Scottish Doc Institute names cohort for Bridging the Gap 2026

The Scottish Documentary Institute has named the 12-person cohort for the 29th edition of Bridging the Gap.

Described as Scotland’s leading documentary talent development scheme, and supported by Screen Scotland and Northern Ireland Screen, Bridging the Gap will again enable 12 talents from Scotland and Northern Ireland to develop their documentary ideas and take the next steps in their practices. The flagship programme “combines professional development, production funding, and international festival distribution to launch emerging careers in documentary filmmaking,” organisers write.

The filmmakers will undergo a series of tailored workshops with international tutors, culminating in a pitch in early January for a chance to be commissioned.

The 2026 participants are (annotations provided by the Scottish Documentary Institute):

• Agnes Athley is an Edinburgh-based director and camera operator with roots in Sweden and Poland. Since graduating from Queen Margaret University with a degree in Film and Media, she has worked on various non-fiction projects, including her latest short documentary We Walk at Night.
• Timotej Bača is a filmmaker and documentary researcher from Belfast, with a background in fiction cinema. He graduated from UAL and subsequently worked as an Associate Lecturer for Central Saint Martins.