A man who has spent the last forty years living as a hermit in the Highlands stunned film fans as he made a surprise appearance at the Glasgow Film Festival red carpet.
Ken Smith is known as the Hermit of Treig to most because he has lived in a log cabin near Loch Treig for the last four decades surviving without electricity or running water.
The 74-year-old hunts and grows his own food and gets his water from a nearby stream.
But over the weekend, Ken decided to venture out of the Highlands for the first time in 30 years to travel to Glasgow to attend the premiere of the film about his life.
BBC Scotland documentary The Hermit of Treig followed his journey over the last two years as he battled health problems in isolation.
Filmmaker Lizzie McKenzie spent time with him at his log cabin in the Highlands as he told his story for the first time, writes The Scottish Daily Express.
Ken is originally from Derbyshire but his life changed for the worst when he was beaten up by a gang at the age of 26.
He suffered serious injuries, including a brain haemorrhage and was in a coma for 23 days.
When he woke up, he decided to embark on a life of wandering and became interested in living in the wilderness while he was out in Canada.
He returned to Britain a changed man and decided to find the "most isolated place in Britain, which is Treig, 20km east of Fort William in Lochaber.
Filmmaker Lizzie McKenzie decided to reach out to Ken nine years ago when she was working in a cafe in the Highlands and had heard stories about him from customers who were deerstalkers.
Ken expressed his surprise at how much Glasgow had changed since his last visit many years ago.
He said: “It’s changed so much to what it used to be, it’s really different. And I don’t know any of the places or anything like that, whereas before in the past I did.
“So now it’s like wandering around and, ‘Where’s this place? Where’s that place?'”
Ken also expressed shock at being around so many people, as he is much more used to living in isolation and not seeing a soul for weeks.
He said: “When I’ve been up in my place for about 30 or 40 years, it’s certainly different from my former life, I’ve never seen so many people!
“From where I am, where I live, I can go weeks and never see anybody.”
Lizzie added: “I’m very happy, it’s just amazing, especially to share it with Ken as well.”
The Hermit of Treig will be available online via Glasgow Film at Home from March 8 to 11, and then released in cinemas across the UK from March 25.
The episode originally aired on the BBC Scotland channel last autumn.
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