Loch Ness: They Created a Monster

Loch Ness: They Created A Monster tells the story of hunters of the Scottish folklore creature.

Year: 2023

Type: Feature documentary

Director: John Maclaverty

Producer: John Archer

Production company: Hopscotch Films, Indelible Telly (co-producer)

Sales agent: Cercamon

Screen Scotland support:  The film accessed £100,000 through Screen Scotland’s Film Development and Production fund to support this, the first theatrical documentary feature from award-winning Scottish Director John Maclaverty, supported by John Archer of Glasgow-based production company Hopscotch Films. The film also accessed £7,500 through Screen Scotland's Distribution Fund


Synopsis

Loch Ness  - They Created A Monster is a witty new take on an old Scottish story.  Using never-seen-before archive, the film takes us back to the heyday of Loch Ness - the 1970s - and turns the cameras round to focus on the Nessie Hunters themselves - a lost world of rivalry, ridicule and rogues  - where men became monstrous...

Still from Loch Ness. Person holding binoculars to their face looking out at Loch Ness,Still from Loch Ness: They Created a Monster, courtesy of The Scottish Documentary Institute

Premiere/release

The film was released in cinemas in the UK and Ireland on Friday 10 November 2023.

A special preview of the film was shown as part of a Scottish showcase at Cannes Docs on May 19 2023.

The film premiered at Sitges Film Festival (Spain) 2023.

Streaming

You can watch the film on BBC iPlayer.

Header image: Still from Loch Ness: They Created a Monster, courtesy of The Scottish Documentary Institute