Curated & presented by Macrobert Arts Centre
TICKETS & INFO / FUNDERS VENUE Macrobert Arts Centre, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA BOOKING In person at the Box Office, 10am to 7:45pm (Mon to Thu) & 10am to 8:15pm (Fri to Sun) By phone on 01786 466 666 (10am-7pm) Or online at centscotdocufest.org TICKETS We want to make the Central Scotland Documentary Festival affordable to everyone, so this year we’re asking you to choose the ticket price that matches your circumstances. We don’t need to know the reasons for your choice, however when you book your tickets, we just ask you to make an honest choice: £8 / £5 / £2 FESTIVAL PASS (STANDBY): £25 Get entry to any film with tickets still available and priority on any returned tickets. This will be on a first come, first served basis and a queuing system will be in operation 30 mins before each screening.
TERMS & CONDITIONS All discounts and offers are subject to availability, cannot be retrospectively applied and are offered at the discretion of the Festival. We’re are unable to offer any refunds unless an event is cancelled – full terms and conditions on the website. Please note all films are subject to certification and that the programme is correct at the time of going to print, but is subject to change without prior notice. The Festival cannot be held liable for any arrangements made due to changes to the brochure. Please note there will be no adverts or trailers before any screening at the Central Scotland Documentary Festival and unless otherwise stated all films are rated 18 at time of going to print – please check the website for up-to-date BBFC ratings. 2 | centscotdocufest.org
WELCOME
Grahame Reid Head Curator & Programmer (Central Scotland Documentary Festival) Film Programmer (Macrobert Arts Centre) Our first Central Scotland Documentary Festival was the culmination of years of hard work and brought together an array of top documentaries from around the world. I might have been exhaling with relief ever since, but it was definitely only the culmination not a conclusion. In 2018 the conversation picks up on opening night with the Scottish premiere of the beautiful and endearing For the Birds and runs through to The Bigger Picture Show – a welcome return for Shona Thomson with a guided tour of some extraordinary documentary films. We are also pleased to welcome BAFTA nominated director Sean McAllister with his film A Northern Soul. The Hull Beats Bus, featured in Sean’s film, will also be part of the Festival programme, offering a day of hip-hop inspired workshops for young people. With lots more screenings and events, covering a whole host of topics for you to sink your teeth into, we’ve also introduced a pay-what-you-can pricing structure. We want to ensure that price is not a barrier to entertainment and money is not an obstacle to joining the conversation, so are asking you to make an honest choice about what price you can manage. Look out for details of more Q&As and added extras in the run up to the Festival and make sure that you bring your peers, your friends and your family to laugh, cry, learn, question, critique and be entertained.
Grahame Reid KEEP IN TOUCH Keep up to date with all the latest Central Scotland Documentary Festival news:
Sign up to the mailing list: centscotdocufest.org centscotdocufest.org | 3
DOCUMENTARY & FASHION
Join us for a celebration of the creative genius of Alexander McQueen, combining a charity fashion event and a screening of the new documentary about the iconic designer’s life and work. Wed 3 Oct, 6:30pm | Alhambra Theatre, 25 Stirling Arcade, King St, Stirling FK8 1AX In Partnership with
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MCQUEEN
Ian Bonhote / UK 2018 / 109 mins /
A personal look at the extraordinary life, career and artistry of Alexander McQueen. Through exclusive interviews with his closest friends and family, recovered archives, exquisite visuals and music, this is an authentic celebration and thrilling portrait of an inspired yet tortured fashion visionary.
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OPENING EVENT
FOR THE BIRDS Richard Miron / USA 2018 / 92 mins /
Kathy is a very unusual woman. She keeps pet chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys – 200 of them. Beginning as a story of her battle with animal advocacy groups this film slowly transforms into an intimate drama about her relationship with her husband Gary and the toll her 200 pet birds have taken on their marriage and her wellbeing. Told over the course of five years this is ultimately a tale of hope and the possibility of regaining one’s life. INTRODUCTION / PANEL: Join us for a post-screening Q&A with Director Richard Miron Thu 4 Oct, 7:30pm | Filmhouse
RICHARD MIRON Richard received his B.A. in Art from Yale University, where he won the Howard Lamar Prize, Yale’s top film award. He recently assistantedited Academy Awardnominated Life Animated and Art and Craft (Academy Award shortlist) as well as editing the feature documentary The Surrounding Game.
