Children at a Peterhead primary school have been declared winners of a new Doric film festival.
Meethill Primary took first place in the schools category, which featured the impressive work of 11 primary schools from across Aberdeenshire.
Their film, Oor Blue Toon, featured pupils performing a song and discussing Peterhead, all the while making flawless use of the north-east dialect.
The youngsters were joined by school staff as they were unveiled as the winners during a ceremony at the Belmont Cinema yesterday.
Olivia Stephen, a teacher at Meethill, said: “We’re just delighted. It was such a nice surprise and it’s been a brilliant experience.
“We decided to focus on what Peterhead means to us as it’s our local town.
“The children all contributed so well. Some of them were in their comfort zones but others weren’t, so it was a great experience.
One delighted Meethill pupil said: “I wanted to cry. I felt so proud.”
Meethill faced some tough competition as judges said each and every school involved had produced high-quality Doric films, with differing styles and approaches.
They included news reports, rap numbers, documentaries and dramas.
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Announcing the winner was Press and Journal assistant editor, Joe Churcher.
He said: “We’ve had such a great variety of work, from rapping in Doric to films exploring the local area.
“It shows that while Doric is a language rooted in our history, it is not a relic.
“It’s something that’s part of life in the north-east and is deeply embedded in our culture.
“If you’re going to keep that tradition alive, you need to involve young people, so it has been great to see the children get involved and so clearly understand its importance.”
Mr Churcher added: “This is only the first event of its kind, but the number of entries was extraordinary.
“In future years, it’s going to go from strength-to-strength.”
As part of the award ceremony, the Meethill children also performed a live rendition of their song from Oor Blue Toon.
