My latest documentary film for purpleTV will transmit on BBC ALBA on the 5th April at 9pm.
It’s an utterly incredible story! Here’s the billing and a trailer.
When the Scotland hockey team was invited to play against West Germany in Berlin in September 1961, it was just weeks after the Berlin Wall had been constructed. Many feared the world was on the verge of war. In Cold War Hockey, four women from the Scotland team recall playing hockey and politics as they came face to face with the shocking reality of the Berlin Crisis. With aggression and war once again on the agenda in Europe, two of the team, Jenna and Valerie, revisit the city for the first time in sixty years, understanding the significance of the trip to their lives, and to the history of the Cold War.
There’s also additional clips and production images on the BBC page here.
I’m a novelist and award-winning documentary filmmaker.
My debut novel, 'The Birds That Never Flew', was shortlisted for the Dundee International Book Prize and longlisted for the Polari First Book Prize. 'Almost Then', my second novel, was published by Linen Press in April 2021.
I write, produce and direct documentary films and won Royal Television Society Scotland awards in 2015 with 'Jock Stein' and for 'Jim Baxter' in 2016. 'Jimmy Johnstone' was nominated for a bronze Torc for Excellence in 2017. My feature length documentary film 'Tommy Burns won a Royal Television Society award in 2019 and 'The Women Who Built Glasgow City' won the same award in 2021.
I made two children who are now making children too. That's the biggest achievement of all. I live in Glasgow, Scotland and Rathlin Island, Ireland.
If you want to get in touch you can email me: margot@purpletv.tv. If you'd like me to attend a literature event then please have a look at my Scottish Book Trust profile.
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