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DOCUMENTARY & LIVE MUSIC
ONE NOTE AT A TIME Renée Edwards / UK, USA 2018 / 95 mins /
When one of the most deadly and destructive hurricanes in American history hit the birthplace of jazz in 2005, the music stopped! Many displaced musicians felt compelled to return to New Orleans amid the chaos and bleak confusion as the flood defenses failed, and lives were shattered or lost altogether. This is their story, told in their own words, with those who fought alongside to resuscitate the music scene - in particular 6 | centscotdocufest.org
the founders of The New Orleans Musicians’ Clinic and Assistance Foundation, a unique medical facility with the motto… ‘Keeping the music ALIVE’. OSBORNE JAZZ QUARTET Enjoy a selection of live jazz standards from this talented quartet - Ben Eames (Piano), Bobby Osborne (Guitar), Fraser De Banzie (Drums) and Simon Toner (Bass) - before and after the film. Sat 6 Oct, 8pm | Filmhouse (Live Jazz from 7:15pm)
DOCUMENTARY & DINNER
MEETING JIM
Ece Ger / Turkey, Spain, UK, Germany, 2018 / 75 mins /
Meet Jim Haynes, an extraordinary 83-year-old man that people call the inventor of the social network – the reallife version of Facebook. His open Sunday dinners in Paris are a must for all ‘off the beaten track’ visitors. Throughout his life he has made friends and connections wherever he travelled. Share some of his experiences and memories as a journey to London and Edinburgh brings his past into the present.
Q&A:
Join us for a post-screening Q&A with director Ece Ger DINNER WITH THE DIRECTOR: We’re embracing the spirit of Jim’s Sunday dinners and inviting you to join us and director Ece Ger for some good food and conversation before the film. Bring your own food and if you’re happy to share with friends (old and new) even better – there will also be a selection of refreshments available to buy at the Café/Bar. Sun 7 Oct, 2:15pm | Filmhouse centscotdocufest.org | 7
DOCUMENTARY & HIP HOP WORKSHOP
A NORTHERN SOUL Sean McAllister / UK 2018 / 73 mins /
HIP-HOP WORKSHOP
Sean McAllister returns to his hometown of Hull to be creative director of the opening ceremony of the City of Culture Celebrations. Back living with his 90-yearold parents and reflecting on changes to a city hit by cuts in public spending and divided by Brexit, Sean is drawn to the fringes of town where he encounters Steve. A struggling warehouse worker by day and a hip-hop performer by night – Steve has dreams of his own.
For ages 7 to 13 I £40
INTRODUCTION / PANEL:
The Hull Beats Bus, featured in A Northern Soul, is making a special stop in Stirling and it’s your chance to get involved. Try out a range of activities – song-writing, DJing, breakdancing, graffiti art and learn about hip-hop history with a team of top artists.
Join us for a post-screening Q&A with Director Sean McAllister
Sun 7 Oct, 10:30am-4:30pm
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Sun 7 Oct, 8pm | Filmhouse
CLOSING EVENT
THE BIGGER PICTURE SHOW The lights go down and the big screen illuminates in front of us. Join award-winning curator Shona Thomson for a guided tour of some of the more extraordinary documentary films in our moving image archives in Scotland and beyond. Films that were made for the big screen, films that use the big screen to offer incredible perspectives on the world, and films that you just won’t see on smaller screens, in a specially commissioned film show for the last night of this year’s Festival. From aerial acrobatics to phantom rides to the microscopic made large, The Bigger Picture Show is a unique entertaining cinema experience that takes a fresh look at archive film on the beautiful big screen at Macrobert Arts Centre. INTRODUCTION /COMMENTARY:
Shona Thomson is an award-winning curator and creative producer who founded A Kind of Seeing presenting new and unusual archive film events to audiences across Scotland and the UK: akindofseeing.co.uk
There will be an introduction and commentary from Shona Thomson Mon 8 Oct, 7:30pm | Filmhouse centscotdocufest.org | 9
NAE PASARAN
Felipe Bustos Sierra / UK, Chile 2017 / 95 mins /
In 1974 a group of workers at the Rolls Royce factory in East Kilbride showed their support for the people of Chile by refusing to carry out repairs on engines for Hawker Hunter planes - grounding half of Chile’s Air Force. The Scottish workers never knew the impact of this four year boycott; it was a matter of conscience and an act of solidarity against Pinochet’s brutal dictatorship. Bustos Sierra – himself the Scotland-based son of a Chilean exile – reunites inspirational figures Bob Fulton, Robert Somerville, Stuart Barrie and John Keenan to hear their story. Fri 5 Oct, 4pm | Filmhouse
OUT
Denis Parrot / France 2018 / 70 mins /
Through a montage of compelling videos posted on the internet by people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans, this documentary gives us the experience of the ground breaking moment of their coming out. After this, their intimate and social lives are forever changed. Fri 5 Oct, 5:30pm | Playhouse
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ISLAND
Steven Eastwood / UK 2017 / 93 mins /
Filmed over 12 months on the Isle of Wight, four individuals experience the year in which their lives will end, in a life-affirming reflection on the phenomena of dying. Portraying the transition away from personhood and observing the last days and hours of life and the moment of death, we are witness to rarely seen and intensely private moments. Like the ferries cyclically arriving and departing in this an enigmatic landscape, the film appears buoyant, afloat and death is shown to be natural and everyday, but also unspeakable and strange.
