The only Scottish film to be nominated for a BAFTA award this year is American Cousins. The film, about two New Jersey gangsters who are forced to take refuge with their law-abiding cousin Roberto, who runs a fish and chip shop in Glasgow, is directed by Cromarty-based director Don Coutts of Move On Up production company.

Writer Sergio Casci received the BAFTA nomination for The Carl Foreman Award for his first feature film. Casci, an Italian Scot, celebrates his ancestry in this award winning and critically acclaimed romantic comedy which features Sopranos mobster Vincent “Big Pussy” Pastore, Danny Nucci (Titanic), Fife-born Shirley Henderson (Bridget Jones' Diary) and new comer Scottish actor Gerry Lepkowski. 

Sergio Casci’s  second feature, Man Dancin', directed by Norman Stone and starring former EastEnders star Alex Ferns in the lead role, will be released in the UK in February 2004.

American Cousins recently won Best Film, Best Director and the Audience Award at the Milan International Film Festival in Italy, and the Jury Award at the Savannah Film Festival in Georgia. It is the only film ever to have won the top three prizes at Milan. Shirley Henderson also won Best Actress at the Cherbourg Film Festival.