THE latest movie to be shot in Scotland started production yesterday as film crews set their cameras up.
Anna Paquin – who won an Oscar at the age of just 11 – will star alongside Cinderella actress Holliday Grainger in Tell it to the Bees.
The 1950s love story charts the relationship of Paquin’s Dr Jean Markham, who returns to her hometown to take over the late father’s GP surgery, and single mother Lydia, played by Grainger.
The two meet over Grainger’s son – played by Glasgow-based newcomer Gregor Selkirk – and they struggle to keep their romance secret.
Shooting began in the Stirling area yesterday, with crews set to be active in the town and surrounding countryside until the end of September.
The movie is an adaptation of the best-selling novel by Fiona Shaw, which is set in an unnamed British town. Filmmakers have yet to confirm whether or not the big screen version will be set in Scotland, or whether Stirlingshire will be a stand in for another part of the UK.
However, the cast also includes celebrated Scots actress Kate Dickie and Edinburgh-born Emun Elliot, who appeared with Dickie in Alien prequel Prometheus, as well as Shetlander Steven Robertson, who was last seen in the movie T2:Trainspotting.
Director Annabel Jankel said: “Fiona Shaw’s compelling love story was hugely inspirational to me for an unholy mash-up of 1950’s social and magical realism. Totally thrilled to be working with our wonderful cast, that includes Anna Paquin, Holliday Grainger, Kate Dickie, Emun Elliott and the young Gregor Selkirk, and of course, the bees.”
Production firm Motion Picture Capital said it is “delighted” to work with an “amazingly talented” team of UK actors and writers.
The company went on: “We are impressed by Annabel’s vision for this well-known story and cannot wait to bring it to the silver screen.”
Supported by Creative Scotland, the project is the latest major production to use the country as its backdrop.
Crowds thronged the Edinburgh streets to get a glimpse of the making of the latest instalments in the superhero blockbuster series The Avengers set up in the city in the spring.
The big-budget production was expected to boost the economy by as much as £10 million.
T2 director Danny Boyle also worked in the city, with US directors the Wachowski siblings making parts of their 2013 epic Cloud Atlas in Glasgow and West Dunbartonshire.
Scenes for Batman thriller The Dark Knight Rises were filmed in the Highlands, generating more than £1m, while Skye’s scenery was the basis for Giant’s Land in Roald Dahl adaptation the BFG.
Official figures show production companies spent a record £52.7m in 2015.
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