BAFTA Scotland Awards: Aftersun, Mayflies, Karen Pirie, Frankie Boyle and Susan Calman in the running

Gala ceremony will be staged next month

Edith Bowman will be hosting this year's BAFTA Scotland Awards. Picture: Jeff Spicer/BAFTA/Getty Images

A Scottish filmmaker’s debut feature is leading the race for honours at this year’s BAFTA Scotland Awards.

Aftersun, a coming-of-age drama written and directed by Edinbugh-born Charlotte Wells, has picked up five nominations ahead of next month’s ceremony.

Its stars Paul Mescal and Frankie Corio, who played a father and daughter on holiday together at a Turkish holiday resort, will be competing in the best film actor and actress categories.

Lead actors Frankie Corio and Paul Mescal with Charlotte Wells, the writer and director of Aftersun, which opened last year's Edinburgh International Film Festival. Picture: Getty/Euan Cherry

Wells, who studied film after moving to New York, is up for the best fiction director, best film and TV writer, and best feature film prizes. She won the best outstanding debut prize at the BAFTA Film Awards in London earlier this year.

TV dramas Mayflies and Karen Pirie have both secured three nominations for the awards, which will be held in Glasgow on 19 November.

Frankie Boyle and Susan Calman both have shows nominated in the best entertainment category.

Mayflies, which was adapted from Andrew O’Hagan’s acclaimed novel about two lifelong friends forced to deal with a heartbreaking decision, and Karen Pirie, which has brought author Val McDermid’s much-loved detective to the screen, are both in contention for best scripted TV production, along with the final series of Neil Forsyth’s crime drama Guilt.

Martin Compston and Tony Curran play Jimmy and Tully in Mayflies. Picture: PA Photo/BBC/Synchronicity Films/Jamie Simpson.

In the best TV actor category, Mayflies star Tony Curran will be up against stage and screen veteran Brian Cox, for his role in Succession, as well as rising stars Lewis Gribben and Conor McCarron, for their starring roles in Somewhere Boy and Dog Days respectively.

Karen Pirie star Lauren Lyle is up for best TV actress, alongside Mayflies star Ashley Jensen, Izuka Hoyle for Big Boys and Vinette Robinson for Six Four.

Irish screen star Mescal is up against James Cosmo for his role in romantic drama My Sailor, My Love, and Chinaza Uche, for A Good Person in the best film actor category.

Corio, who was just 10 when she was cast in Aftersun, is up against The Lost King star Sally Hawkins and Lucy Halliday, for her role in Blue Jean.

Lauren Lyle plays Karen Pirie in the TV adaptation of Val McDermid's detective novels.

Jono McLeod’s documantary My Old School, which explored the extraordinary story of Scotland’s notorious schoolboy imposter “Brandon Lee,” is nominated for best feature film, alongside Aftersun and Hassan Nazer’s Winners.

Wells and Karen Pirie’s Gareth Bryn will compete for the best fiction director honour with Jon S Baird, for his Cold War thriller Tetris.

Wells is nominated for best film and TV writer, along with Forsyth, for his new drama series Gold, which recalled the events around the Brink's-Mat robbery 40 years ago, and Krysty Wilson-Cairns, for her screenplay for The Good Nurse, about the American serial killer Charles Cullen.

BAFTA Scotland director Jude MacLaverty said: "Our nominations this year reflect the incredible standard of work and creativity that is possible with support for, and investment in, the Scottish screen industries, and the individuals who are committed to telling stories that can reach and resonate globally.

Aftersun star Paul Mescal and the film's writer-director, Charlotte Wells, at last year's EIFF opening gala. Picture: Pako Mera

“TV drama in Scotland is really bouyant at the moment.

“There are three in our list but we all know that there were more out there.

"If you look at the television scripted category, it’s really exciting to see Guilt, Karen Pirie and Mayflies on the same list. I don’t think you could call who is going to win at all – they’re all brilliant."

Broadcaster Edith Bowman, who will be returning to host the event, added: “I think that category, with three very different shows nominated, is a really good example of the variety and standard of TV that is coming out of Scotland. We are great storytellers and there’s great material to draw on.”