Welcome

WELCOME to Shetland Arts’ fourteenth Screenplay Film Festival, curated by Kathy Hubbard, Mark Kermode and Linda Ruth Williams. We’re delighted to be back, having had an enforced ‘year out’ due to Covid-19, and we’ve got some marvellous films for you to enjoy. Because of the constraints of the pandemic we’ve had to make some changes to this year’s festival format – Mark and Linda will be with us virtually, online guest interviews instead of visits in-person, and the addition of the auditorium as an extra screen, for example – but we still hope to create a festival atmosphere that rejoices in the art of cinema.

You’ll see some of your favourite themes such as Look North, Family Friendly and Home Made, but we have also picked up on 2019’s Look South (this time looking south to Spain, India, the Southern states of the USA and Argentina). We’ve also introduced a new festival strand; Down on the Farm, four immersive documentaries that encourage us to think about food production, food security and the future of farming.

Our guests come, albeit virtually, from far and wide – from Scotland, England, Spain, Iceland, India and Mexico. They include Tim Barrow (making his third appearance at Screenplay), Yrsa Roca Fannberg, Icíar Bollaín, Priya Ramasubban and our own Aidan Nicol (with her first feature documentary). We are also delighted to welcome Ben Sharrock online to Screenplay. The legend that is Guillermo del Toro, will be talking to Mark about his extraordinary career in a pre-recorded interview. Attending in person will be internationally renowned photographer Alistair Morrison, who has created a unique project born out of the pandemic. The Covid-19 situation has presented artists with particular challenges over the last eighteen months, but we’re happy to say that our local film makers have overcome them to produce a wide range of work that is entertaining, enchanting, innovative and sometimes moving.

If you’re thinking about attempting your first feature film, Tim Barrow will be holding an online workshop/discussion on how you might go about it.

Screenplay will be operated under whatever restrictions pertain due to the ongoing pandemic. Staff will do whatever they can to make your experience a safe and enjoyable one. Likewise, the education programme and the community outreach programmes will take place later in the year as circumstances allow.

Shetland Arts would like to thank the organisations and individuals who have contributed time, expertise, money and moral support to the festival. They literally make Screenplay happen, as do you, the audience.

Cinema has taken a pounding for the past eighteen months and it is a joy to experience it on the big screen again. We hope you’ll join us for five days of celebrating some of the best that it has to offer.

Kathy, Mark & Linda

Screenplay programme curators

GUESTS WITH FILMS

The Devil’s Backbone

2001 | Mexico/Spain | 155m inc introduction & Q&A | Drama/Horror Subtitled | Dir: Guillermo del Toro | Starring: Marisa Paredes, Eduardo Noriega, Fernando Tielve & Federico Luppi

It is 1939, the end of three years of bloody civil war in Spain, and General Franco’s right-wing Nationalists are poised to defeat the left-wing Republican forces. A ten-year-old boy named Carlos, the son of a fallen Republican war hero, is left by his tutor in an orphanage in the middle of nowhere. The orphanage is run by a curt but considerate headmistress named Carmen and a kindly Professor Casares, both of whom are sympathetic to the doomed Republican cause. Despite their concern for him, and his gradual triumph over the usual schoolhouse bully, Carlos never feels completely comfortable in his new environment. Apart from crossing a violent caretaker, he also encounters a mysterious ghost, who is trying to warn him of the danger he is in. The screening will incorporate a pre-recorded introduction with Mark Kermode and Guillermo Del Toro, and an online discussion and Q&A afterwards. Shetland Arts is thrilled to welcome Mr Del Toro to Screenplay, even if we can only meet him online.

Fri 20.15 £10 / £7.50 / £5.50 (-16)

Guillermo del Toro

Guillermo del Toro Gómez is a Mexican filmmaker, author, actor, and make-up artist. He is best known for his Academy Award-winning fantasy films Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) and The Shape of Water (2017), winning the Oscars for Best Director and Best Picture for the latter. (2004) and its sequel Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008), Pacific Rim (2013), and Crimson Peak (2015). As a producer and/or writer, he worked on The Orphanage (2007), Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (2010), The Hobbit film series (2012–14), Mama (2013), The Book of Life (2014), Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018), and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019).

