Silent Classics To Strictly Luhrmann: 2015 Glasgow Film Festival Announces First Events

 Paul Merton paying live tribute to Buster Keaton. British Sea Power taking the O2 ABC back to its former cinematic history. Atmospheric new scorings of classic silent movies, a festival of internet cat videos, and a glitter-strewn homage to Baz Luhrmann in the grandiose surroundings of Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.... sounds like February in Glasgow.

Glasgow Film Festival is delighted to announce that tickets are now available for the first six events from its 2015 programme. The festival has grown a reputation for unique screenings in unusual venues – pop-up cinema events that bring the film into 3D. Previous events include a mystery potholing expedition to watch The Descent in a cavern under Central Station, screenings of Jaws and Peter Pan on board Glasgow’s Tall Ship, and Tron screened in a mocked-up 1980s video game arcade.

In their 2015 programme, GFF will return to Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery for a very special live dance show and screening of Strictly Ballroom, and also take over the atmospheric, Gothic surroundings of Pollokshaws Burgh Hall, as composer Irene Buckley premieres a brand new soundtrack to 1928 classic The Fall of the House of Usher on the Hall’s original Wurlitzer Cinema Organ. Comedy legend Paul Merton and award-winning silent film pianist Neil Brand have teamed up to pay tribute to another legend, Buster Keaton, with a hilarious live show. GFF is delighted to host the Scottish premiere of British Sea Power’s hugely acclaimed film/live score project From The Sea To The Land Beyond. The band headline a night of supercool audio/visual treats, celebrating the O2 ABC’s origins as one of Glasgow’s oldest cinemas. The phenomenal French bassist Renaud Garcia-Fons and his live band create an Eastern-Western fusion score to Lotte Reiniger’s magical 1926 animation The Adventures of Prince Achmed, while GFF brings Walker Art Center’s famous Internet Cat Video Festival (purretty much does what it says on the tin) to the UK with a premiere at GoMA

Co-Director of Glasgow Film Festival,  Allan Hunter said:“Our special events are a large part of what makes Glasgow Film Festival distinctive: people love to experience cinema in new ways, and we’re lucky to have such a wealth of exciting venues available in the city. This is only the tip of the iceberg, too: we’re going to announce a different pop-up event for every night of the festival at our programme launch in January. The programming team have really let their imaginations run riot this year, so we think audiences will be pretty excited by what’s in store.”

Strictly Ballroom at Kelvin-Groove!
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
Friday 20 February | 18.30 – 22.00 | £12/£10 | Tickets available from GFT Box Office

“Well of course, you can dance any steps you like! But that doesn’t mean you’ll...WIN!”

Following the success of 2014’s Monster Mash costume party and screening of Young Frankenstein, Glasgow Film Festival brings the glitz to Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum’s grand hall. As part of GFF’s Strewth! programme strand celebrating new and classic Australian cinema, audiences are encouraged to get their (Tina) sparkles on for a night of ritzy Aussie camp, wonderful dance and heart-thumping rhythm. Baz Luhrmann’s breakthrough feature, and the first of his Red Curtain Trilogy, Strictly Ballroom takes a tongue in cheek look inside the pressure-cooker world of competitive ballroom dancing, gleaming with fake tans and very real moves. The event combines a great film with a sequin-studded spectacular, as reigning Scottish Ballroom and Latin Dance Champions Tibor Poc and Hilary Mouat take to the floor ahead of the screening. And remember, a bit of musicality, please!

Part of the Strewth! strand celebrating Australian cinema

A Night at the Regal: Lost Map, Joe McAlinden, British Sea Power
O2 ABC
Thursday 19 February, 18.00 (doors) | £16/£14.50 | Tickets available from O2 ABC

In May 1896, Glasgow’s ABC venue (then an ice-rink called Hubner’s Palace) was site of the first-ever public film screening in the city. It opened as a fully-fledged cinema in 1929, under the name The ABC Regal, as one of the most prominent picture-houses in town. It has since become one of Glasgow’s biggest and most exciting music venues.

The festival will take over the O2 ABC for one night, as a joint venture between the new Cinema City and Sound & Vision programme strands, celebrating the venue’s history with film and music. Lost Map Records artists eagleowl and Monoganon investigate the relationship between sound and the moving image; Jarman Award nominees Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard, directors of the recent Nick Cave documentary 20,000 Days on Earth (winner: Directing Award, Sundance Film Festival 2014/ BIFA 2014 Best Newcomer winners) bring a live performance of their new film EDIT, live scored by Joe McAlinden (formerly of the band Superstar). Headlining the event are those pioneers of the esoteric rock soundscape, British Sea Power, who will perform the Scottish premiere of their hugely acclaimed live score created around Penny Woolcock’s powerful documentary From the Sea to the Land Beyond, with screening. This perfect synchronicity of film and music, sound and vision, has won awards and acclaim at rare screenings since its 2012 premiere at Sheffield Doc Fest; GFF is delighted to bring it to Scotland. Part of the Cinema City and Sound & Vision strands.

