THE SUNDAY TIMES - "It's Excellent"

30th September 2007

The movie is called Seachd. No, that’s not a misprint for “searched”, but Gaelic for seven. The first Gaelic feature film to make it to the cinema, it comes out in Scotland on Friday, then in England, at a scattering of art houses, later in October.

It’s excellent, a family saga directed by an Englishman, although Simon Miller grew up in Scotland and has recently learnt Gaelic. But few in England are likely to see it, partly because cinemas say they can’t show a film the public can’t pronounce. Actually, Seachd is pronounced “shack”.

There will be no amusing Oscar speeches in Gaelic for Seachd, either. After the high praise it received at the Edinburgh film festival last month, it seemed a shoo-in as a contender in the foreign-language category. But Bafta, which oversees these matters, has this year decided not to offer any non-English-language British-made film, which counts out Seachd. Daft. Nor will Bafta explain its reasoning.

by Richard Brooks

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article2541216.ece