EIFF : Whisky Galore!

WHISKY GALORE! is showing at this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival on 17 June 2011 at 15.45.

Alexander Mackendrick’s 1949 Ealing comedy (adapted from Compton Mackenzie’s novel, which in turn was inspired by a real incident) is an absolute joy – warm and wise and drolly hilarious, with wonderful performances and beautiful locations on the island of Barra.

The brand new restoration of the film will then be showcased with a special week long run at The Filmhouse from July 29th, before a brand new DVD and blu-ray release (the first ever) on August 8th.

Citizen Participation – the final conversation

CITIZEN PARTICIPATION: INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCES IN COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Thursday 2nd June 2011
5-6.30 pm, with drinks and nibbles after
6th Floor, Chrystal Macmillan Building, 15A George Square, University of Edinburgh
Citizen Participaton are holding the last conversation in their series which will take us abroad to look at international experience in citizen participation and community engagement.

To get the conversation started there is, as usual, a mixed panel:

Betsy Super, American researcher based at the University of Edinburgh; specialist in political participation in the USA.

Koen Bartels, Dutch researcher based at the University of Glasgow; investigates practices of participation in Amsterdam, Bologna and Glasgow.

Veronica Campanile, a Scottish practitioner with experience in the UK and abroad -specially in South America-, and currently a Community Planning Officer at East Lothian Council.

REGISTRATION: Attendance is free but please sign up by email to Nicola Bryce at ppn@ed.ac.uk. The venue is accessible. All welcome.

Edinburgh International Film Festival Programme Launch

Lavish extravagance ditched in favour of ‘an exciting, fun, engaged, serious, brainy, and relevant series of events’ at the 2011 Edinburgh Film Festival.

Following months of speculation since the release of the ‘blueprint’ for the revamped Film Festival, director James Mullighan today appeared before the press to announce the programme for the festival’s 65^th year.

The departure of former director Hannah McGill and relocation of festival headquarters to Teviot House led many to question whether the EIFF was suffering from a lack of funding and criticised the ambitious steps taken to transform one of the world’s longest running film festivals.

Speaking from Festivalhouse@Teviot, where Mullighan said filmmakers and filmgoers alike would be able to ‘rub shoulders at two o’clock in the morning in the Library bar’, the director outlined the 2011 programme. He highlighted not only the changes that have been made, but also the various events and screenings which the new look festival would include.

The director spoke of ‘an ambition to open up the festival to a much wider range of people, to have it spread its wings and engage audiences of all tastes, ages and backgrounds.’ ‘Throughout its history it’s been provocative, controversial, a little dangerous often, a debate leader, and a culture setter, but not lately. We want to get that back for all of us, because we can and because we should, because that’s what the Edinburgh Film Festival has been and should always seek to be, an agenda setter not a reactor to other people’s agendas.’

Though there had been ruminations of a reduced number of premieres and a decline in star turnout, the programme features 63 International, European and UK premieres including the opening night screening of John Michael McDonagh’s The Guard, starring Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle.

Amongst the various new initiatives, including the newly sponsored Nokia Shorts Weekender and the appropriately named science and cinema events of Reel Science, the director discussed at length the Conflict Reportage strand. Of particular interest was Dafung Dennis’ Hell and Back Again which explores the monstrous nature of war, and through the use of revolutionary technology allows an up close documentary insight into modern warfare.

On the subject of the guest curators, which caused a considerable stir when announced as part of the ‘blueprint’, Mullighan was quick to clarify that it was the creative input of these individuals rather than their status and celebrity that the festival was calling upon.

“What we wanted was their ideas; their different angle on this mighty film festival, not their guest wattage or their guest photograph-ability on a red carpet.” said the director:-”They are guest curators, not guest attendees.’

With announcements of additional screenings and events to follow in the coming weeks it is clear that things may be a little different at the 65^th Edinburgh International Film Festival, and that audiences are more likely than ever to see something they’ve never seen before.

The Film Festival runs from 15th -26th June.

www.edfilmfest.org for more information.

EIFF launch 2011 programme

The 2011 Edinburgh International Film Festival today unveiled a fresh programme mix for its 65th year, packed with screenings, new events, collaborations and innovative film experiences for the city –the first fruits of a plan to invigorate the Festival for modern audiences.