The Fall of the House of Usher: a silent classic with live organ score
Pollokshaws Burgh Hall
Sunday 22 February | 20.00 - 22.00 | £12/£10 | Tickets available from GFT Box Office

“Some silent films hold you outside: You admire them, but are aware of them as a phenomenon. With The Fall of the House of Usher, I barely stirred. A tone, an atmosphere, was created that actually worked...less a fiction than the realization of some phantasmagoric alternative reality.” – Roger Ebert

Based on Edgar Allan Poe’s jet-black short story, this 1928 film by French silent master Jean Epstein is the first true Gothic horror and an iconic visual masterpiece exploring the beauty and tension of life, love, and death. An ethereal new live score by composer Irene Buckley, featuring organ, electronics and live vocals, will be performed using the original Wurlitzer Cinema Organ in the historic, appropriate setting of Pollokshaws Burgh Hall to immerse the audience in a compelling meditation on the macabre. Buckley created the live soprano soundtrack to The Passion of Joan of Arc, which Glasgow Film Festival screened inside Glasgow Cathedral in 2013; the festival is delighted to welcome her back.Part of the Special Events strand

Buster Keaton Night with Paul Merton and Neil Brand
In partnership with Fruitmarket Nights: Classic Silent Movies
Old Fruitmarket
Monday 23 February, 19.30 | £14 (£12); £5 for under-26s | Tickets available from Glasgow Concert Halls and GFT Box Office

Paul Merton might never have become a comedian were it not for the influence of Buster Keaton: fabulous clown, unbelievably dauntless stunt man, matchless player/director. Merton and renowned silent film pianist Neil Brand are two of the most engaging and knowledgeable silent comedy buffs around, and together they present a fantastic evening of classic comedy, fascinating insights and facts and live music to celebrate one of the greatest funny men of all time.

The Adventures of Prince Achmed
In partnership with Fruitmarket Nights: Classic Silent Movies
Old Fruitmarket
Sunday 1 March, 18.30 | £14 (£12); £5 for under-26s | Tickets available from Glasgow Concert Halls and GFT Box Office

Lotte Reiniger’s classic silent film The Adventures of Prince Achmed inspires a remarkable East-West fusion from the phenomenal French bass player Renaud Garcia-Fons. Reiniger’s gorgeous silhouette animation tells stories from Arabian Nights, a world full of enchantments and danger, wizards, flying horses, evil genies, princes and princesses. Garcia-Fons and his live band draw on the musical traditions of the Mediterranean, taking sounds and ideas from Spain, Turkey, Morocco and Southern France, fusing them into an amazing new crossover score led by his own astounding playing. This event is suitable for all the family, but a special treat for lovers of silent film, fantasy, and brilliant world jazz. Part of the Sound & Vision and Modern Families strands

Cat Video Festival
GoMA
Saturday 21 & Sunday 22 February, 13.00­–16.00| FREE (advance booking on EventBrite)

GoMA and Glasgow Film Festival are delighted to present the UK premiere of the Internet Cat Video Festival, brainchild of the prestigious Walker Art Center, Minneapolis. As the first offline, social celebration of online cat videos, the Internet Cat Video Festival has proved to be a massive hit with audiences of all ages, and is now coming to Scotland following its roaring (or should that be purring?) success across the pond. The festival is a free live event, featuring a programme specially curated by Will Braden, creator of the Henri Le Chat Noir videos and recipient of the first Golden Kitty (People’s Choice) Award. Accompanied with some extra feline-themed activities, the videos in the programme range from clips dating back to 1901, to brilliant animations and shorts featuring some more familiar feline faces, and everything in-between. Part of the Modern Families strand

The eleventh annual Glasgow Film Festival will run from 18 February until 1 March and as ever  Cinehouse  will do their best to be there. The full programme will be launched on the evening of Wednesday 21 January and will be online from Thursday 22 January, we hope to be at that launch so stay tuned for those details. The tickets will be  on sale from Monday 26 of January at 10am. Passes for FrightFest go on sale from 10am on Thursday 22 January.