Q&A:
Join us for a post-screening Q&A with Steven Eastwood (Director) Fri 5 Oct, 5:45pm | Filmhouse
MATANGI / MAYA / M.I.A
Steve Loveridge / Sri Lanka, UK, USA 2018 / 95 mins /
Matangi was the daughter of the founder of Sri Lanka’s armed Tamil resistance who had to hide from the government in the face of a vicious and bloody civil war. When her family fled to London, she became Maya, a precocious and creative immigrant teenager. Exploding onto the global stage as M.I.A. she had created a mashup, cutand-paste identity that pulled from every corner of her journey; a sonic sketchbook that blends Tamil politics, art school punk, hip-hop beats and the unwavering, ultra-confident voice of a burgeoning multicultural youth. Fri 5 Oct, 8pm & Sat 6 Oct, 4pm | Playhouse
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GRENFELL
Ben Anthony / UK 2018 / 90 mins /
On June 14th 2017, fire ripped through Grenfell Tower - one of the poorest tower blocks in London’s richest borough (Kensington and Chelsea) where the average house price is £1.4 million. The fire claimed the lives of 72 people - many of them social housing tenants – leaving a community distraught, with many asking questions about how this could happen in contemporary British society. Filmed over the course of the year, this meticulously crafted documentary draws from hundreds of hours of observational footage, archive and social media content and an extensive collection of interviews with people connected to the tragedy Friday 5 Oct, 8:15pm | Filmhouse
FACES PLACES
Agnès Varda / France 2018 / 89 mins /
Agnès Varda makes her longawaited return to film-making with the story of a road trip unlike any other. When she met enigmatic photographer JR an unlikely partnership was formed through their shared passion for images and how they’re created, displayed and shared. Recognising the chance for a unique collaboration, the duo set out to explore the villages and town of rural France. What followed was a deeply charming and life-affirming look at the power of community and the inspiration of unexpected friendships. Sat 6 Oct, 12:15pm | Playhouse
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SCENARIOS FOR A NORMAL LIFE
Sender Burger / Netherlands 2018 / 66 mins /
Jonathan is 8 years old and has ASD (autistic spectrum disorder). The people who share his life - his parents, carers at school and social workers - struggle to understand and relate to him on a daily basis. In an attempt to help Jonathan socialise and communicate with others they bring in Kaspar, a childsized humanoid robot designed as a social companion to improve the lives of children with autism. What follows is a film about love, hope and powerlessness.
