Scotland hosted the 1938 Empire Exhibition in Glasgow's Bellahouston Park, the last great flourishing of Empire. Walter Elliot, Secretary of State for Scotland, wanted to have a series of films produced for screening to the millions of visitors expected, films which would reflect the upsurge of national feeling at the time. His decision to use the medium of film arose from his admiration of John Grierson's pioneering documentary films Drifters and Night Mail. Elliot formed a Films of Scotland Committee under Sir Gilbert Archer, consulting Forsyth Hardy who was at that time the BBC's Scottish programme director.
The Second Films of Scotland Committee was established in 1954 with the remit to arrange for the production of films about all aspects of Scottish life, in partnership with local authorities, government departments, industry and cultural organisations. During its thirty years over 150 documentaries were made, many released as short films in cinemas at home and distributed overseas. The collection was deposited in the Scottish Screen Archive for preservation in the 1980s.
Each DVD in this collection is accompanied with a 24 page booklet detailing the achievements of the Committees.