Promising an inclusive celebration of cinema for all, a strong core of diverse new film from Britain and around the globe will this year be part of a broad and engaging programme that includes:-

Thought-provoking ideas: screenings, debates and events that delve deep into the power of film in areas such as conflict and science

Experimental events: 24-hour debates, cinema recreations in public spaces, ‘Cineconcerts’ with live music, and live video game performances

Distinctive collaborations: screening the film favourites of some of the most creative minds in film, music and the arts, plus partnerships with the pioneers of the film and digital world

Cinema experiences: outdoor screenings in public spaces, gallery exhibitions and even bike powered mobile cinema

Organisers believe that bringing the EIFF’s historic role as a pioneer to the fore and driving a re-think of its format and programme are essential to assure Edinburgh’s place as a leading festival over time.

Over 60 International, European and UK feature premieres continue EIFF’s commitment to showcasing the best new cinema, kicking off on opening night with the UK premiere of John Michael McDonagh’s brilliant Irish comedy-thriller The Guard (starring Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle) at the Edinburgh Festival Theatre.

Other international features include the UK premieres of Philip Seymour Hoffman’s much anticipated directorial debut Jack Goes Boating; Keith Bearden’s entertainingly risqué new film Meet Monica Velour (starring Kim Cattrall); Steven Silver’s true life combat drama The Bang Bang Club (starring Ryan Phillipe) and Paul Fraser’s poignant My Brothers. European highlights include Alex de la Iglesia’s dark and dazzling The Last Circus; Norwegian director Andre Ovredal’s hotly-tipped mock doc The Troll Hunter; Baldvin Zophoníasson’s coming of age feature Jitters, and the European premiere of Pascal Arnold’s and Jean Marc Barr’s American Translation.

EIFF started life in 1947 with an all-documentary programme and the 65th edition celebrates those roots, with a third of the programme paying tribute to the genre, including ten joint UK premieres presented in a new collaboration with the Sheffield International Documentary Festival. A slate of new work is led by the European premieres of Liz Garbus’ portrait of the chess legend Bobby Fischer Against the World; Jamaican filmmaker Esther Anderson’s kaleidoscopic Bob Marley: The Making of a Legend; and Morgan Neville’s celebration of a golden age of American music Troubadours.  Alma Harel’s artistically innovative and award-winning Bombay Beach also features, while Jarred Alterman’s portrait of a visionary artistic community Convento will see the director and protagonist Christiaan Zwanikken presenting an accompanying exhibition of kinetic sculpture from the film.

Amongst the eight UK documentary premieres are Peter Gilbert’s powerful study of climate change Burning Ice (starring Ryuichi Sakamoto, Marcus Brigstocke, Jarvis Cocker, K.T. Tunstall and Martha Wainwright); Jeanie Findlay’s Sound it Out which charts the journey of one of the UK’s last surviving vinyl record shops; and the joint UK premiere of Danfung Dennis’ incredible double Sundance winner Hell and Back Again, presented as part of the cultural programme of the UK National Armed Forces Day, and including a special Veterans’ screening on Saturday 25th June.

Hell and Back Again is the centrepiece of Conflict | Reportage, a comprehensive, thoughtful exploration of the work of combat journalists. Other events in this strand, presented in association with the Frontline Club, include a diverse mix of screenings, technology demonstrations and debates around modern day conflict, and a two day residence by war reporter Martin Bell OBE.

Also debuting at the Festival in 2011 is Reel Science, an engaging and playful exploration of the depiction of science on film, supported by the Wellcome Trust. Events include the joint UK premiere of James Marsh’s (Man on Wire) fascinating Project Nim; a film and eye tracking technology demonstration; the opportunity to watch Christopher Nolan’s psychological thriller Memento alongside top Edinburgh neuroscientists; a film-triggered keynote debate around the ethics of non-public health usages of Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging; and a Pandemic Double Bill (Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later and Elia Kazan’s Panic in the Streets) with a discussion with a film critic and infectious diseases expert.

Amongst the EIFF highlights already announced are world premieres for David Hare’s first directorial outing for 20 years, the star-studded spy drama Page Eight (starring Bill Nighy, Rachel Weisz, Michael Gambon and Judy Davis); Niall MacCormick’s beautiful coming of age drama Albatross (starring Sebastian Koch, Julia Ormond, Felicity Jones and Jessica Brown-Findlay); the European premiere of Gaby Dellal’s adaptation of award-winning author Leslie Schwartz’ Angels Crest (starring Thomas Dekker, Jeremy Piven and Mira Sorvino); and the UK premiere of David MacKenzie’s Glasgow-set sci-fi thriller love story Perfect Sense (starring Ewan McGregor and Eva Green).

