glasgow short film festival 18 - 20 february 2011 CCA, 350 sauchiehall street
contents Introduction
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Jury
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Competition Programmes 1–8
4–11
No Wave Cinema: New York Underground 1976–1982
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The Shame and the Glory: 10 Years of DigiCult
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Miranda Pennell Retrospective
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Starting Block and Second Light Premieres
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Naomi Kawase Focus
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Lighting the Way: Artists’ Short Film from India
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Panel Discussions and Workshops
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Parties and Social Events
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Exhibitions
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Calendar
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funders
partners programme supporters
tickets
Standard price tickets: £7.50 full price / £6 concessions Some special events, talks and workshops: £4 (see individual listings for details) To reward the loyalty of GFT CineCard and Cineworld Unlimited Card holders, we’re offering £1 off all standard full price and concession tickets. Tickets must be purchased in advance from the Central GFF Box Office at GFT or www.glasgowfilm.org/festival.
Love short film? Take advantage of GSFF saver deals!
GSFF 3 ticket deal – £15 for 3 programmes GSFF 6 ticket deal – £24 for 6 programmes GSFF Saver Deals can only be redeemed against standard price tickets within the GSFF programme. No further discounts apply. All tickets must be purchased in one transaction, either online or at CCA or GFT Box Offices. Certification: Films not certified by the BBFC are marked N/C and accompanied by an age recommendation i.e. N/C 15 + (suitable for ages 15 and older, no-one under 15 will be admitted).
VENUE All screenings and events take place at CCA, 350 Sauchiehall Street, G2 3JD, with the exception of the Closing Party, which takes place at The Sub Club, 22 Jamaica Street, G1 4QD. For more information about CCA, visit www.cca-glasgow.com or call 0141 352 4900.
HOW TO BUY TICKETS event partners
IN ADVANCE ONLINE From Thursday 20 January tickets for all events can be purchased from www.glasgowfilm.org/festival or www.cca-glasgow.com Tickets can be purchased online until 9pm the day before the performance. IN PERSON & OVER THE PHONE From Thursday 20 January you can purchase tickets for most events from the Central GFF Box Office at GFT (12 Rose Street, G3 6RB). You can call Box Office on 0141 332 6535. COLLECTION You can collect your advance tickets from the GFF Central Box Office at GFT up until 9pm the day before the performance. On the day of the event, tickets must be picked up at CCA .
THANKS
ON THE DAY
Rosie Crerar / All staff and volunteers of Glasgow Film / Francis McKee, Jamie Kenyon, Kenny MacLeod and all staff of CCA / Sambrooke Scott, Jennifer Armitage and all at Creative Scotland / George Clark / Lorraine Wilson / Noriko Nakahama Davidson / David Ferguson at swatpaz.net / Emily Munro / Penelope Rose Bartlett / Stuart Torrance / Beth Armstrong and Dale Corlett at GMAC / Marie Olesen at Diversity Films / Amy Roberts at BBC / Paul Welsh at DigiCult / Ben Cook and Mike Sperlinger at LUX / Sonja Henrici, Finlay Pretsell and Flore Cosquer at SDI / Mark Daniels at New Media Scotland / Karen O’Hare at Screen Academy Scotland / Charlie Philips at Sheffield Doc/Fest / Andy Green at Distrify / Suzy Glass at Central Station / Dom Flannigan at LuckyMe / Jonnie Wilkes and Rachel Graham at Optimo / Carrie Skinner, Jen White and Juliet Fellows-Smith at The Mutual / Yuko Naito at Kumie Inc. / Fales Library, New York University / The Film-Makers’ Cooperative / International Short Film Festival Oberhausen / New York Public Library / Paul Kasmin Gallery / Estate of David Wojnarowicz / P.P.O.W. Gallery / Chatterjee and Lal / Gerald Weber at sixpackfilm / Laura Frencia at ART for The World Europa / Amandine Boué at Autour de Minuit / All our speakers, panel participants and our jury – Frank Moens, Miranda Pennell and Richard Raskin
IN PERSON On the day of the event tickets must be collected or purchased at CCA. Tickets to the Closing Party are only available on the door at The Sub Club.
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Please see www.glasgowfilm.org for full terms and conditions.
box office 0141 332 6535
INTRODUCTION
We are entering a new period of uncertainty for British short film production. The closure of the UK Film Council and the regional Digital Shorts schemes affords an opportunity to pause and reflect on the methods and practices that have driven short filmmaking in recent years. In the regional schemes, a specific industry-focused development process came to dominate. Anyone working in short film production today would be forgiven for thinking there was no alternative to this process of script development, in which scriptwriting and production are understood as two separate stages, and narrative is governed by conflict and character progression. To ignore the possibility of different approaches is to overlook many of our finest filmmakers, from Michael Powell to Mike Leigh, for whom the division between conception and execution is not so clear-cut. In the case of short film, the most distinctive examples of the form benefit from a plurality of approaches, industry-standard script development being just one of these. This year’s GSFF programme displays the rich variety of short filmmaking practices out there, from the formal experimentation of Miranda Pennell’s dance-influenced work to the frenetic free-flowing New York No Wave films of the late 1970s and the simple lyricism of Japanese director Naomi Kawase’s autobiographical films. Screenwriter Richard Raskin proposes a non-formulaic approach to short narrative structure and we celebrate a decade of new work from Glasgow’s DigiCult, a scheme that has danced the fine line between creativity and industry expectations. We also promote new models for fostering emerging talent from GMAC and Diversity Films, built around apprenticeships and drawing under-represented groups into the industry. And of course our international competition selection is as diverse and surprising as ever. Perhaps this uncertain cultural climate is the right time to begin a debate on how we can open up short film production in the UK to a greater pluralism of approaches, welcoming in diverging models of development to form a rich, varied and inclusive short film culture. Let that debate start here at CCA this February! As we went to press we heard the appalling news that director Jafar Panahi has been sentenced to six years’ imprisonment by the Iranian government, and banned from making films, speaking to the media or travelling abroad for twenty years. We are screening Panahi’s film The Accordion in Competition 8, and dedicate the Festival to him. Director – Matt Lloyd Programmer – Gail Tolley Films Coordinator – Jule Rozite Guest Coordinator – Jen White
GSFF SHORT FILM AWARD
GLASGOW
SHORT FILM AWARD
For the second year, an international jury will present the GSFF Short Film Award to the film they consider the most innovative and outstanding work in the programme. You will be able to vote for your favourite to win the Audience Award. The results will be announced and screened at our special closing ceremony featuring vocalist Wounded Knee (see page 15).