Early Bird tickets, which offer vouchers for bundles of discounted tickets, and an opportunity to book tickets early on Friday 23 January, are available now until 4 January, priced at 10 films for £50, 20 films for £90 and 40 films for £160. See www.glasgowfilm.org/festival/earlybirdfor full information.

source:Thepeoplesmovies

Winners of 67th Edinburgh International Film Festival Announced

The winners of this year’s prestigious Edinburgh International Film Festival awards were announced at the Festival’s awards ceremony, held at Filmhouse today and hosted by Grant Lauchlan, producer and presenter of stv’s Moviejuice. The ceremony took place ahead of Sunday’s Closing Night Gala, NOT ANOTHER HAPPY ENDING, which concludes the 12-day Festival.

The Award for Best Film in the International Competition was presented to Mahdi Fleifel’s A WORLD NOT OURS (Lebanon/UAE/Denmark/UK), which received its UK premiere here at EIFF. The award is given to filmmakers from outside of the UK in recognition of their imagination and innovation. Acclaimed South Korean director Bong Joon-ho chaired the International Feature Film Competition Jury, which also included actress Natalie Dormer and film critic Siobhan Synnot.

The jury citation read: “The International Jury loved this film’s warm regard for the people at the heart of the film. A difficult subject was handled with confidence and humour. We hope that many more people get the opportunity to see A WORLD NOT OURS.”

Mahdi Fleifel said: “I am immensely grateful to the programmers at the EIFF for inviting my film. I have lived, studied and worked in the UK for 13 years, but I've never managed to screen any of my work at a single British film event - not even my short films which were pretty successful internationally. Winning the prize in Britain's No. 1 Film Festival is too good to be true. I hope this will help bring our film to a wider audience in the UK and I would like to thank the jury for this wonderful honour.”

The jury also gave a special mention to Elias Giannakakis’ JOY (Greece). The citation read: “The Jury would like to make special mention of Elias Giannakakis’ unique character study in JOY and an outstanding performance by Amalia Moutousi.”

The Michael Powell Award for Best British Feature Film went to Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Véréna Paravel’s LEVIATHAN (UK/USA/France), which received its UK Premiere at the Festival. A visually stunning documentary, LEVIATHAN wins one of the longest-running film awards in the UK, honouring imagination and creativity in British filmmaking.

The winner was chosen by the Michael Powell Jury, chaired by Iranian director Samira Makhmalbaf and including actor and director Kevin McKidd and film critic Derek Malcolm. The jury described the film “as an original and imaginative documentary which observes the brutal routine of deep sea fishing in a way which completely immerses the watcher in its story.”

Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Véréna Paravel said: “We are totally bowled over by the news of this award. All our films have been rejected by every British film festival to date, so it is all the more moving for us! We also admire in so many ways the work of this jury, which makes this award especially meaningful to us both. It also gives us the courage and conviction to continue to keep pushing at the envelope - of cinema, of documentary, of art.”

The jury awarded a special commendation to Paul Wright’s FOR THOSE IN PERIL “for its passionate portrait of a young Scots survivor of a tragedy at sea.”

The Award for Best Performance in a British Feature Film was shared by Jamie Blackley and Toby Regbo for their performances as the dysfunctional schoolboys in uwantme2killhim? The performance awards were voted for by the Michael Powell Award Competition Jury.

Jamie Blackley said: “I felt lucky enough to hear that two films I was in had been selected for the EIFF, so to then win this award is a wonderful shock that I wasn’t expecting and I am proud to share it with Toby. I’d like to thank Andrew Douglas and the cast and crew for making the experience so special for me and to EIFF for making me feel so welcome.”

Co-star Toby Regbo added: "I'm absolutely over the moon. Making this film was so positive: a really interesting story, a great director and a superb actor to work opposite, what more could you want really? I'd like to say thank you to the EIFF for supporting British independent film and young actors."

Reinstated in 2013 after a two-year absence, The Audience Award, supported by Sainsbury’s Bank, went to FIRE IN THE NIGHT (UK) directed by Anthony Wonke for his deeply moving documentary detailing the 1988 Piper Alpha disaster in the North Sea. The film, which received its World Premiere at the Festival, skilfully combines archival footage, audio recordings and interviews with some of the 61 survivors of the disaster, some of whom are interviewed for the very first time.
Voted for by cinema-goers attending public screenings, films were eligible from across the Festival programme at the discretion of the Artistic Director.

Anthony Wonke said: “It’s 25 years ago this July that Piper Alpha exploded and sunk into the North Sea and we hope that with this film the memory of that fateful night that affected so many lives will act as a suitable remembrance. I'd like to thank everyone who voted for FIRE IN THE NIGHT, it really does mean an awful lot to everyone involved especially all the men who took part in the film. I know that they will be incredibly touched and thankful that the public engaged with this film and their story in such a positive way.”

