Movie Magic in A Box

Movie Magic in a Box is an animated film which takes you behind the scenes to see the 8½ Foundation’s Catherine Payton wrapping the 2000^th film on DVD to be sent to an 8½ year-old child as part of the Foundation’s internationally acclaimed work with schools across Scotland.

For the last twelve months, children approaching their 8½ birthday have been sending hand-written letters to the Foundation, asking for their favourite films from a short list devised by the Foundation’s directors.  Their chosen films are then beautifully wrapped – as the animation shows – and an individually addressed Happy Movie Birthday card is added.

Scottish based not-for-profit organisation, the 8½ Foundation is the brainchild of Tilda Swinton and Mark Cousins and is dedicated to introducing world cinema to children. Its aim is to create a new birthday: a film birthday, at the age of 8½, that celebrates the power of cinema to expand children’s horizons and welcomes children into the wider world of movies.

Movie Magic in a Box from 8 1/2 Foundation on Vimeo.

Mark Cousins, Director, 8½ Foundation commented: “This beautiful little animation captures the magic of what the 8½ Foundation is trying to be.  We are so proud to be sending so many great films to so many kids across Scotland.  We are being asked all the time to replicate the success of 8½ around the world.  It’s great that it started here.”

The Foundation’s co-director, Tilda Swinton, echoed this enthusiasm, adding “we are beyond thrilled at the passion and wonder with which so many children are seizing on our invitation to take this beautiful, shared, adventure into magical, unknown cinema.  First Scotland, next, the world…”

Iain Munro, Creative Director, Creative Scotland commented: ‘Congratulations to the 8½ Foundation on sending their 2000^th DVD.  With investment from our Inspiring Communities funds, this fantastic initiative promises to excite and inspire children, welcoming them into a new world of creative experiences. It’s a great start to the Year of Creative Scotland and a beautiful animation to set the scene.’

The Foundation has touched the lives of many children in Scotland, opening their eyes to the magic of world cinema.  One of the participating children enthused: “I thought that [Our Relations] was really hilarious! I watched it with my mum and we both laughed our socks off. Thank you so much for my dvd’s, for my 8½ birthday.”

A mother emailed to share her and her daughter’s excitement: “My daughter received her movies today. She tore them open a little while ago and I have no doubt we’ll watch all three this weekend… it’s a great initiative – she has been so enthused by the whole thing  – a big hearty resounding thank you.”

And teachers are delighted, too: “Thank you for the parcels! There was great excitement when the post arrived and the children took a look inside the lovely red boxes. Everyone remarked how beautifully they were wrapped and I requested that the children wait until they got home to open them with their parents. On Friday many came to school wearing their 8½ badges and news of which films they had received.”

You can follow the Foundation on Facebook.

Five ghoulish things to do in Edinburgh for Halloween

All Hallows Eve, better known as Halloween, is less than a week away. It is a time for costumes, spooky stories and a celebration of the ending of summer and beginning of winter. There is no better place to celebrate the creepiest time of year than Edinburgh, a city renowned for its dark history and many haunting ghost stories. Here are just a few of the things Halloween revellers can get up to in the city this week, to celebrate the most macabre night of the year.

The Samhuinn festival: This festival, organised by the Edinburgh Beltane Fire Society, is held every year on the Royal Mile. It is a medieval pageant, based on a folkplay telling the story of the changing of the seasons as well as celebrating the Celtic New Year. Expect music, fire, folkdance and theatre and a colourful and flamboyant way to celebrate the pagan origins of this time of year. The festival takes place at 9pm on the 31^st of October on the Royal Mile. Entry is free. For more information go to the website. There is also an after party being held at the Bongo Club from 11pm. Tickets cost £7.

Fright Night with Faust: At the Usher Hall, reportedly one of Edinburgh’s many haunted venues, there will be a screening of the silent 1926 film Faust. Visitors are encouraged to dress in 20s attire and watch as the film is musically accompanied by the hall’s organ. Prior to the film screening, an illusionist is going to perform a Victorian séance, giving the audience a chance to commune with some of Edinburgh’s ghosts. The screening takes place on the 29 October 2011 from 6.30pm. Tickets cost £12.