JURY Frank Moens
Since 2004 Frank Moens has been programme director for Fonk Vzw, a Belgian non-profit film organisation that produces the Leuven International Short Film Festival and associated short film DVD label, Selected Shorts. Fonk Vzw also runs Cinema ZED, an arthouse film theatre and a documentary film festival, Docville. In 1999 Frank founded the online film magazine, kutsite.com, and in 2005 he created kortfilm.be, one of the first dedicated short film websites. A year later, kortfilm.be became the first online-only magazine in Belgium to receive government funding.
Miranda Pennell
Film and video-maker Miranda Pennell originally trained in contemporary dance and more recently studied visual anthropology at Goldsmiths, London. Her work has been shown in different contexts including independent cinema, gallery and broadcast. Recent exhibition has included a one-person show at the Centre pour l’Image Contemporaine, St Gervais Geneva, and retrospective programmes at Tampere International Short Film Festival, Finland; Cinema Nova, Brussels; Tabor Film Festival, Croatia; and Centre de Cultura de Contemporanea, Barcelona. Miranda lives in London.
Richard Raskin
Richard Raskin was born in New York and emigrated to Denmark in 1972 where he teaches screenwriting and video production at Aarhus University. He edits the journal Short Film Studies, published by Intellect in the UK. Richard has written several books on the short film including The Art of the Short Fiction Film: A Shot-by-Shot Study of Nine Modern Classics (2002). He has served as jury president at international short film festivals in France, Belgium, Holland, India and Denmark, and frequently lectures at film schools and festivals.
buy tickets online at www.glasgowfilm.org/festival
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Competition 1: Far From Home Our first international selection features protagonists both real and imagined, forced to make temporary homes in strange lands, or desperately struggling to preserve a sense of home against the odds. CCA 4, Friday 18 February (15.00), Saturday 19 February (19.00) 1h30, N/C 15+
Berlinskaya Fuga
UK Premiere / Dénes Nagy / Hungary / 2009 / 14 min / Documentary / dini.nagy@yahoo.com
The industrial metropolis of Donetsk, Ukraine. Pollution, stray dogs and endless lines of broken down blocks of flats. Five-year-old Alesia is growing up with love and hope. Filmography: Report (2010); Russian Playground (2008); Vmeste (2007); The Invisible Man (2006); Eva Kovacs (2005); 2003 November (2004)
Steglitz House
Scottish Premiere / Bridget Baker / Germany & South Africa / 2010 / 9 min / Experimental / bab@icon.co.za
Steglitz House was filmed inside a miniature construction of a 1930s West Berlin home in the Arikalex Museum in Steglitz, Berlin. Filmography: The Pilot (2007–8); Extra Soles (2003–8); Sometimes Wondering (2000–8); Interviews with Mouths (1999); Stitch (1998–9)
Samaritan
Scottish Premiere / Magnus Mork / Norway / 2010 / 29 min / Fiction / amb@nfi.no
Knut is a lonely middle-aged man, in desperate need of company. Mirza is an illegal immigrant, in need of all the help he can get… An unequal relationship or a possible friendship? Filmography: Kompisar (2007)
Romanes
Scottish Premiere / Annja Krautgasser / Austria / 2009 / 16 min / Documentary / office@sixpackfilm.com
In the capital of Italy there’s a special camp for the Romanies. Their lives are captured on film with a hand-cam. You won’t get any closer to reality than this.
Filmography: Zandvoort (2009); Sa Sagra (2008); Prologue: Prelude (2007); Frame (2002); Rewind (2000); Perceptive Faculty 2 (1999)
The April Chill (APRILIS SUSKHI)
Scottish Premiere / Tornike Bziava / Georgia / 2010 / 15 min / Fiction / d.guiraud@adastra-films.com
This is the story of a Soviet military serviceman and a young Georgian dancer. It’s an anti-violence film about the awakening of humanity where you least expect it. Filmography: directorial debut
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Competition 2: Lonesome Road Bewildered travellers set off into the unknown whilst others watch the world pass them by. Exile has its demons but also a chance at redemption. Take a trip from Thailand to Madagascar, by way of a terrifying post-apocalyptic landscape. CCA 4, Friday 18 February (17.00), Saturday 19 February (21.00) 1h30, N/C 15+
Canopy Crossings
World Premiere / Gary Yong / Thailand & USA / 2010 / 19 min / Fiction/Documentary / reachme@garyyong.com
Welcome to the famous Maeklong market, where vendors have grown accustomed to their unusual routine. Eight times daily, they must halt business and pull in the market’s low canopy to give way to the passing train. Filmography: directorial debut
Shadows of Silence
Scottish Premiere / Pradeepan Raveendran / France / 2010 / 11 min / Fiction / ravideep12@gmail.com
A heartfelt look at the personal torment of a man living in exile with his wife and family, and the permanent presence of pain and alienation in the depths of his heart. Filmography: A Mango Tree in the Front Yard (2009)
MRDRCHAIN
UK Premiere / Ondrej Svadlena / Czech Republic & France / 2010 / 10 min / Animation / festivals@ autourdeminuit.com
The trials and tribulations of Sliceman in the dark and frightening land of the murderchain. Filmography: Trik (2005); Animovany Film (2000); RiBiChKi (1998); Stromovkar (1997)
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Scottish Premiere / Piers Thompson / UK / 2010 / 25 min / Fiction / piers@hectorfilms.co.uk
A woman arrives at a port town in an unknown country as dawn turns to day. She is searching for something, a shape or a structure, which we are not even sure exists. Filmography: k (2008); Sometimes I’m Thinking that I Love You But I Know it’s Only Lust (2006); Waverley (2005); Stories Above (2001); Surface (2000)
Madagascar, A Journey Diary
Scottish Premiere / Bastien Dubois / France / 2009 / 12 min / Animation / contact@sacrebleuprod.com
