Hawick in Common

Spanning Alchemy’s core and intersecting programme strands of festival, residencies and community engagement with a thematic focus on ideas of commonality in Hawick, the project was funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, with additional support from Scottish Borders LAG Community Led Local Development Fund. 
Project elements relating specifically to Film Town’s community engagement strategies include support from Creative Scotland’s Participatory Arts and Mental Health Fund, Youth Music Initiative, and capital support toward new creative digital equipment from South of Scotland Enterprise. 

Hawick in Common included paid traineeship opportunities and prioritised engagement through participant-led steering, manifesting across the following elements: 

• an 18-month community filmmaking and creative mentorship programme; 
• a skills development and training programme focusing on the researching and preserving of social histories and alternative forms of archiving through film and film-adjacent means; 
• the production of a new feature film about Hawick’s centuries-old Common Riding traditions. 

Hawick-based musician Miwa Nagato-Apthorp collaborated with community partners to develop new songs about their experiences of life in Hawick.

You can watch a teaser trailer and look at production photos of the feature film here, following its public screenings in spring 2025 and ahead of its permanent incorporation into our online mediatheque in spring 2026.

Out of Office, an interactive pop-up exhibition made by young local people, took place in May 2025.

To the City: A Neurodivergent Adventure, an arcade-style videogame co-designed with Borders Additional Needs Group (BANG), exploring participants’ lived experience of neurodiversity, has toured nationally following its launch in spring 2025.