Mary King’s Close and Mercat Tours: A staple of the Edinburgh tourist circuit, the ghost tours which take place in the old underground parts of the city are a perfect way to experience some supernatural goings on. From 27-31 October 2011 the Real Mary King’s Close will be hosting Supernatural History Tours, which give participants a chance to examine the myths and legends of the famous close. Mercat Tours have a range of different tours over the Halloween weekend, for the bravest souls as well as the most cowardly, which explore the Blair Street vaults, believed to be the most haunted place in Britain. The Real Mary King’s Close tour costs £15 and starts just off the High Street in the Old Town. Mercat Tours are around £10 depending on which tour is chosen, and begin at St Giles Cathedral.

The Edinburgh Secret Society’s Fright Night: The Secret Society is known for their events “for those of a curious disposition”. This Halloween, they will be staging a special event where the audience will have a chance to see “a real ghost, witness previously unseen footage of genuine psychic ability, contact a spirit celebrity, sacrifice a virgin and summon the devil.” This is an experience which is billed as not for the faint hearted. Tickets cost £8, and the evening takes place on the 28^th of October at Edinburgh University’s Anatomy Lecture theatre.

La Mascarade at Ghillie Dhu: For those who prefer to celebrate Halloween with a party rather than a scare, the auditorium at Ghillie Dhu on Rutland Street is holding a masquerade ball, with food, drinks, music, entertainment and general revelry. The dress code is formal, with masks a must for the mysterious Venetian tradition. Tickets cost £25 booked in advance, and £28 on the door. The ball takes place on the 27^th of October, at the Ghillie Dhu.

Image: vichie81 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

French Film Festival 9 November to 7 December 2011

The 19th French Film Festival presents an unparalleled selection of le cinéma français in leading cinemas around the country, including The Filmhouse Edinburgh. There are a wealth of genres to suit all tastes and impressive performances from an array of established stellar names and emerging talents.

Daniel Auteuil will attend the UK Premiere of The Well Digger’s Daughter. Shot in perpetual sunshine and superbly scored by Alexandre Desplat (The King’s Speech),  Auteuil returns to the familiar and beloved territory of Marcel Pagnol’s work, this time as director but also playing beautifully the role of the peasant father on screen a role taken in the 1940 original by Raimu. Kad Merad takes the part once played by Fernandel. Daniel Armogathe, the president of the Marseille Cinematheque will focus on adapting the work of Marcel Pagnol to the cinema.

Jean-Pierre Améris is on the guest list to support the preview opening gala screenings of Romantics Anonymous, an exquisite bitter-sweet confection starring Isabelle Carré and Benoît Poelvoorde and to be released shortly by Picturehouse Entertainment (from 2 December).

Stirring up a flurry of media attention in France and perfectly timed in the current political climate, writer-director Xavier Durringer’s farce The Conquest chronicles President Nicolas Sarkozy’s rise to power. The 10th presidential election of France is set to take place early next year and already the pace is hotting up. The themes of power and politics are also tackled in Alain Cavalier’s latest film Pater in which he stars alongside Vincent Lindon filming themselves as they pretend to be businessmen-politicians campaigning for office.

André Téchiné is back with Unforgivable, a luminous and atmospheric adaptation of Philippe Djian’s novel while Jacques Perrin plunges us deep into the sublime and mysterious world of the sea, signing another breathtaking documentary with Oceans.

Angelina Maccarone’s engaging documentary The Look (released by Park Circus) places the spotlight on Charlotte Rampling, in a free-wheeling tête-à-tête offering a fascinating portrait of the actress whose career spans half a century. Audiences will also have a chance to see All the Suns, with Stefano Accorsi and Anouk Aimée, Philippe Claudel’s second feature after his hugely acclaimed I’ve Loved You So Long.