A journey diary that redraws the trip of a European traveller confronted with Famadihana customs. The pages of the diary turn, then the drawings come alive. Filmography: AH (2006)
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Competition 3: Crossing the Line Featuring films from Scandinavia to New Zealand, our third international selection considers borders, barriers and the world beyond our comfort zone. The barbarians are at the gates – should we batten down the hatches or throw the doors wide open? CCA 4, Saturday 19 February (13.00), Sunday 20 February (11.00) 1h30, N/C 15+
Surpriseville
Scottish Premiere / Tim Travers Hawkins / UK / 2010 / 10 min / Documentary / carina_wilson1@hotmail.com
Surprise, Arizona, is a master-planned city, where everything is done to make your life as safe as possible. Strict by-laws, gates and walls ensure that you have nothing whatsoever to fear. Filmography: 1000 Voices (2009); Oury Jalloh (2008); El Otro Lado de la Cienaga (2008); China o Japon? (2007)
Flag Mountain
Scottish Premiere / John Smith / UK / 2010 / 8 min / Experimental / info@johnsmithfilms.com
A view across the divided city of Nicosia; from the Greek Cypriot south to the mountains of the Turkish Republic in the north.
Filmography (selected): Hotel Diaries (2001–7); Lost Sound (2001); The Waste Land (1999); Blight (1996); Om (1986); The Girl Chewing Gum (1976); Associations (1975)
The Barbarians
Scottish Premiere / Jean-Gabriel Périot / France / 2010 / 5 min / Experimental / contact@sacrebleuprod.com
We are scum! We are barbarians!
Filmography (selected): The Delicate Art of the Bludgeon (2009); Between Dogs and Wolves (2008); 200,000 Phantoms (2007); Even if She Had Been a Criminal… (2006); Dies Irae (2005); We are Winning Don’t Forget (2003); Before I was Sad (2002)
Wood of Value
Bjorn Bratberg / Norway & UK / 2010 / 16 min / Documentary / mail@bjornbratberg.com
A tree’s journey from the forests of Norway to the metropolis of London. The annual tradition of transporting a Christmas tree across the North Sea has been running for more than sixty years. Filmography: Rafiki (2009)
X.O. Genesis
European Premiere / Rowan Wernham / New Zealand / 2010 / 12 min / Animation / blackwater.exogenesis@gmail.com
The story of a crash-landed alien on the path to rapture, through a clash of materials and ideas. As the film’s protagonist wanders through a tactile, painterly landscape, competing religions and insistent gods vie for his attention. Filmography: directorial debut
Checkpoint
International Premiere / Ruben Amar / France / 2010 / 19 min / Fiction / info@carlitofilms.com
Suleiman, an eleven-year-old Palestinian boy, lives in a small village in the Gaza strip. Every month he goes with his father to the ruins of a destroyed village. Though he doesn’t understand his father’s weird ritual, Suleiman feels he has a duty to help him.
Filmography: A Girl Like You with a Boy Like Me (2009); L’absente (2008); Des mots silencieux (2007); Objet perdu(e) (2006)
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European Premiere / Laurel MacDonald / Canada / 2010 / 7 min / Experimental / info@improbablemusic.com
Twenty-one Canadian singers perform a contemporary resetting of a fifteenth century choral piece, each singing in the language of his or her personal heritage. Filmography (selected): One Two Many Few (2010); Sequential Duet (2010); if I love you if you love me (2009)
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Competition 4: The Creature Walks Among Us Normality is turned on its head by the intrusion of animals big and small in our fourth international selection. Who could imagine the transformative power of mice, pigs, birds, goats and even chameleons? No sign of man’s best friend though. CCA 4, Saturday 19 February (15.00), Sunday 20 February (19.00) 1h30, N/C 15+
The Cage (Colivia)
Adrian Sitaru / Romania & The Netherlands / 2009 / 17 min / Fiction / monica@4prooffilm.ro
Alex comes home with an injured bird and wants to keep it. His father refuses to accept the bird and conflicts begin to grow between them. Who will convince the other? Filmography: Lord (2009); Pescuit sportiv (2008); Waves (2008)
The Long Walk of the Chameleon
European Premiere / Idrissa Ouedraogo / Burkina Faso / 2010 / 7 min / Fiction / directors@artfortheworld.net
According to tradition, the chameleon anticipates bad luck. If someone offends a chameleon, his actions will be punished…
Filmography: La Mangue (2008); Kato Kato (2006); 11’09”01 – September 11 (2003); Samba Traore (1992); Yam daabo (1986)
The Worm Inside
Scottish Premiere / Sam Firth / UK / 2010 / 10 min / Documentary / claudiaf@talktalk.net
A filmmaker grapples with the mysteries of the human body, the failings of a homogenised medical system and the seductive nature of alternative medicine. Filmography: ID (2009)
In A Pig’s Eye
UK Premiere / Atsushi Wada / Japan / 2010 / 10 min / Animation / wada@kankaku.jp
A huge pig is lying down in front of a house. Humans live in the house. Everyone knows about the pig, and the pig knows about the family, but they all deal with it in different ways. Filmography: The Mechanism of Spring (2010); A Manipulated Man (2006); Day of Nose (2005); Dancer of Vermicular (2004)
Mokhtar
UK Premiere / Halima Ouardiri / Canada / 2010 / 16 min / Fiction / halima@eyesteelfilm.com
The tale of a young boy who lives in a remote Moroccan village. One day he finds a fallen owl and decides to keep it, despite the fact that the owl is considered a bad omen. Filmography: directorial debut
Narrow Gauge
World Premiere / Joseph Briffa / UK / 2010 / 22 min / Fiction / narrowgaugefilm@gmail.com
After years of trying for a baby, Will and Jeanne accept they are unable to conceive. An uninvited and heavily pregnant visitor comes to stay. Will they welcome into their home what they desire most? Filmography: The Harvest (2006); Events Immediately Leading Up to (and Including) The First Time I Killed (2005); Six Hours of Daylight (2004)
Spider Fang!