Throughout his career, del Toro has shifted between personal, lower-budget Spanish language films, such as Cronos (1993) and The Devil’s Backbone (2001), and Hollywood big-hitters, including Mimic (1997), Blade II (2002), Hellboy Del Toro’s work has been characterised by a strong connection to fairy tales and horror, with an effort to infuse visual or poetic beauty into the grotesque. He has had a lifelong fascination with monsters, which he considers symbols of great power.

Ever wanted to... make your own films?

FILMS WITH GUESTS

Join Keiba Clubb to explore filmmaking Film Crew Jnr focusses on very basic beginners skills. The emphasis is on having fun planning, filming & editing as a group where everyone gets the opportunity to try lots of different roles. 01595 745500 | shetlandarts.org Film Crew Snr will focus on more advanced camera skills, pre-production, production & editing. Film Crew Jnr is aimed at age 7 - 13 and Film Club Snr is aimed at 14 - 19 but there are cross-overs and flexibility between the classes so book for which suits you best in terms of experience and time slot.www.shetlandarts.org

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GUESTS WITH FILMS

Riptide

2020 | UK | 100m | 130m inc Q&A | Drama | Dir: Tim Barrow Starring: Elspeth Turner, Tim Barrow & David Tudor

Discharged from a psychiatric hospital, Jacob attempts to resume life in Edinburgh, control his schizophrenia, and be a worthy member of society. He works collecting litter from streets and parks. He boxes. He takes medication. He writes everything down. His Dad barely wants to know him. Frustrated by this banal existence and encouraged by his psychiatrist, Jacob travels to the Highlands in search of fulfilment. By the sea he encounters the charismatic Eva, who claims to be the secret daughter of Ingmar Bergman. And she’s on a mission.

Director Tim Barrow is on a mission too. “The psychiatric condition of schizophrenia affects 1 in 100 of the population and is still misunderstood, misrepresented and stigmatized. Our film aims to tell its story with integrity, authenticity, hope, and humour. The cast and crew are indebted to people of the Royal Edinburgh Hospital for research, advice and encouragement, especially Professor Stephen Lawrie, Head of Psychiatry at Edinburgh University.”

Screening before Riptide will be Laurence’s Story, a short film made for Mind Your Head, about the importance of getting support for those suffering from mental health problems.

Shetland Arts would like to thank UNISON and Mind Your Head for their support of this event.

There will be an online Q&A with Tim Barrow, Mark Kermode & Linda Ruth Williams after the Wednesday screening.

Wed 19.30 £10 / £7.50 / £5.50 (-16) Thu 14.30 £7.50 / £5.50 Sat 15.45 £10 / £7.50 / £5.50 (-16)

Tim Barrow

Born in Edinburgh, and brought up between Australia & Scotland, Tim trained as an actor at Drama Centre London. Alongside a career in theatre as an actor and playwright, he founded Lyre Productions to make contemporary Scottish feature films. He wrote, produced & starred in The Inheritance – an award-winning indie Scottish road movie. He then wrote, produced, directed & starred in Lyre’s second feature The Space Between, and in Lyre’s third feature Riptide – a schizophrenia love story road movie. Riptide premiered at the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival 2020, and continues to screen at film festivals worldwide. This is Tim Barrow’s third visit to Screenplay, and we look forward to seeing him again – if only virtually!

FILMS WITH GUESTS

GUESTS WITH FILMS

Limbo

2021 | UK | 134m inc Q&A | Comedy drama | Dir: Ben Sharrock Starring: Amir El-Masry, Vikash Bhai, Sidse Babett Knudson, Ola Orebiyi

Ben Sharrock’s critically adored deadpan comedy-drama Limbo is a wry, funny and poignant cross-cultural satire that subtly sews together the hardship and hope of the refugee experience, shining a light on the hearts and lives of those at the centre of a crisis that is mostly only experienced through the headlines.