The closing weekend will see 100th anniversary screenings of the second instalment in Louis Feuillade’s Fantômas silent serial, Juvé contre Fantômas accompanied by a live electronic score performed by two cult Parisian dee-jays Jean-Yves Leloup and Éric Pajot aka Radiomentale.

In between will be a stunning array of French language productions from France, Quebec, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Belgium. Other keenly anticipated titles include Service Entrance starring Fabrice Luchini, Sandrine Kiberlain and Carmen Maura and a huge box office hit in France. Two classics figure among the fare: Love Eternal by Jean Delannoy and scripted by Jean Cocteau and Maurice Tourneur’s Justin de Marseille, part of a focus on Glasgow-Marseille Twinning.

Pride of place is being given to Christophe Honoré who will accompany his latest venture Beloved which was the closing choice for this year’s Cannes Film Festival and features mother and daughter Catherine Deneuve and Chiara Mastroianni. The Brittany-born director will headline a special focus on the region as well as a retrospective of his work including Close to Leo and Love Songs. A tribute is being held to Claude Chabrol who favoured Brittany for many of his films.

Following the festival’s recent celebrations of Jacques Tati and, last year, Pierre Etaix, we salute in their presence a Belgian burlesque duo in the same tradition Fiona Gordon and Dominique Abel and their Cannes entry The Fairy (Verve Pictures). Another Belgian Bouli Lanners hopes to put in an appearance for his much acclaimed third film as a director The Giants, a fresh coming of age tale. Lebanese-born director Danielle Arbid returns to the festival with her smouldering and intense Beirut Hotel.

Two animation hits A Cat in Paris  and Titeuf  (in stunning 3D and 2D versions) by Swiss-born animator Zep will figure alongside a selection of documentaries, among them Think Global, Act Rural by Coline Serreau and from Switzerland’s Fernand Melgar the heart-rending Special Flight. The shorts selection is headed by the acclaimed Tremblay-en-France featuring Scots actor Jamie Sives in an unusual role. Thousands of pupils in Scotland will watch two especially selected films with their teachers: A Cat in Paris and Romain Goupil’s Hands Up as part of the Learning programme.

Festival director Richard Mowe said: “We feel it is going to be a vintage year for the French Film Festival UK which augurs well for 2012 when we will celebrate two decades of bringing the crême de la crême of French-language cinema to these shores.”

The FFF UK will screen in London Ciné Lumière, Edinburgh Filmhouse, Glasgow GFT, Manchester Cornerhouse, Warwick Arts Centre, Aberdeen Belmont Picturehouse and Union Square Cineworld, Dundee DCA, Inverness Eden Court, Stirling Macrobert Centre, Dumfries Robert Burns Centre and for the first time Bo’ness (at the recently restored Hippodrome).

Here is the programme

AAA Brochure 2011

Scotland loves animation comes to Edinburgh

 

The Cameo will be showing anime films on 26 November 2011.

Scotland Loves Animation, who brought the successful Scotland Loves Anime festival to Glasgow and Edinburgh, are proud to announce their partnership with the City Screen group and their amazing 20 UK screen theatrical run of anime films on 26 November. All 20 cinemas will be screening some of the hottest anime titles in the last 12 months under the title We Love Anime, including The Cameo.

For one day only (except The Aubin Cinema, London) Tekken Blood Vengeance, Mardock Scramble Parts 1 and 2 and a Kids Club screening of Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva will be in cinemas across the UK* from Aberdeen to London and many other places.

Scotland Loves Animation have also teamed up with Namco Bandai Games, Kaze and Manga UK, to offer some incredible prizes and specials offers.

If you missed the Scotland Loves Anime festival before, then this is the perfect opportunity to see anime on the big screen.