World Premiere / Justin Perkinson / USA / 2010 / 2 min / Fiction / justin.perkinson@gmail.com
In this staring contest between adorable little Millie and her goofy grandpa, it’s all fun and games... until it’s not! Filmography: directorial debut
buy tickets online at www.glasgowfilm.org/festival
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Competition 5: Talk To Me What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate. Codes are misunderstood, either willfully or helplessly. Even keeping a promise can risk others’ incomprehension. But for those who persevere, a new world might just be revealed. CCA 4, Friday 18 February (13.00), Saturday 19 February (17.00) 1h30, N/C 15+
Deafness (Gluckhota)
Scottish Premiere / Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy / Ukraine / 2010 / 11 min / Fiction / mslaboshpytskiy@yahoo.com
A ten-minute episode in the lives of the pupils at a deaf-mute boarding school. Filmography: The Incident (2006); The Guard (1995)
Tord & Tord
UK Premiere / Niki Lindroth von Bahr / Sweden / 2010 / 10 min / Animation / niki.lindroth@gmail.com
One day Tord accidentally walks into the apartment next to his own. Another person named Tord has just moved in. Tord and Tord start to spend time with each other. Filmography: En Natt i Moskva (2008)
The External World
UK Premiere / David O’Reilly / Germany / 2010 / 18 min / Animation / info@detailfilm.de
A boy learns to play the piano.
Filmography: Please Say Something (2009); Octocat Adventure (2008); RGB XYZ (2008)
If Only I Was Simone De Beauvoir
World Premiere / Kari Corbett / USA / 2010 / 5 min / Experimental / kari_corbett@hotmail.com
Actress Kari Corbett re-enacts her press interviews alongside the words of French theorist Simone De Beauvoir, to critique the cultural construction of female identity. Filmography: Uncontrollable Joy for Life (2010)
Lihya
World Premiere / Michael Windle / UK & Syria / 2010 / 28 min / Documentary / mike@porty.net
While on a residency in Syria, artist Mike Windle escapes the heat and goes for a shave in Adel Al 3aiek’s barbershop. There he makes a new friend and has a lesson in Arabic and music. Filmography: Beginning Ending (2005)
Promise
UK Premiere / Morten BH, Kirsten Dehlholm & Henning Carlsen / Denmark / 2010 / Fiction / 7 min / henrik@ radiatorfilm.com
A mother foretells a bright future for her ten-year-old son. The only one to believe her words is an old man who forces the boy to make him a curious promise. Only time will tell whether the boy will keep the promise or not. Filmography (selected): Project Ex (2009); Me & Che (2007)
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Competition 6: Iron Men Real men. In control. Taking care of business. But the mask is slipping and the cracks are showing in our sixth international selection, in which a series of alpha males lose their grasp on the world around them. Hilarious and tragic in equal measure. CCA 4, Friday 18 February (19.00), Sunday 20 February (13.00) 1h30, N/C 15+
Out in that Deep Blue Sea
Kazik Radwanski / Canada / 2009 / 16 min / Fiction / info@mdff.ca
A real estate agent encounters a slump late in his career. He struggles to find balance between his professional obligations and personal relationships. Filmography: Green Crayons (2010); Princess Margaret Blvd (2008); Assault (2007)
Picnic
Scottish Premiere / Henrik Andersson / Sweden / 2010 / 18 min / Fiction / info@opticalrecordings.se
Tommy and Monika take in the spectacular view from a mountaintop. It’s a beautiful summer day. Fluffy clouds drift by. The sky is blue. It’s a fine day for a picnic. Filmography: Incidenten (2007); Weekend (2006)
Picnicking Through Purgatory (and other things to do at night) International Premiere / Ryan Moloney / USA / 2009 / 13 min / Fiction / moloney.ryan@gmail.com
Over the course of an evening, two paramedics go on three calls. In between the calls, they pass the time in any way possible. Filmography: Ouroboros (2008)
On Your Own
Scottish Premiere / Jane Linfoot / UK / 2009 / 14 min / Fiction / janelinfoot@mac.com
A portrait of a boy in care and his lone struggle for acceptance and connection in the outside world. David secures a trainee job but does not disclose that he lives in care for fear it will hinder his chances of employment. His experience explores the difficult issues facing young care leavers. Filmography: Youth (2007); Creep (2005)
Death of a Pop star
World Premiere / Greg Loser / USA / 2010 / 15 min / Fiction / info@deathofapopstarfilm.com
A Nigerian housekeeper, a breezy chef, an agent to the formerly fabulous, and a misguided spiritualist form the bruised entourage of a music superstar in an examination of the unrelenting inertia of celebrity life. Filmography: Woodhull (2009)
The Pedestrian
Scottish Premiere / Stuart Elliott / UK / 2010 / 7 min / Fiction / suz.reid@mac.com
Most of us walk to get from A to B. But there are those who are obsessed with getting to B a bit quicker than everyone else. Jonathon Collins has never lost a Walk Off in his life – a statistic that he’s a bit too keen to share with the world. Filmography: Daddy (2008)
buy tickets online at www.glasgowfilm.org/festival
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Competition 7: Against The Tide Time marches on and the protagonists of our seventh international selection cling to a receding past. Some retreat into fantasy, others seek to reconnect with estranged friends and family. But their only hope is to shed sentimental trappings and step into the unknown. CCA 4, Saturday 19 February (11.00), Sunday 20 February (15.00) 1h30, N/C 15+
Low Tide (Bassa Marea)
