Asylum seeker movie Limbo the big winner at Scottish Baftas as Marli Siu and James McAvoy also pick up awards

An acclaimed movie about asylum seekers on a Hebridean island was the big winner at the Scottish Baftas last night.

Limbo won four awards including best film at the celebration of Scotland’s screen talent.

Its star Amir El-Masry was named best actor while Ben Sharrock picked up both the director and writer awards for the movie.

Sharrock is now set to return to the Uist islands where the film was shot to properly thank islanders and celebrate with a special screening.

The release of the film was impacted by the pandemic, forcing cancellation of a planned premiere on the islands.

© Organic Publicity

Last month, Sharrock told The Post: “We’ve still not had the experience of showing it there with the people that worked on it because of the nature of the pandemic. But that will be amazing when we get to do that and share the success and the recognition.”

Limbo, a warm-hearted comedy drama about a Syrian musician living on an island while going through the asylum process, was one of the most talked-about films on the festival circuit and had been accepted to Cannes before its Covid-related cancellation.

Congratulations to all of our winners at #BAFTAScot21 🏆✨ Check out the full list of winners here 👉 https://t.co/jVdwczgEvG pic.twitter.com/l2QcDPgusE

— BAFTA Scotland (@BAFTAScotland) November 20, 2021

Meanwhile, best film actress was Marli Siu for her performance in Run, while best actress in a television show was Abigail Lawrie for her role in the thriller series Tin Star: Liverpool.

Lawrence Chaney was recipient of the favourite Scot on screen award, in partnership with Screen Scotland, voted for by audiences. James McAvoy won the TV actor category for lockdown drama Together.

Jude MacLaverty, director of Bafta Scotland, said: “This year has remained an incredibly challenging one for many, and so we are delighted to have been able to recognise the achievements of the film, games and television industries.”

The awards last night celebrated the best of Scotland’s visual culture from the past 12 months. The closed-studio ceremony was hosted by Edith Bowman and Sanjeev Kohli at the BBC’s Pacific Quay, and streamed online.

Among the stars attending the awards were actor Dougray Scott and TV presenter Jean Johansson.

Brian Cox, Glenda Jackson, James McArdle and Mark Bonnar presented awards via video link.