The following cinemas will be showing films as a part of the We Love Anime line-up:

Aberdeen - The Belmont Picturehouse, 49 Belmont Street, Aberdeen, AB10 1JS.
Birmingham – The Electric Cinema, 47-49 Station Street, BIRMINGHAM, B5 4DY.
Edinburgh - Cameo – The Cameo Cinema, 38 Home Street, Edinburgh, EH3 9LZ.
Brighton – Duke Of York’s Picturehouse, Preston Circus, Brighton, BN1 4NA.
Exeter - Exeter Picturehouse, 51 Bartholomew Street West, Exeter EX4 3AJ.
Leeds – The Hyde Park Picture House, Brudenell Road, LEEDS, LS6 1JD
Liverpool - FACT – Picturehouse at FACT, 88 Wood Street, Liverpool, L1 4DQ.
London - Ritzy – The Ritzy Cinema, Brixton Oval, Coldharbour Lane, London, SW2 1JG.
London - Lexi – The Lexi, 194b Chamberlyne Road, Kensal Rise, LONDON, NW10 3JU.
Newcastle upon Tyne - Tyneside Cinema, 10 Pilgrim Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, TYNE & WEAR, NE1 6QG.
Oxford - Phoenix Picturehouse, 57 Walton Street, Oxford, OX2 6AE.
Greenwich - Greenwich Picturehouse, 180 Greenwich High Road, Greenwich, London , SE10 8NN.
Hackney - Hackney Picturehouse, 270 Mare Street, Hackney, London, E8 1HE.
Henley-on-Thames - Regal Picturehouse, 2 Boroma Way, Henley-on-Thames, RG9 2BZ.
Southampton - Harbour Lights Picturehouse, Ocean Village, Southampton, SO14 3TL.
Stratford East - Stratford East Picturehouse, Salway Road, London, E15 1BX.
Stratford on Avon - Stratford upon Avon Picturehouse, Windsor Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, CV37 6NL.
York - City Screen York, 13-17 Coney Street, York, YO1 9QL.

Sunday NOVEMBER 27th:
London – The Aubin Cinema, 64-66 Redchurch Street, Shoreditch, LONDON, E2 7DP

* Small exceptions apply, not all cinemas screen all of the films.

TICKETS ON SALE NOW AT: http://www.picturehouses.co.uk/

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE FILMS GO TO: http://www.we-loveanime.com/films

Thousands spent on Edinburgh tram film (and the remake)

Tram bosses spent tens of thousands of pounds on a minutes-long film promoting the controversial project – only to pay even more to have it remade.

tie, the company which ran the trams until it was replaced by another company in August, contracted a firm called LBTV to make the two minute and 25 second film.

The 2007 piece detailed the project and the tram routes and cost the firm £16,745 – working out at an astonishing £115 per second.

More from Deadline News…

Edinburgh Reporter Chats – Craig Henderson

 

 

 

Craig Henderson jokes about which one of his films was his first.  I tried to compile a filmography of his work, but found it hard to pin him down as to what he considers his debut.

It is something he has not quite decided for himself yet.  “I was thinking about it the other day when I referred to one of my films as being my first film.  And I realised that in actual fact I’d probably made about seven or eight short films before that one.  And you keep revising what you consider to be your first film, because they don’t really count since they’re too embarrassing to show anyone.  Maybe I’ve not made my first film yet,” he jokes.

After seeing his production company The Thief of Brisco’s last two films Under Seasoned and Lief Lost a Book (made with Barry Wigg), it is unlikely that this is true, but I am happy to leave his filmography up to him.  What he does say is that he has made “about a dozen short films in the last five years which involved either writing, directing, producing, occasionally shooting, sometimes editing.”

He may not be household name just yet but Edinburgh born-and-bred, Craig Henderson, is a film producer.  This weekend The Thief of Brisco company are taking part in the Glasgow 48 Hour Film Project.  Their filmUnder Seasoned (also know as Good Neighbour) won the Best Use of Line and the Audience Award Winner: Group A at the recent Edinburgh 48 Hour Film Project in May.  Clerical Error won the best 24 hour film award two or three ago at the Edinburgh University Movie Production Society.  The production company are slowly building up a body of work.

