"I want to immerse the viewer in an experience they wouldn’t have access to themselves. I’m constantly drawn to the human condition, fascinated by genuine characters who come out from behind the facade."
Finlay is a BAFTA winning filmmaker driven by the authenticity and rawness of non-fiction cinema. He arrived at filmmaking by way of a plethora of uninteresting jobs along with an unrealistic ambition of travelling the world racing his bicycle. Never having formally studied film or anything else and after exhausting all other options, he discovered a fledgling Scottish Documentary Institute which was based at Edinburgh College of Art.
His debut theatrical feature Time Trial follows Tour de France cyclist David Millar on his last race which was broadcast and screened globally in film festivals and cinemas and is now on Apple TV, Amazon Prime etc.
In 2019 Finlay Pretsell set up production company Parcel of Rogues with Sonja Henrici and is working on a funded slate of projects at various stages of development and completion.
Finlay’s breakthrough as a filmmaker was in 2007 with Standing Start followed by Ma Bar, Cutting Loose and other award winning shorts which he co-directed with his friend Adrian McDowall. His films have have screened in hundreds of film festivals around the world including IDFA, Sundance, SXSW, Hotdocs, Sheffield Docfest, Visions du Réel, Berlinale etc.
Finlay has co-produced all of his films and occasionally produces with close collaborators like Martin Radich on Norfolk, a feature film starring Denis Menochet and Barry Keoghan. Best Before Death by Paul Duane featuring KLF co-creator and artist Bill Drummond and most recently working with animators Will Anderson and Ainslie Henderson to create the animation hybrid doc A Cat Called Dom winning the top award at Edinburgh International Film Festival which went on to screen in UK cinemas. Also, alongside Eilidh Munro they won the BAFTA Scotland for short A Long Winter.
Filmography
Cyclovia - 90' (In Development)
Director
A Colombian cycling odyssey.
Screen Scotland, Parcel of Rogues, Real Lava, Story Ltd, Casatarantula, Making Movies
Douglas Gordon by Douglas Gordon - 90' (In Development)
Director
An unconventional portrait of an artist.
Screen Scotland, BFI Doc Society, Grand Ourse Films
TIME TRIAL - 82’
Director
Screen Scotland, Private, BBC Scotland
(IDFA, SXSW, CPH:DOX, WINNER Riverrun FF)
Cutting Loose - 30’
Co-directer/Co-producer
BFI, Screen Scotland, BBC Scotland
(WINNER Encounters, Riverrun, Indianapolis IFF, SXSW)
Ma Bar - 12’
Co-directer/Co-producer
(WINNER BAFTA Scotland, Sundance)
One Track Mind - 12’
Co-directer/Co-producer
(D&G Council)
Slice - 12’
Co-directer/Co-producer
(D&G Council)
Standing Start - 12’
Co-directer/Co-producer
Cycling Scotland, Scottish Documentary Institute
(Grierson Shortlisted, Edinburgh International Film Festival, Eurosport)
Promo
Dan Deacon: The Breakaway
Director
Client: Domino Records
Brooks C13: On the Rivet
Director
Client: Brooks of England
Producer
A Cat Called Dom - 60'
by Will Anderson & Ainslie Henderson
BFI, Screen Scotland, BBC Scotland
(WINNER Powell & Pressburger Award Edinburgh International Film Festival)
A Long Winter - 15'
by Eilidh Munro
Scottish Documentary Institute
(WINNER BAFTA Scotland Best Short Film & Animation)
Best Before Death - 93'
by Paul Duane
Rook Films, Screenworks, Media Ranch, Screen Ireland, BBC Scotland
(Edinburgh International Film Festival)
All Aboard - 28'
by Duncan Cowles
STV, Scottish Documentary Institute
Adventures in Dementia - 28'
by Anne Milne
STV, Scottish Documentary Institute
Norfolk - 83'
by Martin Radich
BFI, BBC Films, Creative England
(International Film Festival Rotterdam, Edinburgh International Film Festival)
The Perfect Fit - 12'
by Tali Yankelevich
Scottish Documentary Institute
(Academy shortlist, WINNER Best Short SXSW)