Silent movies for Bo’ness cinema as part of 2022 Year of Stories initiative

The long-established venue was chosen as the location due to its links to Scottish mythological, architectural, and historical background.

VisitScotland’s themed ‘Year of Stories’ was created to celebrate the country’s culture and encourage tourism.

The Hippodrome will accommodate the event, called ‘Silent Cinema, Telling Old Stories, Singing Songs’.

Three new events will take place at the only silent cinema festival in Scotland:

A world premiere for a new restoration of ‘The Loves of Mary Queen of Scots’ - unseen since the 1920s.

A talk from Donald Smith, director of the Scottish Storytelling Centre, on the depictions of Mary in the media.

And a curated selection of archive film exploring Scottish pride in it’s people and places by a Scottish artist.

The event is one of many that were made possible through the Community Stories Fund, a new initiative funding over 100 projects in Scotland, designed to support community groups to take part and celebrate in the 2022 landmark event.

VisitScotland teamed up with Museums Galleries Scotland with support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to create the Community Stories Fund.

Around 100 events across Scotland will be supported through the Community Stories Fund including:

Weaving with words, an examination of the magic of Highland storytelling.

Mining seams and drawing wells, an Easterhouse production put on by local residents exploring the housing scheme’s trade-working history.

A Yarn Worth Spinning, an exhibition and fashion show telling the history and culture of textiles in the Scottish Borders.

Jenny Gilruth MSP, Culture Minister, welcomed the launch of the programme.

She said: ““2022 is the year we celebrate Scotland’s Year of Stories.

“Storytelling and celebrating our unique oral history tradition has never been more important as we continue to respond to the impacts of the pandemic.

“We must ensure Scotland’s stories are preserved and celebrated.

“2022 will have something for everyone from some of the biggest cultural events of the year taking place at the Edinburgh festivals, to small community festivals in our towns and villages.”

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