Springing from the ‘All that Heaven Allows’ creative blueprint penned by EIFF2011’s  artistic advisory group – Festival Director (1995 & 1996), filmmaker and author Mark Cousins, Festival Director (1973 – 1980), and producer Lynda Myles, and actress and Festival patron Tilda Swinton – is a series of screenings and events conceived by a diverse range of ‘guest curators’, invited to participate by the group. Gus Van Sant’s passion for the work of Derek Jarman sees a mini-retrospective of that director’s Blue, The Last of England and The Angelic Conversation; Hungarian director Bela Tarr – whose double Berlinale award winning Turin Horse makes its UK premiere at EIFF – has curated a selection of film classics from his home country; the fashion designer Bella Freud is both contributing an original design to the 2011 EIFF delegate bag, and presenting her groundbreaking film Hoping as part of World Refugee Day; The Streets’ Mike Skinner will stage an experimental performance event based on his favourite movie moments; architect and spatial consultant Markus Meissen has curated 24 hours of Spatial Politics in association with New Media Scotland; iconic British style magazine co-founders Rankin and Jefferson Hack responded to the brief with a series of presentations, including the first Edinburgh presentation of Our Broken Voice, from Bristol-based subtlemob.com, and the debut feature premiere of Our Day Will Come from firebrand French music video director Romain Gavras. More will be announced over the coming weeks.

Training, education, inspiration and career enhancement remain central to this year’s programme, and there are several new initiatives, each giving aspirant filmmakers unrivalled access to some of the industry’s leading directors, composers and writers. The Nokia Shorts Weekender is Scotland’s biggest celebration of short film incorporating over 20 screenings, masterclasses and events. Project: New Cinephila is an experimental platform for established and aspiring film critics, powered by Mubi. Sound Tracks includes a wide variety of screenings, discussions, networking opportunities and gigs across the festival – a compelling, instructive and joyous jamboree of all things music on film, presented in association with Domino. Behind the Camera is in effect a ‘pop-up’ film school featuring an array of events staged with partners such as BAFTA, DazedTV, the Edinburgh College of Art and Shooting People. EIFF will also host a major new annual industry conference in association with Screen International. This June will also see the seeding of the CMI’s ambition to build on its talent foundation with a music film talent lab supported by Creative Scotland under its Creative Futures programme and the launch of its talent lab for film making scriptwriters and producers supported by the Scottish Government’s EXPO fund.

Edinburgh school pupils will demonstrate their filmmaking talents at screenings of the Edinburgh Schools Film Competition, plus there will be Media & Film Studies Days (returning by popular demand) and a modern language and a primary schools screening.

The theme of collaboration will be evident in many other guises throughout the festival. Outdoor screenings are planned in association with Essential Edinburgh at the majestic St Andrew Square; a sustainable energy powered, bike driven mobile cinema sponsored by Cutty Sark will pop up across the capital, thanks to Alchemy Arts and the Powerpod; the video sharing website Vimeo is ‘in residence’ during the Festival; and the People’s Postcode Lottery is supporting the UK premiere of Jane’s Journey, directed by Lorenz Knauer, about famed UK primatologist Dr Jane Goodall. Several events explore the future of distribution and revenue streams for filmmakers, with participation from yet more new partners including Basetrack, the Bureau, ConditionOne, DazedTV, Distrify, IMDB, Protein, Rich Pickings, ted.com and VICE. There will also be a lively programme of public film-related events, many of them free, at Festivalhouse@Teviot, where – thanks to the University of Edinburgh – the Festival is headquartered.

Festival Director James Mullighan believes today’s programme announcement is just the beginning of an exciting process of transformation for the EIFF. He commented: ‘In a short space of time we have developed some genuinely innovative content for the 2011 programme, building on the strong heritage and reputation of Edinburgh as one of the original pioneers of the global film festival. In our 65th year, rather than ease into senior citizenship, the EIFF team has instead taken the bold and essential step of looking to the future and reinventing the festival for modern audiences.

‘It has been an extremely exciting and sometimes even daunting process, and one that has sparked much debate from organisers, advisors and fans alike. It has been a privilege to work with the fantastic Edinburgh team and our inspiring collaborators throughout, and we hope you enjoy the resulting programme that is on offer this year, which we are sure will be an EIFF to remember.’

Today’s launch will be followed by news of additional screenings and events, so you are to expect fresh announcements to media and on the EIFF website in the coming weeks.

The Edinburgh International Film Festival said:-”The Festival would not be possible without the support and partnership of a number of organisations.  We welcome this year four new major partners: Nokia, Cutty Sark, Smart and easyJet. We are also extremely grateful to our funders, including Creative Scotland, The City of Edinburgh Council, EventScotland and The Scottish Government EXPO Fund.”