EIFF Artistic Director Chris Fujiwara said: “The Audience Award, which we reinstated this year after a two-year hiatus, is not only one of the most significant of EIFF’s initiatives designed to engage audiences with cinema, it’s also one of the most fun. We’re delighted by the enthusiasm shown by our audience members who took part in choosing this award, and we’re grateful for the support and commitment of Sainsbury’s Bank.”

GHL by Lotte Schreiber won The Award for Best Short Film in the shorts category. The prize was one of three awards bestowed by the Short Film Competition Jury, which included International Film Festival Rotterdam programmer Inge de Leeuw (chair), film critic Christoph Huber and independent film programmer Ricardo Matos Cabo.

The jury citation read: “The jury unanimously gives this prize for Best Short Film to a visually and rhythmically precise architectural study that doubles as a portrait of current social changes with the ghost of capitalism haunting the space of a popular landmark of communal recreation erected as a socialist utopia in Vienna.

Lotte Schreiber said: "I am very proud to receive this amazing award from this fantastic film festival, which is the most exciting one I’ve ever received! I’m proud of my little team and I want to thank them all for their precious contribution to this little movie: especially Johannes Hammel, who did the breathtaking camerawork and Michael Krassnitzer for his perfect low-key acting. This award makes me sure to keep on filmmaking, even under extremely tough economic circumstances, which will probably become even tougher for all of us independent filmmakers in the next years. But it’s worth carrying on! I want to express my sincere gratitude to the Festival Programme Committee who has selected the Film to be part of the International Competition at EIFF and likewise to the Short Film jury members, who have put their whole confidence into this little Viennese movie.”

The Award for Creative Innovation in a Short Film, given for the first time this year, was awarded to DOLL PARTS by Muzi Quawson, as voted for by the Shorts Jury. The jury citation read: “The prize for creative innovation goes to a short that takes an unusual approach to documenting subculture and its protagonists, utilising paradoxical means. The film achieves a sense of drift by focusing on moments of stasis and capturing the energy of touring musicians through surprising ellipses and attention to incidental details.”

Another newly introduced award within the shorts category, The Award for Outstanding Individual Contribution to a Short Film, which celebrates imaginative and innovative work in short cinema, was awarded to Josh Gibson as Director of Photography of LIGHT PLATE, which he also directed.

The jury citation read: “The prize for outstanding contribution to a short film goes to the camerawork of a magical landscape study, capturing a day in the Tuscan countryside with a series of subtle, imaginative and mesmerizingly textured images forged with careful attention to the possibilities and beauty of 35mm films.”

Josh Gibson said: "I am honoured and humbled to receive this award and to be recognized along with this small, personal film at such a prestigious international film festival, brimming with work by talented people that I have admired for a long time. Unlike feature films, short films are delicate creatures that owe much to the programming. In shorts programmes the individual films reverberate against one another, sometimes changing fundamentally depending upon the other pieces in the programme. I especially want to thank the EIFF programmers for finding a place for LIGHT PLATE where its particular point of view and visual preoccupations could be acknowledged and admired."

The jury also gave a special mention to three filmmakers whose work holds great promise for the future: Charlotte Rabate for LUCILLE IN THE SKY; Ivan Castineiras for THE BORDER; and Anna Frances Ewert for ENDLESS DAY.

As voted for by the audience, The McLaren Award for Best New British Animation, supported by the British Council, went to MARILYN MYLLER by director Mikey Please and co-animator Dan Ojari. Named after Scottish-born filmmaker Norman McLaren, the McLaren Award is the longest running award celebrating creativity amongst UK animation talent. The award was presented at the awards ceremony by Richard Williams, widely regarded as one of the world's greatest animators.

Mikey Please said: “The team and I are absolutely thrilled to receive the prestigious McLaren Award. We hope that our gonzo, the-rules-are-there-to-break-them approach to filmmaking was very much in a spirit that would have made Norman proud. This was Marilyn's World premiere, so naturally we were very nervous about how she'd be received. To have the warm welcome of an audience vote is wonderful, the best result we could have possibly hoped for.”

The Student Critics Jury Award, supported by Morag and James Anderson, was awarded to CELESTIAL WIVES OF THE MEADOW MARI by Alexey Fedorchenko. The award was determined by a jury of seven aspiring film critics, Lewis Camley, Ruth Swift-Wood, Kathryn Craigmyle, Phil Kennedy, Catarina Mourao, Rebecca Lily Bowen and Vivek Santayana, who took part in a workshop on film criticism at EIFF under the guidance of Kate Taylor (Independent Cinema Office), Gabe Klinger (independent film critic and programmer) and Nick James (editor, Sight & Sound).

The jury citation read: “Bearing in mind what the Artistic Director said, film is reality and also something more. A witty, perceptive and beautiful celebration of folk mythologies”.

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