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Sat 6 Oct, 12:30pm | Filmhouse
ALL THE WILD HORSES
Ivo Marloh / Mongolia 2017 / 90 mins /
Five international riders from the USA, Canada, South Africa, Ireland and the UK race across Mongolia in the longest and toughest horse race on the planet — the 1000 kilometre Mongol Derby… and we’re all along for the wild ride! Battling dehydration, hypothermia, exhaustion, extreme weather, swollen rivers, attacking dogs and roaming wolves, the riders change horses every 30 miles and spend their nights out in the wild staying with nomad families. Sat 6 Oct, 2:15pm | Playhouse
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SKID ROW MARATHON Mark Hayes / USA, Ghana, Italy 2018 / 98 mins /
The uplifting and inspiring story of an unlikely group of individuals who get a second chance at life, all brought on by a simple act of kindness. Inspired by his belief that ‘one horrendous act does not define a person in his entirety’ High Court Judge, Craig Mitchell starts a long-distance running club on LA’s notorious Skid Row. Using the redemptive power of running and the camaraderie of the group, marathon training gives a sense of purpose to a group of people who are homeless, battling addiction or coming out of the prison system. Sat 6 Oct, 2:30pm | Filmhouse
TIME TRIAL
Finlay Pretsell / UK 2018 / 81 mins /
Former British national road champion cyclist David Millar takes on the Tour De France one last time, in this immersive documentary. A sensory ride through the thrill and hardship of professional cycling. We are hurtled off a hillside, details blurring like watercolours. The euphoria and the fatigue, the highs and the lows. It’s as if it were ourselves struggling through the bumpy roads of France. David bluntly and fearlessly narrates his last season in the saddle, intimate and immediate, along with the intricate relationships of cyclist, road crew, fellow competitors, manic fans, and the media circus surrounding it all. Sat 6 Oct, 4:45pm | Filmhouse
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BLACK MOTHER
Khalik Allah / USA 2018 / 77 mins /
Take a spiritual exploration through the island of Jamaica with director Khalik Allah, soaking up its bustling metropolises and tranquil countryside. Meet a succession of people who call the island home and hear their candid testimonies, creating a polyphonic symphony, set against a visual prayer of indelible portraiture. Immersed into the sacred, the profane, and everything inbetween, this documentary channels, rebellion and reverence into a deeply personal ode informed by Jamaica’s turbulent history but existing in the urgent present.
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Sat 6 Oct, 5:45pm | Playhouse
THE SILENCE OF OTHERS
Almudena Carracedo & Robert Bahar / USA, Spain 2018 / 96 mins /
This documentary reveals the epic struggle of victims of Spain’s 40-year dictatorship under General Franco, who continue to seek justice to this day. Filmed over six years, it follows victims and survivors as they organise the groundbreaking ‘Argentine Lawsuit’ and fight a state-imposed amnesia of crimes against humanity, and explores a country still divided four decades into democracy.
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Sat 6 Oct, 7:45pm | Playhouse
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DONKEYOTE
Chico Pereira / Germany, UK, Spain 2017 / 85 mins /
Manolo leads a simple life in the south of Spain. He has two loves: his animals, in particular his donkey Gorrión (Sparrow) and taking long wanders through nature. Against the advice of his doctor, he plans one last walk, re-tracing the Trail of Tears, a brutal 2200-mile trek through the Native American Cherokee Nation. It’s an ambitious journey to make on foot, particularly taking Gorrión and his beloved dog Zafrana along. Then there’s Manolo’s chronic arthritis, a history of heart attacks and Gorrión's fear of water to consider. Sun 7 Oct, 11:45am | Playhouse
THE EYES OF ORSON WELLES Mark Cousins / UK 2017 / 115 mins /
A portrait of Orson Welles as he’s never been seen before – through his own eyes, sketched by his own hand and painted with his own brush. Granted exclusive access to hundreds of private drawings and paintings, filmmaker Mark Cousins dives deep into the visual world of the legendary director and actor, bringing vividly to life the passions, politics and power of this brilliant 20th-century showman. The documentary also explores how the genius of Welles still resonates today in the age of Trump - more than 30 years after his death. Sun 7 Oct, 12pm | Filmhouse
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THE BRAVE CLASS Victor Alonso-Berbel / Spain 2016 / 72 mins /
Reality changes according to the words we use to define it. An experimental documentary investigating the importance of political language in our way of understanding the world, this film documents an attempt to introduce a concept into the daily speech of politicians and communications experts during the 2015 Barcelona elections. This involved many people in acts of public intervention, urban art and other forms of social activism. The results are analysed by more than 20 experts including Owen Jones, George Lakoff, Íñigo Errejón, Christian Salmon, Iñaki Gabilondo and other prominent players in the field of political communication and information.
