It was with great sadness that we learned of the recent passing of Colin Macleod. Colin was a pivotal figure in film education at Edinburgh Napier University and throughout his career, played a key role in shaping the landscape of film training and education across Scotland.

His ambition for a Scottish film school can be traced back to his days as a student at Edinburgh College of Art when he began advocating for film training in Scotland as early as 1965. In Educating Film-makers: Past, Present and Future (2014), Duncan Petrie and Rod Stoneman recognise Colin as someone who would “prove to be a significant figure in future film developments” and he is repeatedly mentioned throughout the chapter on film education in Scotland.

Throughout his long career, he played a key role in the development of film education having also taught at Edinburgh College of Art and Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee. During his time at Edinburgh Napier University from the 1980s until his retirement in the late 2000s, he was integral to the creation of Screen Academy Scotland in 2006, which was built on the foundations of film education that he had helped shape over decades.

We can celebrate Colin’s legacy in the work of countless students he supported throughout their education and beyond, as is reflected in the words of alumni such as BA Photography and Film graduate Tommy Sheridan, who posted, “Every encounter in our lives leaves a mark but I can only point at a handful of people without whom my life wouldn’t be what it is.  Colin is one of those people: he was the lecturer who inspired me to leave photography and switch to film at Napier University almost exactly 20 years ago. Now that I’m a filmmaker and lecturer myself I often think of him and wonder if I am leaving the same indelible mark on the lives of my students that he did for me.”

MFA Advanced Film Practice graduate Catriona Macinnes also remembers, “Colin was such an inspiring and kind man and teacher. I have very fond memories of him and felt seen and heard by him as an insecure newbie to filmmaking. Full of integrity and curiosity. One of the very good and special humans for sure.”