UK Premiere / Roberto de Paolis / Italy / 2009 / 15 min / Fiction / robdepaolis@gmail.com
The story of a lonely man on a winter’s afternoon in a labyrinthine city. It’s a journey that represents a change of state, a growing awareness; a journey without ever leaving a room. And yet so real. Filmography: directorial debut
Caretaker For The Lord
World Premiere / Jane McAllister / UK / 17 min / Documentary / janealexis@hotmail.com
A fragile community clings on to a run-down church in Glasgow’s East End. With linedancing in the hall and solemn worship on the half-empty pews, the building’s final days tremble with a battle over space and souls. Filmography: Sporran Makers (2009)
Old Fangs
UK Premiere / Adrien Merigeau / Ireland / 2009 / 12 min / Animation / info@cartoonsaloon.ie
A young wolf has not seen his father since his mother chose to move away. He decides to finally confront him, with a group of friends for support. Filmography: directorial debut
Vapor
UK Premiere / Kaveh Nabatian / Canada / 2010 / 11 min / Fiction / infoloco@locomotionfilms.com
A Mexican man begins to understand his life when he is able to confront his own deep-seated prejudices. A graceful exploration of individuality in which acceptance is the key to transcendence. Filmography: (Rock the) Belz (2009); Celebrating New (2008); Sayeh (2004); Malek’s Poster (2000); Sausages (1996)
Just Before Dawn
Loren Slater / UK / 2010 / 11 min / Fiction / loren@signalfilms.co.uk
Two friends are on a mission to relive their youth. At an isolated late-night party one of them discovers this might be more difficult than she imagined. Filmography: The Wake (2009); Death in the Bay: The Cocklepicker’s Story (2006)
Party (Tulum)
Scottish Premiere / Dalibor Matanic / Croatia / 2009 / 15 min / Fiction / ankica@kinorama.hr
A girl is enjoying a careless summer day with her friends on the sunlit streets of Vukovar, where light-heartedness and leisure make everything seem nice and simple. Filmography: Kino Lika (2008); Volim te (2006); Sto minuta slave (2005); Susa (2002)
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Competition 8: Eye to Eye ‘Only connect,’ declared EM Forster. Easy for him to say. Friendship comes from unlikely quarters, while those who need us the most are often no good for us. A bittersweet selection about loneliness, comradeship and turning your life around. CCA 4, Friday 18 February (11.00), Sunday 20 February (17.00) 1h30, N/C 15+
Boxer
Andrew Cumming / Scotland / 2010 / 17 min / Fiction / andrew@kineticgroup.org
In a decaying Scottish community, a lonely man witnesses a violent attack that gives him a reason to exist. Filmography (selected): Social Circles (2008); Friendly Fire (2006); Oliver Harper’s First Date (2005); Bridge (2004)
For You I Will Fight (Pour Toi Je Ferai Bataille)
UK Premiere / Rachel Lang / Belgium / 2010 / 21 min / Fiction / rachel.lang.rl@gmail.com
Here you are a submissive body. We tell you who you are, why you are here, what you must do. Your time and space are marked out in squares, managed by others. Filmography: directorial debut
Photos of God
Scottish Premiere / Paul Wright / UK / 2010 / 28 min / Fiction / paulwrightscotland@hotmail.com
Forced to look after his disabled mother, Aaron has grown up cut off from the outside world. Together yet apart they live a fragile life of isolation, haunted by the memories that threaten to engulf them. Filmography: Until the River Runs Red (2010); Believe (2009); Hikikomori (2007)
The Accordion
Scottish Premiere / Jafar Panahi / Iran / 2009 / 9 min / Fiction / directors@artfortheworld.net
Two young street musicians play the accordion and the tablas to earn their living. One day, while they are playing in front of a mosque, their accordion is confiscated. Filmography (selected): Offside (2006); Crimson Gold (2003); The Circle (2000); The Mirror (1997); The White Balloon (1995); The Friend (1992); The Wounded Heads (1988)
buy tickets online at www.glasgowfilm.org/festival
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special programmes No Wave Cinema: New York Underground 1976–1982 No Wave 1: The Blank Generation – Saturday 19 February (21.00) No Wave 2: The Para-Punk Underground – Sunday 20 February (19.00) CCA 5, 1h30, N/C 18+ In the mid-1970s a desolate New York saw a radically divergent group of filmmakers take up cameras in a DIY ethos borrowed from punk to create a 'new wave of content-rich, performance-oriented narrative films' (J.Hoberman). These two programmes, specially compiled for GSFF 2011 by curator George Clark, present a diverse group of rare films, with a cast drawn from the underground music scene. No Wave 1: The Blank Generation explores New York and its inhabitants, from the post-apocalyptic Lower East Side of L.E.S. (Coleen Fitzgibbon, 1976), to David Wojnarowicz's staged portraits of drug casualties in Heroin (1981) and the CBGBs documentary Punking Out (Maggi Carson, Juliusz Kossakowski & Ric Shore, 1978). Also featuring She Had Her Gun All Ready (1978), Vivienne Dick’s punk psychodrama which pits Lydia Lunch against Pat Place. No Wave 2: The Para-Punk Underground includes films dealing with narrative and performance ranging from James Nares's junkie portrait Waiting for the Wind (1982) to Tessa Hughes-Freeland's Baby Doll (1982), an exploration of Go-Go dancers, and Beth B. and Scott B.’s aggressive direct address Letters to Dad (1978). Andrea Callard's 11 thru 12 (1977) is an irreverent performance to camera, while Bette Gordon's acclaimed Empty Suitcases (1980) explores alienation and terrorism in 1980s New York. We hope that filmmaker Andrea Callard will attend the screenings.
