and misunderstood. The ‘masking’ and the diluting of my accent and dialect took its toll on my confidence and probably my success. Now I see my gid Ayrshire tongue as a superpower.” - Artist Louise Higgins

“I remember my primary 7 teacher used to give me in trouble when I started to use Scot’s more naturally - she despised the word aye” Musician Jarad Rowan

The documentary is well-timed, with Scots recognised as an official language in the Scottish Parliament earlier this year. Dick, 34, said "there's been a clear big shift" since the language received official status in Scotland, adding that she wants her documentary to "look to the future of the language and culture, and make steps toward preservation and celebration".

This is reflected in the documentary's title, Thrawn, which Dick said "is about feeling uncertain but also being quite stubborn".

"There's a pride and a shame that run through being Scottish," Dick said. "Although we have been told that Scots is wrong, we are stubborn, strong, unyielding – and thrawn." Much of the project reflects on "redefining" her own relationship with the language, looking back to when she entered a poetry competition in school.

"When I was a wee girl, I was always picked for the Burns competition, an annual recital of Robert Burns’ poetry. I would get up in front of the school and I'd be the one winning the trophy for the best Scots recital. But then, when I got to adulthood, I completely dropped all identifiable markers of being really broadly Scottish. I grew up with a perception that my culture, and my heritage, the way my parents and grandparents spoke to me, was wrong. You were taught that Scots was not a language, it was 'slang'." - Director Ashley Dick

After years of having conversations about this with her peers, Dick decided this topic would be the subject of her next documentary. 

Dick’s production company Cinora has organised a crowdfunder for the project, with a £10,000 goal going towards finishing filming, post-production, and organising screenings at community spaces. 

Dick, whose previous work has been nominated for a BAFTA and Royal Television Society Award, said she has "loved" seeing the response to the project so far. "This is a side of cinema that I've not really experienced before. The projects I've worked on, they get commissioned, you make them, they go to the cinema or a film festival, and then you find out how people feel about it. But this is a whole new level where, at the start of the project, I'm getting all this excitement and engagement from people who are sharing their own experiences as well.”

"Every story that comes my way inspires me in some way; it has genuinely been so lovely – and it's the whole point of making it." - Director Ashley Dick

Crowdfunding campaign: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/thrawn-documentary/  Cinora Films Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cinorafilms/  Ashley Dick Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashonfilm/