Martin Compston

Irvine Welsh in his own words, with Iggy Pop, Martin Compston, Danny Boyle and others paying tribute

In the aftermath of World War II, a British colonel and his wife are assigned to live in Hamburg during the post-war reconstruction, but tensions arise with the German widower who lives with them.

In 1561, Mary Stuart, widow of the King of France, returns to Scotland, reclaims her rightful throne and menaces the future of Queen Elizabeth I as ruler of England, because she has a legitimate claim to the English throne. Betrayals, rebellions, conspiracies and their own life choices imperil both Queens. They experience the bitter cost of power, until their tragic fate is finally fulfilled.

Live Aid was not only “the day rock’n’roll changed the world,” it was also the source of countless backstage music industry rumors. These are the stories of what went on behind the scenes on that unforgettable summer’s afternoon in 1985 as egos clash, hair is sprayed, double denim is completely acceptable and Bob Geldof and long-time personal assistant Marsha Hunt struggle to keep control of the most famous faces of the 80s.

An assassin forges an unlikely partnership with one of his targets: a woman seeking revenge for the murder of her family.

Barney Thomson, awkward, diffident, Glasgow barber, lives a life of desperate mediocrity and his uninteresting life is about to go from 0 to 60 in five seconds, as he enters the grotesque and comically absurd world of the serial killer.

Ritchie is a Glaswegian chancer with low hopes and no prospects. Disillusioned with city life, he goes undercover at a Highland conservation centre to make his fortune as an illegal pearl fisher with the help of his two hapless and accident prone mates, Danny and Fraser. Here he meets Beth, a pretty English conservationist passionate about saving endangered mussels from the clutches of pearl thieves in the Scottish Highlands. Falling for her instantly, Ritchie must beat off competition in the form of Highland Ranger Ethan, a smooth talking American Adonis convinced that Beth can't resist his charms forever. After the success of pearl fishing attracts the unwanted attentions of old school Glaswegian mobster Gavin and his work at the centre leads him to question his true motivations, Ritchie must risk life and limb to save the Highlands from ecological disaster and win Beth's heart...

A bigoted junkie cop suffering from bipolar disorder and drug addiction manipulates and hallucinates his way through the festive season in a bid to secure promotion and win back his wife and daughter.

The true life story of the rise to power of Glasgow gangster Paul Ferris.

London, modern day: Joe, a mild mannered young man is bored by his life. When his beloved brother is murdered Joe finds solace in Piggy, one of his brother's old friends. Piggy helps Joe to cope with grief, intent on saving him and helping him get justice for his brother's killing. As their friendship grows Joe finds himself in an increasing dangerous and murky world of violence and revenge. As Joe life collapses around him he starts to question who Piggy really is, and how honest he's really been with him. When Joe confronts Piggy a series of events are put in place that lead to a disastrous climax.

Mickey, who happens to be a werewolf and a crime boss, gets all worked up and hairy during a private dance at a strip club. Justice, the dancer, grabs the nearest weapon and lands a fatal blow: her silver fountain pen right through Mickey's wolfed-out eye. This ignites a small-scale war between Mickey's group of werewolf mobsters and the sultry strippers of Vixens.

A drama set at a Swiss ski resort and centered on a boy who supports his sister by stealing from wealthy guests.

Yorkshire, 1974, the Maynard family moves into their dream house. It's a dream that quickly descends into a panic stricken nightmare as the family discovers a horrifying truth, a truth that will make the history books. The house is already occupied by the most violent poltergeist ever documented, a poltergeist that will tear you from your bed as you sleep and drag you helplessly into the darkness.

James is useless with women, but his luck changes under the tutelage of pick-up artist, Ampersand. As James learns the art of seduction he begins to wonder about Ampersand’s intentions and questions what would truly make him happy in life.

The plan: Kidnap your wife's lover. Take him to a remote warehouse. Hurt him a little. Scare him a lot. Keep your hands clean – hire a detective for the dirty work. Simple? There's no such thing as simple.

A disgruntled married man called Tom believes that there is a better life for him out there somewhere. On his way home one night he gets attacked and falls into a parallel world where he lives 6 other lives including a Rock-Star, A homeless person and the 'hoody' that attacked him. These lives help him to re-evaluate his priorities and values but in order to get home he must face some of his deepest fears and desires. Will he make it home or is the grass greener on the other side?

‘GHOSTED’ tells a story of survival inside a British Prison. Jack a model prisoner, has kept his head down and done his time. After his wife confirms that she is leaving him, on the anniversary of their son’s death, the only thing that keeps him from going under is the new prisoner, Paul. Jack’s cell mate Ahmed, attempts to guide him on a path of salvation, a path that involves saving Paul from the clutches of the wing beast, Clay.

Greer is a girl on the cusp of womanhood. Like some curious fabled creature she lives in a remote, rundown woodland farmhouse with her Dad, Ivan, a former gamekeeper whose mind has been ravaged by chronic mental illness. Father and daughter are suspected and ostracized by the nearby village. Greer spends her working days tending to elderly, failing residents of the local care-home and the rest of her time looking after her dad. But despite her loving devotion to Ivan, Greer imagines life beyond the narrow confines of her own and is troubled by the heavy burden she bears. Greer romanticises about a life lived in colour. The impossibly glamorous Francoise and Seamus crash into the care-home to visit his mother. Greer is entranced. They seem to epitomize everything she's dreamt of: beauty, success, sophistication and access to the world in all its glory. She attaches herself to them, flattered by their awareness of her and enraptured by the atmosphere of decadence they inhabit.

Alfred is 64. He's lost touch with his family and a threat to his health makes him realise he wants to make amends. The more he tries to do right, the more he does wrong, and as his past comes back to haunt him, he is forced to face up to what his life means to him. Rounding Up Donkeys is the second film in Sigma and Zentropa's three feature film concept 'Advance Party'.

1974. Amidst power cuts, strikes and boot-boy aggro on the football terraces, Joe McCain is bored of a life that's going nowhere. Enter hair-dresser Jane: blonde, beautiful, and moving to the beat of a whole new world of sound, movement and all-nighter dancing at The Wigan Casino - the home of Northern Soul. Swept along on this tide of pulsating dance and lust, Joe becomes embroiled in the darker side of soul scene that will put his friendship to the test.

A week in the life of Woody; a Soho pimp, as seen through the eyes of concealed documentary cameras: A week which spirals brutally out of control.

A rich man's daughter is held captive in an abandoned apartment by two former convicts who abducted her and hold her ransom in exchange for her father's money.

Taking over Leeds United, Brian Clough's abrasive approach and his clear dislike of the players' dirty style of play make it certain there is going to be friction. Glimpses of his earlier career help explain both his hostility to previous manager Don Revie and how much he is missing right-hand man Peter Taylor.

A young doctor in a US hospital administers a powerful and untested cocktail of drugs to a coma victim. But instead of curing him, it triggers a powerful "out-of-body" experience and enables the patient - a depraved and dangerous loner - to inhabit other people's bodies and, through them, take revenge on the bullying medical students who were accidentally responsible for his condition.

The lethal Reaper virus spreads throughout Britain—infecting millions and killing hundreds of thousands. Authorities brutally and successfully quarantine the country but, three decades later, the virus resurfaces in a major city. An elite group of specialists is urgently dispatched into the still-quarantined country to retrieve a cure by any means necessary. Shut off from the rest of the world, the unit must battle through a landscape that has become a waking nightmare.

Jackie is a CCTV operator. Each day, she watches over a small part of the world, protecting the people living their lives under her gaze. One day, a man shows his face on her monitor, a man she thought she would never see again, a man she hoped never to see again. Now she has no choice and is compelled to confront him.

Dito Montiel, a successful author, receives a call from his long-suffering mother, asking him to return home and visit his ailing father. Dito recalls his childhood growing up in a violent neighborhood in Queens, N.Y., with friends Antonio, Giuseppe, Nerf and Mike.

The crew of a bankrupt Scottish trawler turn to smuggling illegal immigrants over the stormy waters of the North Sea.

Wild Country is a low budget British horror film which was shot on location in and around Glasgow, Scotland in October.The cast was made up of mostly unknown actors with the exception of Martin Compston and a cameo appearance by Peter Capaldi. The budget of the film was an estimated £1 million. The film was released in selected cinemas in Scotland in February 2006. The film was also screened at film festivals worldwide, including the Cannes Film Festival and the London FrightFest Film Festival. The film will get a 2007 release in the U.S. due to Lionsgate.

A documentary on the films of Ken Loach. Interviews with cast and crew who worked with Loach over the years. It describe his approach to allowing actors a wide range of freedom.

A train travels across Italy toward Rome. On board is a professor who daydreams a conversation with a love that never was, a family of Albanian refugees who switch trains and steal a ticket, three brash Scottish soccer fans en route to a match, and a complaining widow traveling to a memorial service for her late husband who's accompanied by a community-service volunteer who's assisting her. Interactions among these Europeans turn on class and nationalism, courtesy and rudeness, and opportunities for kindness.

Jet lives a joyful life working at a factory with his girlfriend who he's deeply in love with. Shortly after they decide to get married and live together happily ever after her cat, who she has a weird affection for, dies. The girlfriend falls into depression which could (strangely enough) lead to her death and the only way to give her a purpose to live and save her is to tell her the meaning of life.

Determined to have a normal family life once his mother gets out of prison, a Scottish teenager from a tough background sets out to raise the money for a home.