The Shame and the Glory: 10 Years of DigiCult CCA 5, Saturday 19 February (19.00) 1h30, N/C 18+
It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are making films, but for creative freedom alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself. Short film scheme? Collective? Mystical techno-sect? Find out what it’s all about as DigiCult celebrates a decade of adventurous commissioning with a showcase screening of award-winning and lesser-known work from the project’s backcatalogue. A strategic partner of UK Film Council, Scottish Screen and Creative Scotland, DigiCult is widely acclaimed for its commitment to the development of filmmaking talent in Scotland and elsewhere. Room for the Night / Vincent Hunter / 2002 / 11 min Lament / Graham Eatough / 2002 / 7 min Paper Anniversary / Joern Utkilen / 2004 / 10 min Quicken / Vicky Beattie / 2005 / 14 min Cotopaxi / Zack Copping / 2006 / 13 min The Corner Shop / Zak Hanif / 2006 / 10 min I’ll Be Right Here / Gregor Johnstone / 2010 / 18 min The Tannery / Iain Gardner / 2010 / 6 min With thanks to GMAC. DigiCult will be hosting a free party from 22.00 in the CCA Courtyard Café, all welcome.
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Miranda Pennell Retrospective CCA 5, Friday 18 February (19.30) UK 2001–2010, 1h30, N/C 15+
Miranda Pennell’s short films show a fascination with performance and choreography in everyday life. Pennell finds a fresh perspective on subject matter as diverse as stage fighting, marching soldiers and student musicians. Through a focus on rhythm, repetition and movement, Pennell presents a warm insight into the habits of humankind, occupying a unique space somewhere between dance film, documentary and fiction. Drum Room charts the idiosyncratic movements of practising musicians in a rehearsal studio, while Fisticuffs plays on the familiar TV scenario of the pub brawl. In You Made Me Love You a group of dancers play a game of cat and mouse with the camera, reversing the traditional relationship between the filmmaker and its subject matter. And for Tattoo, Pennell examines a marching regiment of soldiers whose mannerisms contrast with the surrounding countryside through which they pass. This retrospective screening includes the Scottish premiere of Pennell’s most recent film. Why Colonel Bunny Was Killed explores British selfrepresentation through a juxtaposition of still images of colonial life along the Afghanistan/Pakistan border at the turn of the century and voiceover readings from the diary of a missionary doctor. It’s a fascinating consideration of the construction of images in a conflict zone, with strong contemporary parallels. We are delighted to welcome Miranda Pennell to introduce the screening and discuss her work.
box office 0141 332 6535
Starting Block Premiere
Second Light Premiere
CCA 5, Saturday 19 February (16.00) 1h30, N/C 15+ Starting Block is a film scheme open to new filmmakers across Scotland, aged sixteen and over. From a longlist of surprisingly fresh and spellbinding short film ideas, six were selected and put through a further period of development before going into production. With subjects ranging from disability to sprouting sexuality, from alcoholism to autism and from farming to running, we present six very different films, comprising a series of captivating snapshots of Scotland today. Starting Block is an initiative of Diversity Films, a not-for-profit organisation set up in 2007 to find, nurture and mentor new filmmakers. In three years Diversity Films has worked with over 300 individuals aged nine-eighty+ to produce more than forty films.
CCA 5, Saturday 19 February (17.45) 45m, N/C 15+ GMAC presents the premiere of two short films by new Scottish talent from the Second Light apprenticeships. Words and emotions blur in Last Order, an offbeat love story. It's Sam's last day at work but will Laila reveal her true feelings? Inspired by the Edwin Morgan poem, In the Snack Bar is an elegiac tale of the unlikely connection of two outsiders. Will meeting Walter change Stephen’s life? Second Light is an eighteen-month training and production apprenticeship designed to redress the imbalance of underrepresented minorities in the UK film industry. It is funded by the National Lottery through the UK Film Council’s First Light initiative and Skillset as part of A Bigger Picture, the training and education strategy for the UK film industry.
This screening will be followed by drinks in CCA Courtyard Café in association with GMAC and Diversity Films.
All tickets £4. This screening will be followed by drinks in CCA Courtyard Café in association with GMAC and Diversity Films.
Naomi Kawase Focus Programme 1: Father Friday 18 February (CCA 5, 15.00) Sunday 20 February (CCA 5, 13.00) 1h35, N/C 15+ Programme 2: Mother Friday 18 February (CCA 5, 17.00) Sunday 20 February (CCA 4, 21.00) 1h35, N/C 15+ In 1997 Japanese filmmaker Naomi Kawase became the youngest ever winner of the Caméra d’Or at Cannes for her debut feature Suzaku. Ten years later The Mourning Forest took the Grand Prix. Kawase’s early short films are like fragile 8mm sketchbooks, capturing her immediate world with an openness that is both beautiful and devastating. We are delighted to present two rare screenings of her films. Programme 1: Father features Embracing (1992), about Kawase’s search for the father she never knew and the extraordinary documentary/fiction hybrid Kya Ka Ra Ba A (2001) in which Kawase attempts to form a connection with her father after his death. Programme 2: Mother comprises a loose trilogy of films about the great-aunt who raised her – Katatsumori (1994), See Heaven (1995) and Hi wa katabuki (1996). Kawase’s warmth towards this twinkling-eyed old woman is tempered by the inescapable sense of loneliness at having been abandoned by her parents. Thanks to the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation, and to Noriko Nakahama Davidson for translation.
buy tickets online at www.glasgowfilm.org/festival
Lighting the Way: Artists’ Short Film from India CCA 5, Sunday 20 February (17.00) 1h30, N/C 15+ The contemporary art scene in India is relatively small – but vibrant, diverse and with all the potential that a truly emerging art scene can have. Just as India’s own industrial and economic transformation is fundamentally affecting its relationship with the rest of the world, artists are using a variety of techniques to explore how these changes affect their sense of self, national identity, cultural history and hopes for the future. The programme includes Chitra Ganesh’s What Remains, following a young woman who returns to her childhood home to find elements of her past need to be resolved. Ashish Avikunthak’s Endnote, based on Samuel Beckett’s Come and Go, explores memory, love and the construction of narrative itself. Tejal Shah’s acclaimed I Love My India explodes the notion of India as one of the world’s largest democracies, while Kiran Subbaiah’s short films use deadpan humour and a crude aesthetic to explore the simple contradictions we all face in everyday existence. This programme is curated by Lorraine Wilson and screens as part of Glasgow Film Festival’s Beyond Bollywood strand.