It started with Lego.  “My Dad,” Henderson said, “always had video cameras around.  Post-cine era he had quite an early video camera which I nicked and was mucking around with, probably from the age of 10 or 11, and trying to do stop-motion animation with Lego, which is not what the camera is designed for at all, sort of turning it on and off.  So you get robot dancing Lego men.  And then I was about sixteen I just forgot about it all until 2006 when I remembered again, ‘Hang on, I was supposed to be making films, wasn’t I?’  I always like that quote ‘life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.’  I thought that applied then.  I lost a decade.  Then I went part time five years ago and started slowly trying to learn how to make films again.”

His foray into film-making initially was not going to take that long.  “The idea was that I was going to just take a year out and make a short film and get it out of my system.  And then Citizens Advice Bureau offered me some work and I thought oh well I can turn a year out into two or three years maybe and then maybe I can fluke a bit of success and start making films.  But it doesn’t work that way, because you’ve got to graft at it and you’ve got to learn and the more I learned the more I knew I didn’t know anything.  So the year out turned into the five years we’re up to now and long may that continue, because I’m just going to carry on.”

Carrying on means Henderson works three days a week, and spends the rest of the time making films.  The company has recently been commissioned to make a documentary on the social and health impacts of debt – “our first proper budget,” he explained.

Once they have completed that, Henderson plans to spend a year or so writing a new script.  “I’ve got the bones of a script already and I feel confident enough now to bash out a feature film.  So Lief Lost A Book will hopefully get into some festivals and I’m hoping that will give me enough exposure to get a wee bit of funding so that once I’ve finish the script in maybe a year, a year and a half’s time then there’ll be a bit of money to go to pre-production and then maybe shoot early 2013.”

It’s something that is likely to happen, as Henderson demonstrates the determination to slowly bring his ideas to fruition.

On Tuesday evening, last week he held a short film night at the Cameo called The Thief of Brisco presents…  It included films from The Thief of Brisco and other local Scottish filmmakers from Edinburgh and Glasgow and was screened to over 100 people.  Henderson had the idea for the short film evening a few years ago.  “There are so many aspects of film-making but the aspect of interacting with your audience only happens at the end of the line once you’ve got something to show and that’s quite a unique buzz which doesn’t exist at any other stage.  So yeah, it was really exciting. It was really fun to have done that.”

That is not the extent of his goals however.  He would like The Thief of Brisco presents… to become a regular event, but is also keen for the small but thriving Edinburgh film community to do more.  “It’s a nice community and there are already things in place to allow that community to get together.  But I would really like to see a lot more of that and a lot more collaboration in a non-profit making cooperative kind of way.   Because there is this enormous pool of talent in Edinburgh, which I think was hopefully seen on Tuesday, there’s enough talent to make perfectly professional looking films, so why shouldn’t we just get together a lot more and back each other up and start making feature films.”

The short film evening has obviously had a great impact on him because Henderson continued:-  ”When you see films like that you suddenly wonder why can’t there actually be a Scottish film industry, a proper Scottish film industry, even if it’s a bit of a cottage one.  I want to see Scottish films, I want to see Scottish locations and films showing Scottish people covering Scottish issues, and there’s no reason why that can’t exist, we just sort of need to get going with it and I think there could be a strong enough local market for that.  I’m quite partial to CGI packed action thriller from Hollywood, but I definitely want to see Scottish films as well.  That’s as high as my aspirations go.  I’d like to be part of an emergent industry, because I don’t see why it can’t happen.”

Building on this, it’s no surprise that Henderson often favours a collaborative approach to filmmaking.  His most recent collaboration has been with Barry Wigg with whom he co-directed and produced Lief Lost A Book but he has worked with long term collaborator , Andy Dean, on all The Thief of Brisco productions.  “I love co-directing with Andy because I’ve known him all my life anyway. So we talk in a reasonable shorthand.  I’m usually producing, keeping an eye on a lot of the technical side of things and the framing of shots as well as a lot of the logistics of the story.  That allows him to sit back and look at the bigger picture of where the story’s going.  And he’s far better at directing the acting anyway.  So it’s just a division of labour which acknowledges our strengths and weakness.  Hopefully between the pair of us we almost make one complete director.”