Set on a fictional remote Scottish island, Limbo tells the story of a group of new arrivals awaiting the results of their asylum claims. It centres on Omar (played by rising star Amir El-Masry), a young Syrian musician who, thousands of miles from home, finds himself trapped by guilt, regret and the grief that he carries for the loss of his former identity. Separated from his family and burdened by a plaster cast on his arm, Omar wanders the epic landscapes searching for answers to a complex past and daunting future. But while he is stuck there, he isn’t alone. In between brief long-distance conversations with his parents and passing interactions with oddball locals, Omar and his new flatmates attend outrageously misjudged ‘cultural awareness’ classes, binge Friends boxsets, and debate attending the local open mic night, all the while waiting for the delivery of letters that will ultimately determine their future.

“This is superlative film making from Sharrock.”

- Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

The screening will be followed by an online Q&A with Ben Sharrock, Mark and Linda.

Shetland Arts is grateful to Amnesty International Shetland and Shetland Solidarity With Refugees for their support of this screening.

Sat 17.15 £10 / £7.50 / £5.50 (-16)

Ben Sharrock

Ben Sharrock is an award-winning writer and director known for his unique sense of cinematic style and voice. His work has been described as touching, absurd and visually striking. Ben graduated from The University of Edinburgh with a degree in Arabic and Politics before attending Screen Academy Scotland, where he graduated with an MA Distinction in Film Directing followed by an MFA in Advanced Film Practice, for which he was awarded the Rafford Scholarship and the university medal for outstanding achievement. Ben’s debut feature film, Pikadero, premiered at San Sebastian International Film Festival in 2015, where he was nominated for Best New Director. The film was recognised by the Spanish Film Academy as an “outstanding contribution to independent Spanish cinema” and while Scottish, Ben has been hailed as “a new voice in Spanish cinema”. Limbo is an industry backed and English language debut for Ben, supported by Film4, BFI and Screen Scotland.

FILMS WITH GUESTS

SCREEN 2 CINEMA HIRE

Mareel is the perfect venue to host any event.

We offer hire options for many of the excellent spaces in Mareel. These include the Main Auditorium, the Green Room, the Media Lab, the Recording Studio and of course Screen 2. Screen 2 seats up to 37 people and can been hired for a huge range of events from conferences, private film screenings, kids parties, school bookings, stag, hen and hamefarin do’s and even big screen gaming! For more info on hiring Mareel see our hire page: www.shetlandarts.org/hire 901595 745500 | shetlandarts.orgPlease contact Shetland Arts to discuss on 01595 743 843 or admin@shetlandarts.org

GUESTS WITH FILMS

Time to Pause

2020 | UK | 63m | 108m inc Q&A | Documentary | Dir: Alistair Morrison

Time to Pause is a unique and timely Covid-19 documentary created online by renowned photographer Alistair Morrison. A photographer out of his element, trapped in isolation, asks 1000 people from around the world to join him from their varied ‘lockdown spaces’, so he can photograph them through the computer that becomes his studio.

Conceived initially as a remote photography project, it soon became obvious that he was not merely capturing their image, but he was also being given the unique opportunity to see into the emotional lives of strangers from over 100 countries, all living under very different circumstances but connected by the same moment in time - the Covid-19 pandemic.

Alistair will be visiting Shetland along with some of the project participants, some of whom have not yet seen the film. There will be a Q&A with Alistair Morrison, Mark and Linda after the Thursday screening which may be filmed.

Thu 17.30 £10 / £7.50 / £5.50 (-16) Sun 18.00 £10 / £7.50 / £5.50 (-16)

Alistair Morrison

Alistair Morrison is a world renowned photographer whose portraits are hung in Museums and Private Collections worldwide. With over 80 of his images in the National Portrait Gallery London, Well known for his portraits of iconic celebrities from various eras, Morrison life’s work is recognised as one of the definitive photographic records of individuals who have been influential in all walks of life, from Royalty and world leaders, to dignitaries, authors, actors and legends of sport and music. Time to Pause is his directorial debut.

GET QUALIFIED

MUSIC & AUDIO | FILM & VISUAL

Shetland College UHI, in partnership with Shetland Arts, offer a range of music, audio and film courses, from part time courses for school pupils through to BA (Hons) degrees.

Courses can be studied full or part time, and degree courses utilise several flexible study methods.

Visit www.shetlandarts.org/education & www.shetland.uhi.ac.uk/courses to view courses and for more details about how to apply online.