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panel discussions and workshops
Panel: Is Filmmaking a White Middle-Class Career Choice? CCA 5, Saturday 19 February (13.00) 1h15, 15+ Do the British film and television industries reflect real diversity in 2010 or is filmmaking still an exclusionary field? How do you get a foothold in the industry when you can’t find a way in? Working for free may not be an option for those with no financial support or others dependent on their income. Does the climate of squeezed budgets create an industry that cannot embrace or reflect the diversity of our society? GMAC and Diversity Films host a debate looking at ways of ensuring diversity is as much a part of filmmaking as the film itself. Panelists will include Ewan Angus, Commissioning Editor of BBC Scotland, Atta Yaqub, actor (Ae Fond Kiss), Raisah Ahmed, Second Light apprentice and writer, Beth Armstrong from GMAC and Marie Olesen from Diversity Films. All tickets £4
Story Design in the Short Fiction Film CCA 5, Saturday 19 February (11.00) 1h30, 15+ Richard Raskin, filmmaker, screenwriting professor and editor of the journal Short Film Studies, proposes a fresh, nonformulaic model for short fiction script development. Unlike sequential models, which focus on a series of steps a story is presumed to pass through as it unfolds, Raskin’s approach is based on the view that short film storytelling can best be described in terms of opposing properties that balance one another in a dynamic interplay. Raskin will illustrate his lecture with short film examples. A must for filmmakers, writers and anyone wishing to gain a deeper appreciation of short film. All tickets £4. For a full biog of Richard Raskin see page 3.
Scotland Directs CCA 5, Saturday 19 February (14.30) 1h15, 15+ BBC Scotland is delighted to announce a yearlong scheme to encourage and celebrate new directing talent in Scotland. Join a panel of top directors for a discussion about directing for television and the transition from short filmmaking. Learn how you could move your career forward as we announce a competition to find the best new directors in Scotland. All tickets £4
FilmCamp CCA Clubroom, Friday 18 February (11.00 - 17.00) In September 2010, GFT and New Media Corp launched the first FilmCamp, a free, ‘un-conference’ devoted to sharing ideas about digital innovation and the moving image. GSFF takes up the baton with a day of workshops focusing on filmmaking and cross-media practice, led by experts in the field. Topics as diverse as 360 degree camerawork and crowd-funding will be explored, alongside presentations from filmmakers and practitioners. FilmCamp promises to be a lively day of fresh thinking, not to be missed by filmmakers and moving image artists. Free but limited entry. To reserve your place or for more info go to www.glasgowfilm.org/festival/filmcamp
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Panel: 1st Person Filmmaking CCA 5, Sunday 20 February (15.15) 1h30, 15+ To accompany our focus on Naomi Kawase, Scottish Documentary Institute presents a discussion on firstperson filmmaking. Kawase visualises personal experience by incorporating into her work 8mm footage alongside photographs, fictionalised scenes and even cannibalised sequences from previous films. Her collage-like short films are reminiscent of the Orcadian filmmaker Margaret Tait, who similarly explored the world immediately around her. SDI will bring together a panel of experts to discuss techniques and challenges of first-person filmmaking. Sam Firth will screen her award-winning film ID. Edinburgh-based filmmaker Amy Hardie will discuss the experience of making her feature The Edge of Dreaming. Ben Cook of LUX will discuss firstperson filmmaking from an artists’ moving image perspective. All tickets £4
LUX LUX is an international arts agency, based in London, for the support and promotion of artists’ moving image practice and the ideas that surround it. LUX exists to provide access to, and develop audiences for, artists’ moving image work; to provide professional development support for artists working with the moving image; and to contribute to and develop discourse around practice.
film collective workshop CCA Clubroom, Saturday 19 February (16.30) 1h30, 18+
Mike Sperlinger and Benjamin Cook, the directors of LUX, will lead a workshop considering the history and potential future of collectives and other collaborative networks for artists’ moving image. This workshop is organised as part of an ongoing collaboration between LUX and CCA Glasgow to establish a new support structure for artists’ moving image in Scotland.
one-to-one sessions CCA Clubroom, Sunday 20 February (sessions available from 11.00 until 17.00) 1h, 18+ Mike Sperlinger and Benjamin Cook will conduct short oneto-one sessions with local artists working with the moving image who are no longer in full-time education. These are informal sessions aimed at developing a wide-ranging dialogue around your practice and can involve any or all of the following areas: •• Looking at and discussing your work •• Advice on developing your practice
•• Advice on exhibition possibilities, appropriate organisations and events to approach •• Self-promotion advice •• Funding advice
•• Production advice Tickets for each event £4. To book a place, or for more information, please contact shorts@glasgowfilm.org.
