A FILM produced by a former North Berwick High School pupil and shot in East Lothian is in the running for glory at the Edinburgh International Film Festival.

1745 has been shortlisted for the Best Short Film Award at the prestigious festival, which gets under way later this month.

The film, shot in East Lothian and the Highlands last autumn, tells the story of two young, black enslaved sisters who escape into the wilds of 18th century Scotland.

Producer John McKay said: “It is great to be in contention for the award. An awful lot of work goes into a film.

“A very big team is behind it; I work in film and television and the thing about television is it has got to happen.

“There will be a slot in six months’ time at 9pm on a Tuesday night and that needs to be filled, whereas you get the feeling it never has to happen with a film.

“You can wish it but there is no deadline.

“It is wonderful to reach the end of a long process when everybody has put in a lot of effort and you find out people like what you have done.”

The film tells the tale of two African slave sisters and their pursuit of freedom.

The sisters – played by Moyo Akande and Morayo Akande – must survive the wilderness whilst being chased by their master.

John moved to North Berwick in the 1970s with his dad, Jack, who was the headteacher at Law Primary School, and said his links to the county helped when it came to finding locations for the film.

He said: “My natural connection to the county meant that it was one of the first places I thought of when I knew that we needed a big Georgian country house.

“So, when Gordon mentioned Gosford House, I said I knew it well and we should go and take a look.”

The team were filming at the house, between Aberlady and Longniddry, shortly before and after the popular television series Outlander used the same backdrop.

Filming was also planned for the nature reserve at Aberlady Bay but, in the end, Gullane Bents was chosen instead.

The area is used as the background for a flashback sequence as the two sisters are shown as slaves in Africa.

John, who grew up on North Berwick’s Abbey Road, said: “There are some terrific landscapes there.

“It is almost lunar and I knew on camera that you could make it seem like a very different place.

“The nature reserve was protected and we could not film there for very good reasons but we got permission from East Lothian Council to shoot at Gullane Bents instead, which is almost the same thing.

“You can watch the sequence and you would never believe it was a bit of a rainy morning in Gullane. . . the magic of the movies.”

Now, attention turns to the film being shown in the Capital and the hopes of clinching the award.

The film will be shown to the public at Edinburgh Cineworld on June 30 at 6.25pm, with a further showing the following day at 6.10pm.

John added: “You would not be human if you did not sometimes get a little nervy about people are going to feel about it.”