Ayrshire’s first touring film festival, which aims to bring Scottish cinema to local audiences, is due to hit the road in 2021.

Big (wee) Film Festival will be based in South Ayrshire and will tour to a different town or village in Ayrshire each year, bringing new, exciting and existing films to areas without access to a screen.

The festival will run over two days with screenings including Voices from Ayrshire, showcasing Ayrshire-based documentary filmmakers, Ayrshire Films, celebrating Ayrshire-based filmmakers from all genres, and Women in Film, which will highlight female filmmakers from across the region.

Organisers behind the festival hope to rival events like Glasgow Film Festival by tackling exclusion from minority groups and those from deprived areas to make cinema more accessible and connect people from all over Ayrshire.

Wallis Bell-McQuade and Krystal Johnstone are the directors of Big (wee) Festival and are delighted to see it grow arms and legs.

Wallis said: “Many towns and villages around Ayrshire do not have a cinema or picture house within them, the closest ones being more than a few miles away.

“This immediately put up a roadblock for many people in the community, those on low-income, or those without the facilities or accessibility to travel.

“We have found that film and media is a great social influencer, promoting conversation in families and friends, and we feel that this would be an excellent way to enhance communities and bring them together.”

Due to coronavirus restrictions, the festival will be holding various online screening, networking and competitions for filmmakers until the first festival takes place in 2021.

The first screening and competition will take place this Halloween. Outdoor screenings are planned around Christmas.