Edinburgh International Film Festival
15th – 26th June 2011

[caption id="attachment_13977" align="alignleft" width="600" caption="James Mullighan, Director of Edinburgh International Film Festival, marks the launch of its 65th programme at the festival’s new heart for 2011, Festivalhouse@Teviot."][/caption]

Edinburgh Schools short film competition launched

The Edinburgh International Film Festival and Pilton Video today launched the Edinburgh Schools short film competition.

Open to all pupils in nursery, primary and secondary education within City of Edinburgh establishments, the competition will see selected films share the festival limelight with leading filmmakers from around the world.

City Education Leader Cllr Marilyne MacLaren said:

“Pilton Video inspire young people to use their creativity and nurtures talent to a level that makes a real impact on the film making scene.

“This competition engages young people with one of Edinburgh’s major international festivals and demonstrates the quality of work being produced across the city. It’s a fantastic opportunity and we expect the standard of entries to be very high once again.”

Nicola Kettlewood, Knowledge & Learning Events Manager at CMI said:

“We had a fantastic selection of films in 2010 so it’s great that we can keep encouraging local filmmaking talent in this way. EIFF celebrates and champions the very best in international filmmaking and we welcome the involvement of Edinburgh’s young people as filmmakers and programmers at this year’s Festival.”

Graham Fitzpatrick, Manager at Pilton Video said:

“The competition is a unique opportunity for Edinburgh pupils to experience the excitement and wonder of sharing their creative work on the big screen. We look forward to supporting and educating the Young People’s Jury throughout the process of viewing, discussing and programming the competition. Further enhancing the film making knowledge of each member, their end results will be inspirational for all – pupils, teachers and parents”.

Work is viewed and selected by a young people’s jury who also coordinate and present the award ceremony during the festival in June.

The project is a partnership between EIFF, Pilton Video and City of Edinburgh Council Children and Families Department.

In 2010 over 140 films were entered by 38 city schools. The nine young jurors selected 40 films which were shown during EIFF, with twenty given awards for their work.

The deadline for submitting films is 5pm, Wednesday 30th March for all Nursery, Special, Primary and Secondary schools. The deadline for Higher Media and Higher Art & Design students is 5pm, Wednesday 20th April.

Application forms can be downloaded from the EIFF website.

The 2011 Edinburgh International Film Festival takes place 15-26 June.

Cinema on Sunday

There is so much culture in Edinburgh at the moment but you will be forgiven for escaping to the cinema this Sunday if you go to see either of these wonderful films on offer.

First at The Filmhouse they are showing The Secret in Their Eyes (El Secretor de Sus Ojos)  (18) at 13.15 17.45 and 20.30

Set in Buenos Aires and directed by Juan Jose Campanella this is a story of dramatic proportions. It concerns unsolved crime from 30 years before and a recently retired prosecutor who delves into the past. The film won the Oscar for best foreign language film earlier this year. Rotten Tomatoes gives it a whopping 92% so it is the film you should not miss this weekend.

The other unmissable film is The Illusionist (PG) which is showing at The Cameo at 13.45, 15.45, 17.40 and 19.30. Set in Edinburgh with beautiful hand drawn images, Sylvain Chomet’s film is a rather melancholy but lovely tale of the magician who might have had his day. The Cameo itself features in the film which was such a hit at the Edinburgh International Film Festival earlier this year.

Animation at EIFF

There has been a lot of hype about animation at the Film Festival, with premieres of Toy Story 3, The Illusionist, and the insanely brilliant Jackboots On Whitehall.

But I have read less about the international animation shorts, which is a shame because there were some gems available.

Particularly beautiful was Cages, a Mexican film where magical realism is made visual. Sinister and sad, it makes a statement about child exploitation in Mexico using visuals that would not be out of place in a Tim Burton film. Another very pretty film was the German Lebensader, in which a little girl discovers the world inside a leaf. You can watch a clip here

Two emotionally gripping stories were the Swedish Tussilago, about the girlfriend of West German terrorist Norbert Kröcher who planned to kidnap the Swedish politician Anna-Great Leijon in 1977; and the American Prayers for Peace which is the honest and moving testimony of a man who lost his brother in Iraq.

There have been many more shorts shown at the festival, and hopefully some of them will be made into full-length features, which is how the Michael Powell Award nominated Skeletons came into being. There are the seeds of some great things in there.

Hannah McGill Director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival speaks!

