10/11/2009 01:01:00

Scottish star Robert Carlyle has appealed to the UK film industry to showcase British films as an alternative to Hollywood imports.

Picking up a Bafta Scotland award at the central Scotland event on Sunday, Carlyle stated: "I look at these multiplex cinemas, 15 and 20 screens. They are basically wall-to-wall American product. You will be lucky if you find any British subjects in there at all.

"I don't see why there's anything wrong in giving our industry a wee lift-up, a wee leg-up, and reserving one of these screens, just one of these screens, for a British product.

"We make stuff and we bury it. You don't get to see it and what's the point in that? Reserve something so people will then vote with their feet."

The Scotsman reports that Carlyle - best known for his roles in British films such as Trainspotting and The Full Monty - was awarded the Bafta Scotland for the best acting performance in television for a male, at the high profile event held in his native Glasgow. He beat fellow Scot, Bathgate-born David Tennant, who was nominated for his starring role in Doctor Who.

The best feature film was awarded to Crying with Laughter. The film's producer Claire Mundell supported Carlyle's criticism, stating: "I completely agree with him. The film industry is not a level playing field, and we are never going to be a position where we can redress the balance between British or Scottish indie cinema and the American studios.

"We don't lack talent; what we lack is a platform to show the audience what we can do. If we want to have a proper Scottish film industry, we have to have the confidence to support our own product."