Humour is a large feature of Henderson’s conversation and also his films so far.  He credits Dean for the dark comedy influence on their films together and says his films might be a bit more sentimental if he worked solely on his own.  It’s too early in the process for him to define any themes yet.  “I like all genres of film; anyway I’d like to have a bash at all kind of things.”

It is a process that he is enjoying and he is definitely in it for the long haul.  He sees success happening in small increments and thinks that is how it needs to be.  “I like the idea that if I carried on doing exactly this up until the day I died then that wouldn’t be bad at all.  That would be just fine.  If hosting a night at the cinema and picking up a couple of minor awards for short films is as good as it ever gets, then that sounds really lovely.

He added with typical humour:- “It would be great to have tons of success as well of course.”

Outdoor films at Hopetoun House this August

There is just one small snag here – you have to be a Royal Bank or NatWest account holder to book tickets, but the idea is a good one. We would add to all the recommendations below that you take some waterproofs either to wear or sit on…and maybe some midge repellent just in case!

And if you book before 7 August then you will get cheaper tickets!

RBS Film First launches this summer, with a series of outdoor screenings, showing new releases in beautiful locations exclusively for RBS current account customers.

Watch director JJ Abrams’ and producer Steven Spielberg’s, much hyped epic Super 8 (12A), in the beautiful setting of Hopetoun House.

Bring a picnic, bring your friends and enjoy an evening of film under the stars.

Ticket available only to RBS current account customers. Terms & Conditions apply. Visit the website for more information

Watch Super 8 at an RBS Film First Outdoor Screening

Date: Thursday 18th and Friday 19th August 2011
Venue: Hopetoun House, South Queensferry, West Lothian, EH30 9SL
Doors Open: 18:30 pm
Tickets: £8 early bird until 31 July 2011. £12 standard.
Only RBS current account customers may purchase tickets
Purchase tickets online

 

5 Films to see at the cinema this week

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

The final cinematic instalment is out this Friday in glorious 3D. Be sure to buy tickets early as anticipation for Harry’s final showdown with Lord Voldemort has reached fever pitch. If you get along to The Odeon at midnight on Thursday you can actually be among the first to watch it in Edinburgh – with your own Harry Potter 3D glasses!

Midnight Tango-Live

Watch the Strictly Come Dancing duo, Vincent Simone and Flavia Cacace, dance live for one night only on Wednesday 17 July 2011. The show will be broadcast live from the Bristol Hippodrome during its sold-out run of 80 dates nationwide and features a cast of elite tango dancers. It is showing in Cineworld at 19.15 and Vue cinema in Omni Centre at 19.30.

Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara

For those looking for alternatives to the usual Hollywood fare this Bollywood road trip movie offers a breath of fresh air. Watch three men embark on a journey full of surprises through Egypt and Spain. The film will be showing at Cineworld this Friday.

The Tree of Life

An all-star cast including Brad Pitt and Sean Penn brings this soul searching story to life. This movie won the prestigious Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Three daily showings of this film at The Cameo.

Bridesmaids

If you haven’t already seen it be sure to catch this hit comedy which has been hailed as the female equivalent of The Hangover. Perfect for a girls’ night out? Various times at Cineworld.

A wee preview here:-

Scottish Film Investors Night

The Scottish Government last week pledged to host a Scottish Film Investors Night. Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop said the Government would bring together potential investors and film-makers to nurture financial support and create opportunities for the film industry.

The Investors Night will allow film-makers from across Scotland to showcase short films with a view to attracting the investment needed to create feature-length movies.The Scottish Government will explore options with Creative Scotland, the Edinburgh and Glasgow Film Festivals and the film industry to ensure the event is mutually beneficial.

Speaking during a parliamentary debate where she outlined the Government’s ambitions for Scotland culturally and internationally, Ms Hyslop said:”This Government is committed to supporting the Scottish film industry and encouraging talented film-makers to succeed in these challenging times. The Scottish Film Investors Night will kick-start the industry by bringing together potential investors from the business community with Scotland’s talented emerging film-makers.”This week the First Minister and I met with key players from the film and screen industries who are in Edinburgh for our world renowned International Film Festival. This event will build on that, providing a clear focus and target for aspiring film-makers as well as outlining the opportunities and benefits for potential investors – including tax incentives.