What does Hannah look for in a film that may open or close the Festival?

Hannah McGill: It’s a combination of factors and a degree of instinct! It is very important for both events that it’s a film that we all believe in, and one that has a degree of anticipation attached to it so that the audience and press are excited. It’s often a film that is in a slightly more conventional register than some of the Festival, as the Opening and Closing Galas are for broad audiences, not just hardcore film geeks; also they’re celebratory occasions so very testing or extreme content isn’t necessarily appropriate (even though we welcome it elsewhere!). For opening, it’s nice where possible to have a Scottish or Edinburgh connection, as with Hallam Foe in ’07 or The Illusionist this year – though that isn’t a requirement. And both nights it’s important that the director and/or other talent from the film can be around to walk the red carpet.
How does one get a film into the festival?
HM: We have an open submissions process from October through to March, through which anyone can send us a film, in exchange for a small fee. Those submissions are all viewed by at least one of the programming team, usually more, and discussed between us. We also view films year-round either at other festivals or by arrangement with filmmakers, sales agents and distributors. We are always interested to hear of films that are being made that might suit the Festival, whatever their scale of production, and there are staff in the office all year to respond to queries.
Will there be an opportunity to review the films screened by the EIFF by entering a competition this year again?
HM: That competition was arranged by sponsors and it isn’t being repeated this particular year I’m afraid. There will, however, be the opportunity for web members to post comments and reviews of films on the website. Keep an eye on our e-bulletins for details of other exciting competitions.
I guess my question has to be why leave it so late to issue the programme and then launch ticket sales? From a purely personal point of view I get married on 5th June and then will be away on honeymoon – returning by the start of the festival – so this gives me very very little time to get my own list sorted out and tickets bought.
HM: Congratulations on your wedding! We do appreciate that this is a much later cut-off and will inconvenience some people. The decision was taken to allow us more time to make the programme as strong as it can be. Previously we locked off and announced the programme and opened the box office unusually early for a film festival – this change does bring us into line with most other events of our sort. While our earlier schedule did give the audience more time to plan, it also resulted in us having to lose a lot of films, because so many sales and release decisions are made around and as a result of Cannes. For ease of booking tickets will be available to buy online and in-person at the Filmhouse from noon on 3 June.
Will the mystery film be back?
We always leave the option of a surprise film so it may be reinstated if the right film comes along.
Huge congratulations on the success of last years fest. I particularly loved Moon and Fish Tank. Given the brilliant success of so many EIFF films from the 2009 event, does that give you more access and bargaining power to get some films or people along to this and future year’s fests that you might not have been able?
HM: Thank you for your kind words. We had a great year last year and yes, any success stories do help us out the following year. So keep telling all your friends! Moon and Fish Tank were internationally lauded, but we’re also thrilled with slow-burners like Let The Right One In, which is still winning awards after we held its UK premiere in 2008; small ones like the documentary No Greater Love, which we world-premiered last year and which was just released to excellent reviews; and unexpected breakouts like the wonderful Irish animation The Secret of Kells, which got an Oscar nomination.
The film business is hard to predict and control, and you can never get every single film you want just because of release patterns and talent availability. But we have strong support from the industry and the audience, and a strong international brand, so we present a good case when we’re negotiating. Filmmakers who’ve had a great time here are also brilliant ambassadors.
Can you tell me whether EIFF is likely to consider returning to the Edinburgh Festival calendar in August?
HM: I’m sorry that you’re in this situation. I do understand the challenge that our June dates pose to people from elsewhere who want to attend EIFF as well as August events. Unfortunately in August Edinburgh certainly was and remains stretched for facilities and resources – in terms of, for instance, hotel space, physical space in the city and coverage space in the arts press. It was very difficult for us to accommodate our guests and to be reactive or imaginative in terms of venue space and entertainment.
EIFF simply had no room to grow in August, and was losing out on local attendees who were having to choose between events – as well as Edinburgh people who leave the city in August. In August we were also in a very dead month for the European film industry; and we were inconveniently close to the London Film Festival. As our audience is strongly local, and the film industry is our professional context, these factors were strong arguments for change.
While it was not an easy decision, and certain loyal audience members like yourself unfortunately lost out, in fact our attendance and press profile have risen since the move, so it is unlikely we will be changing back any time soon. However, we do have plans to work more with the other Edinburgh Festivals on film elements in their programmes; and our partner cinema Filmhouse is open for business with special seasons during that period. I hope that you can still get a film fix whilst in Edinburgh in August. Or perhaps you could alternate between June and August…?