Public House

Aim

To fund the completion of PUBLIC HOUSE, an independent feature film. A funny, elegiac and touching reflection of life in a Glasgow pub.

WHAT NEEDS DONE

The film needs a fine cut, sound design, sound mix, colour grade and a final score. These finishing touches will elevate the film to a higher level, giving it a much better chance of getting accepted to festivals and reaching cinemas. This work will also highlight all the cast and crew's hard work and talent. We will also use the funds for marketing and film festival submission fees. If we manage to go beyond our target, we'll put the extra funding into marketing the film further and making sure it reaches cinemas - maybe one near you.

Still 1: Jack Stewart & Elysia Welch

SYNOPSIS

Brave as whisky

Bold as brass

A laugh like a bell

And a warmth unmatched, built hearth upon hearth*

*Excerpt from 'The Public House Rumbles' by Alexandra Ewing

Still 2: Kate Dickie & Martin Docherty

Shot in a single location, Public House is a sequence of vignettes, some characters recurring and others not, just like everyday life.

A myriad of eccentric and troubled souls pass through, looking for a drink, solace, a conversation, someone to love, an audience, a conversation, or just a place to be.

The film delves deeper than the sum of it’s parts, asking existential questions. How did we end up here? Why do we do what we do? Should we try something else?

Ultimately the film is about committing to something. To an idea, a place, an affair, grief, a philosophy, family, loss, love, a joke, a friend or simply trying to make it through the day.

Still 3: Conor McLeod, Ryan Hunter & Saskia Ashdown

THE STORY WITHIN THE STORY

After making a couple of successful shorts, I was eager to take on the exciting challenge of creating my first feature film. The question was how to make something meaningful and authentic on a very low budget while continuing to develop my craft as a storyteller.

The answer came through collaboration and creative constraint. I had written a 5-minute theatre piece for two actors which was performed in Edinburgh. One of the actors, Elysia Welch, works in a famous pub in the Southside of Glasgow. Heraghty's is owned by Elysia's mother and was opened in the sixties by her grandfather. When I suggested we film the piece, Elysia proposed we shoot it in Heraghty's.

I loved this idea—it's a beautiful pub—but the concept it sparked was even better: if we can film one scene in Heraghty's, we can film lots of scenes there.

Still 4: Gavin Mitchell

The next milestone was deciding to set the film over the course of a year and film it over the same timeframe. The initial plan was to shoot a scene each month in the morning before the pub opened. Scenes became vignettes, and I started to write with a single guiding thought: 'anything that can happen in life has happened in a pub.'

Around the same time, I was introduced to Alan McMunnigall, editor of Thi Wurd, a Glasgow-based literary magazine. I love collaboration and have always been intrigued by the writer's room concept. I pitched this idea to Alan, and he agreed. Five of us met weekly to develop and discuss each other's ideas. We encouraged and inspired each other to great effect.

Rather than being a hindrance, the limitation of a single location fed my imagination. The pub becomes not only a character but also a blank canvas. Beyond the written scenes, the film includes performances by artists and musicians performing their own work—moments that remind us of the storytelling tradition of public houses. These sections, along with a dancing dream sequence and breaks in the fourth wall bring elements of poetic realism that transform the ordinary pub setting into something extraordinary.

Still 5: Lorn Macdonald & Laura Lovemore

What I've found most fascinating about this approach is how the themes developed organically. Initially, I felt the film would become a celebration of everyday life. It is that, but there's also a profound sense of loss—something existential and poetic that I never anticipated.

I love the French New Wave, particularly those scenes where characters sit in bars or cafés discussing life, love, and philosophy. This inspired the film's visual approach: shooting in black and white with a 1.33:1 aspect ratio to create that intimate, contemplative atmosphere. The aesthetic choice reinforces the film's meditative quality.

Although the film is a sequence of vignettes, they weave together into a complete experience, touching on all the great themes: sex, death, love, loss, and disappointment. We set out to film a vignette each month for a year and managed that plus a few extra. Now that's commitment.

Still 6: Olly Heath, Elysia Welch, James Heath, Leon Brehony & Martin Clark

GLASGOW

Glasgow is a magnificent city,” said McAlpin. “Why do we hardly ever notice that?”

“Because nobody imagines living here…think of Florence, Paris, London, New York. Nobody visiting them for the first time is a stranger because he’s already visited them in paintings, novels, history books and films. But if a city hasn’t been used by an artist not even the inhabitants live there imaginatively.”

-Lanark, Alasdair Gray

Anything that can happen in life has happened in a pub, especially a Glaswegian pub. This was the mantra which guided us through the process. It was important to us to avoid the cliches of Glasgow's past and portray the city as the eclectic, bold, inspiring and creative place it is today.

Still 7: Charing Cross, Glasgow

Still 8: Anna Maguire

DIRECTOR'S BIOGRAPHY

Martin Clark is an award winning filmmaker, working across drama, documentary, theatre and artist film. Commissioners have included, BBC Scotland, Creative Scotland, The Royal Lyceum Theatre, Domino Records and Artangel.

His short films ‘Exchange & Mart’ and ‘Jealous Alan’ have screened at many international film festivals, including Sundance, Berlinale, Flickerfest, Dinard and Edinburgh. ‘Exchange & Mart’ won Best British Short at Leeds International Film Festival and the Audience Award at Glasgow Short Film Festival. ‘Jealous Alan’ won Best Cinematography at Exit 6 Festival and the Audience Award at Kinemastik Short Film Festival. Both films were nominated for a Bafta Scotland award.

In 2021 Martin participated in the Less Is More script development programme in Brittany, France.

In 2022 Martin designed video projections for the theatre production of ‘This Is Memorial Device’ at The Edinburgh Festival. The production was critically acclaimed, won a Fringe First Award and toured the UK in 2024.

Still 9: Elysia Welch, Martin Clark & Jack Stewart

Click on the links to watch Martin's short films.

Jealous Alan

Exchange & Mart

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made