We will work with Creative Scotland, the Edinburgh and Glasgow Film Festivals and the film industry to maximise the potential of these events and create opportunities for our home-grown film-making talent to flourish.”

Ahead of the debate Ms Hyslop opened the newly renovated Scotsman Steps. This unique Edinburgh landmark has been revitalised by Turner Prize winning artist Martin Creed. Commissioned by The Fruitmarket Gallery with support from Scottish Government’s Edinburgh Festivals Expo Fund for the Edinburgh Art Festival, the work involves Martin Creed re-surfacing the Steps with different and contrasting marbles from all over the world.Ms Hyslop said:-”The Scotsman Steps are simply stunning. This historic landmark has been transformed by one of our leading contemporary artists, showcasing Scotland’s culture at home and internationally and creating an exquisite lasting legacy for the city and country as a whole. Scotland is a creative nation with a rich heritage and this project reflects our significant cultural contributions to the world.”

Martin Creed Work No. 1059, 2011. New Commission for the Scotsman Steps. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth.

Copyright: The Fruitmarket Gallery. Photograph: Gautier Deblonde.

EIFF – Shorts Weekender

By David Kettle

Edinburgh International Film Festival director James Mullighan explained his passion for short films in his introduction to one of the EIFF’s shorts weekender showings, as well as his intention to expand the festival’s coverage of the format. And judging by the 27 events spread over the weekend (which actually began last Wednesday), short films are in rude health. There was a noticeable buzz around the George Square Theatre as a diverse audience headed to catch some of the intriguing and sometimes challenging works on offer.

I only caught three of the bewildering panoply of events, but even those programmes were enough to show how wildly different styles and approaches can be.

The ‘Animated Extremes’ programme explored some of the far reaches of animation, although to be fair the only film approaching what could be called ‘extreme’ was the slick but bloody Let Me Come In, a wild-west retelling of the Three Little Pigs tale by recent Edinburgh College of Art graduate Paul Rice. Stuck in a Groove by Austrian Clemens Kogler presented a dizzying sequence of animated tableaux using just some finely crafted drawings on a spinning turntable – and, we were assured, it was filmed in real time without any ‘camera tricks’. Impressive stuff. As was Pigeon’s Milk by Milos Tomic from the Czech Republic, a film that dispensed with narrative but employed everything from photographs to sewing in its ever-changing animation.

Later the same evening, ‘Realms of the Unreal’ returned to live-action films, but with often unsettling themes of ritual and superstition. The Fisherman’s Daughter by young Edinburgh-based director Tom Chick featured some subtle performances in its tale of a selchie, or man-seal, in a remote Scottish island, and Estonian director Heleri Saarik’s Tale of a Nixie had a similar atmosphere, with sumptuous design and a glowing period feel.

The stand-out film for me, though, was the truly strange The Great Race by Kote Camacho of Spain, which combined found footage with newly shot scenes in a darkly humorous tale of a horse race whose jockeys are found hanged at the starting line.

Saturday’s ‘Animated Interactions’ collection focused on more human tales, from Jessica Ashman’s poignant childhood story Fixing Luca to a visually spectacular airborne battle in Paths of Hate by Polish director Damian Nenow. Danish director Helena Frank’s Heavy Heads was just weird – its enormous-headed woman gaining intimate pleasure from meatballs and a fly might well have belonged more naturally in the ‘extremes’ programme, although it was compelling nonetheless.

Nullarbor by Scottish-born, Australian-resident animator Alister Lockhart was an impressive piece of work based around a car race across Australia’s longest, straightest road – it was no surprise to hear that it had won best animation at the Sydney Film Festival and so might be in line for an Oscar. My favourite, though, was Thursday, the Royal College of Art graduation film by German-born, UK-based animator Matthias Hoegg, a visually stunning love story set in a near future populated by mimicking blackbirds, palm readers and lifts to the stars. Truly the stuff of wonder.

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