Filmed around the 1977 Edinburgh Film Festival, Long Shot is a deadpan satire about the trials and tribulations of British independent filmmaking which blurs the lines between fiction and reality.
While Charlie Gormley is playing a fictionalised version of himself in a fictional film, the people and events around him are real.
When he meets with his friend Billy (Bill Forsythe), he’s editing the documentary The Legend of Los Tayos (1979), which was a real documentary made by Forsythe and Gormley.
The film version of Charlie pitches to potential backers is an idea that involves the then-new Scottish oil boom, an idea that would eventually turn into Local Hero (1983).
Charlie
Charles Gormley
Neville
Neville Smith
Ann
Ann Zelda
Distributor
David Stone
Sue
Suzanne Danielle
Director
Ron Taylor
Another Director
Wim Wenders
Biscuit Man
Stephen Frears
Professor of Sexual Politics
Jim Haines
French-Canadian Director
Maurice Bulbulian
Billy
Bill Forsythe
Gallery Owner
Richard Demarco
Neville’s doctor
Alan Bennett
Television Producer
Sarah Boston
Cartoonist
Mel Calman
Director
Maurice Hatton