INTRO: There will be an intro from Maria Sanchez, Faculty of Arts & Humanities, University of Stirling. Sun 7 Oct, 2:45pm | Playhouse
THE BALLYMURPHY PRECEDENT
Callum Macrae / UK 2018 / 108 mins /
In 1971 on a Catholic estate in Belfast eleven innocent people were killed by the British Army. Coming just six months before Bloody Sunday, this massacre was one of the most significant events of The Troubles, but is largely unknown. A skilful mixture of investigative journalism, documentary storytelling and reflection on contemporary history, this film tells the story of the fight, by relatives and survivors, to discover the truth. Sun 7 Oct, 4:15pm | Filmhouse
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NUREYEV: ALL THE WORLD HIS STAGE David & Jaqui Morris / UK 2018 / 120 mins /
A striking and moving documentary that traces the extraordinary life of Rudolf Nureyev - famous dancer and pop culture icon. Charting his rise from humble beginnings to eventual defection to the West, an event that shocked the world, the film contextualises not just the man, but also the times in which he lived. Blending never-before-seen footage, an original score by award-winning composer Alex Baranowski, and a spellbinding series of exclusive modern dance tableaux (directed by Royal Ballet alumnus Russell Maliphant), this is a theatrical and cinematic experience like no other. Sun 7 Oct, 5pm | Playhouse
BRUCE LEE AND THE OUTLAW Joost Vandebrug / 2018 / 86 mins /
Nicu, a young homeless boy, is adopted by the notorious ‘King of the Underworld’ Bruce Lee, and goes to live with him in the tunnels underneath Bucharest. As he grows up, Micu starts to realise that perhaps the King of the Underworld is not the perfect father and has to make a choice between staying in Bruce's gang, or living a 'normal' life above ground. Filmed over six years this is a modern-day Oliver Twist story set under the streets of Bucharest. Sun 7 Oct, 6:15pm | Filmhouse
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KAISER: THE GREATEST FOOTBALLER NEVER TO PLAY FOOTBALL
Louis Myles / UK 2018 / 97 mins /
In the 1980s/90s, Brazil were the most glamorous football team in the world, with some of best players. They also had the greatest footballer never to have played the game - Carlos Henrique Raposo, known as Kaiser. Growing up in Rio de Janeiro he dreamed of escaping poverty by becoming a professional footballer. He lacked the talent, but built an elaborate alternate reality that let him join a number of iconic clubs. He duped players, managers and even dangerous Brazilian gangsters and it is only now, in this film, that the truth can begin to be told.
Sun 7 Oct, 7:45pm | Playhouse
THE RAPE OF RECY TAYLOR
Nancy Buirski / USA 2018 / 97 mins /
In 1944 Recy Taylor, a 24-year-old black mother, was gang raped at gunpoint by six white boys in Alabama. Despite threats against her and her family, Recy stepped forward to identify her rapists and press charges. The NAACP sent its chief rape investigator Rosa Parks, who rallied support and triggered an unprecedented outcry for justice. This documentary exposes a legacy of physical abuse of black women and reveals Rosa Parks’ intimate role in Recy Taylor’s story. An attempted rape against Parks was but one inspiration for her ongoing work to find justice for countless women like Taylor.
Mon 8 Oct, 4:45pm | Filmhouse
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EVENT CALENDAR PRE-FESTIVAL EXTRA
Wed 3 Oct 6:30PM McQueen
Alhambra Theatre
Thu 4 Oct 7:30PM Opening Event: For the Birds Filmhouse
Fri 5 Oct 4PM Nae Pasaran Filmhouse
5:30PM Out
Playhouse
5:45PM Island
Filmhouse
8PM Matangi / Maya / M.I.A Playhouse
8:15PM Grenfell Filmhouse
Sat 6 Oct
12PM The Eyes of Orson Welles Filmhouse
2:15PM 12:15PM Meeting Jim Faces Places Filmhouse Playhouse
12:30PM Scenarios of a Normal Life
2:45PM The Brave Class Playhouse
4:15PM The Ballymurphy Precendent 2:15PM Filmhouse All the Wild Horses Filmhouse
Playhouse
2:30PM Skid Row Marathon
5PM Nureyev: All the World His Stage
Filmhouse
Playhouse
4PM Matangi / Maya / M.I.A
6:15PM Bruce Lee and the Outlaw
Playhouse
4:45PM Time Trial Filmhouse
5:45PM Black Mother Playhouse
7:45PM The Silence of Others Playhouse
8PM One Note at a Time Filmhouse
Sun 7 Oct 11:45AM Donkeyote
Playhouse
Filmhouse
7:45PM Kaiser: The Greatest Footballer Never to Play Football Playhouse
8PM A Northern Soul Filmhouse
Mon 8 Oct 4:45PM The Rape of Recy Taylor Filmhouse
7:30PM Closing Event: The Bigger Picture Show Filmhouse