box office 0141 332 6535
parties and social events
GSFF Opening Night Party with LuckyMe CCA Courtyard Café, Friday 18 February (22.30 – late) 18+ This young record label and collective born out of the Glasgow School of Art has grown to become one of the country’s primary independents. After last year’s incredible launch we insisted they come back for a special visual show. This year sees the return the Miami laser rock band, American Men, alongside The Blessings, Eclair Fifi and a special secret guest who’s passing through Glasgow. LuckyMe have promised us an essential show, and boy do we believe them. All tickets £4
Optimo presents: GSFF Closing Party at Hung Up! The Sub Club, 22 Jamaica Street, Sunday 20 February (23.00 – late) 18+ With a musical heart fuelled by the seedy and fertile music of the NY downtown disco and no wave scenes, Optimo’s HUNG UP! party is the ideal rhythmic and sensory conclusion to a programme which gives a rare glimpse into the shadowy and extraordinary underbelly of the sleazy musical world of 1980s New York. Hang out… and get HUNG UP! Ticket price TBC, available on the door (discounted entry for GSFF ticket holders)
Festival Breakfast CCA Courtyard Café, Sunday 20 February (11.00) 2h Join the GSFF team for Sunday brunch and an informal Q&A with the competition directors attending the Festival. Put your questions to the filmmakers or just ease yourself into a busy day of short film viewing! Entry is free, but please reserve a place in advance by emailing shorts@glasgowfilm.org
GSFF Award Ceremony with Wounded Knee CCA 5, Sunday 20 February (21.15) 1h30, 15+ We round off the competition with the announcement of our jury and audience award-winners. The winning films will be screened, followed by a very special live performance. Wounded Knee has developed a distinctive, vocal oriented sound built from simple repeating live loops. He creates a strange and timeless Janus music that looks both to the chants and worksong of the old and the mechanised minimalism of the new. For GSFF he will be performing a soundtrack to rare films drawn from the Scottish Screen Archive. All tickets £4
The Mutual Artists’ Film Showcase CCA Foyer, Friday 18 – Sunday 20 February
Formed in 2009, The Mutual was conceived as a creative collective by art graduates facing an extremely uncertain future. Since then it has rapidly grown from a loose association to a membership organisation of almost 200 creative practitioners. The Mutual are delighted to present a showcase of recent work from young emerging artists. New names and familiar faces include Jude Browning, Jen Sykes, Vickie McDonald and Jonathan Long. Free entry. The Mutual will host drinks in CCA Courtyard Café at 6pm on Sunday 20 February
buy tickets online at www.glasgowfilm.org/festival
Short Order Chef CCA 5, Friday 18 February (13.00) 1h, N/C 15+ Come in out of the cold and enjoy a Friday lunchtime treat – soup, a sandwich and a programme of shorts. We present forty minutes of highlights chosen from our eight competition programmes. The selection will remain a secret until the curtains open, but we guarantee laughs, tears, drama and excitement – a whistle-stop world tour in your lunch hour! Lunch orders taken in the CCA Courtyard Café from 13.00, screening begins upstairs at 13.20.
CCA Exhibition: Harun Farocki CCA, Saturday 12 February – Thursday 3 March
Over a career of forty years, pioneering filmmaker, artist and writer Harun Farocki has made more than ninety films questioning the production and perception of images, and investigating how audio-visual culture relates to and affects politics, culture, technology and war. CCA presents an archive of works from across the artist’s career, ranging from experimental documentaries for cinema and television to large-scale installation.
Free entry. For more information go to www.cca-glasgow.com
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FilmCamp 11.00 - 17.00
12.00
Festival Breakfast 11.00 - 13.00
cca courtyard
the SUB CLUB
LUX One-to-One Sessions 11.00 - 18.00
cca clubroom
CCA 5
CCA 4
12.00
Competition 3 Crossing the Line 11.00 - 12.30
11.00
sunday 20 february
cca courtyard
cca clubroom
Kawase 1 13.00 - 14.35
Competition 6 Iron Men 13.00 - 14.30
13.00
14.00
Panel 1 13.00 - 14.15
Story Design in the Short Fiction Film 11.00 - 12.30
CCA 5
14.00
Competition 3 Crossing the Line 13.00 - 14.30
13.00
Competition 7 Against the Tide 11.00 - 12.30
12.00
16.00
16.00
18.00
LUX One-to-One Sessions continued
Lighting the Way 17.00 - 18.30
Competition 8 Eye to Eye 17.00 - 18.30
17.00
18.00
18.00
Second Light 17.45-18.30
Competition 5 Talk to Me 17.00 - 18.30
17.00
Kawase 2 17.00 - 18.35
Competition 2 Lonesome Road 17.00 - 18.30
17.00
LUX Workshop 16.30 - 18.00
Starting Block 16.00 - 17.30
16.00
Panel 2 15.15 - 16.45
Competition 7 Against the Tide 15.00 - 16.30
15.00
Scotland Directs 14.30 - 15.45
Competition 4 The Creature Walks... 15.00 - 16.30
15.00
Kawase 1 15.00 - 16.35
Short Order Chef 13.00 - 14.00
15.00 Competition 1 Far From Home 15.00 - 16.30
14.00
Competition 5 Talk to Me 13.00 - 14.30
13.00
CCA 4
11.00
saturday 19 february
cca courtyard
cca clubroom
CCA 5
CCA 4
Competition 8 Eye to Eye 11.00 - 12.30
11.00
friday 18 february
glasgow short film festival 2011
20.00
20.00
No Wave 2 19.00 - 20.30
Competition 4 The Creature Walks... 19.00 - 20.30
19.00
10 Years of DigiCult 19.00 - 20.30
Competition 1 Far From Home 19.00 - 20.30
19.00
20.00
Miranda Pennell 19.30 - 21.00
Competition 6 Iron Men 19.00 - 20.30
19.00
22.00
23.00
Closing Party 23.00 - 03.00
23.00
23.00
Opening Party 22.30 - late
DigiCult Party 22.00 - late
22.00
22.00
Closing Ceremony and Wounded Knee 21.15 - 22.45
Kawase 2 21.00 - 22.35
21.00
No Wave 1 21.00 - 22.30
Competition 2 Lonesome Road 21.00 - 22.30
21.00
21.00
24.00
24.00
24.00