Craigmillar: Arts The Catalyst

(UK 2004, 25 min)

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A deprived and much maligned public housing estate in east Edinburgh during the 1960s.
A mother asks the local head teacher if her young son can learn to play the violin.
When her request is refused, she sets about organising a community arts project, the seeds
of which travel the world, winning international acclaim for using arts as the catalyst for
social caring and social change. This is Craigmillar’s story.

Arts the Catalyst was produced for the City Art Centre’s exhibition in 2004, to explore and
celebrate the role of the arts as a catalyst in the regeneration of socially excluded communities.

Director: Simon Hynd
Producer: Micky Macpherson
Editor: Marianne Kuopanportti

Awards:
The Saltire Award for best Scottish documentary, Edinburgh Film Festival 2005