FREE SATURDAY 23 FEBRUARY THE OFFICAL GFF DAILY GUIDE
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WHAT’S INSIDE? 2 — TODAY’S PICKS Surely, by now, you believe us?
2 — BANAZ - A LOVE STORY Rejected headlines: Dial B for Banaz; Banazarama 3 — REVIEWS Vito The History of Future Folk The Legend of Kaspar Hauser
4 — WHAT’S NEW ONLINE Someone managed to go a
whole interview with Joss Whe- don and not ask about bringing back Firefly
THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC
C L O S E - UP
a child-friendly way of learning the alphabet
4 — PIC OF THE DAY It’s about time festival co-
Is there a more expressive face in cinema than that of Renée Maria Falconetti’s in THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC? We celebrate this masterpiece ahead of its screening at Glasgow Cathedral
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the character, and the roles she had been playing onstage didn’t suggest the emotional depths Dreyer would ask her to plumb – but the qualities the director had somehow spotted in Falconetti made her the ideal choice. He would go to any lengths to draw the perfect performance from her, often making her kneel for hours on a stone slab until he captured the expression he wanted, but the raw emotion and transcendent spirituality that burns so vividly in her close-ups remains unsurpassed in cinema. The Passion of Joan of Arc was made 85 years ago, but it still feels bracingly modern – almost futuristic. Jean Cocteau’s observation that the film resembles “a historical document from an era in which cinema didn’t exist” brilliantly encapsulates the strange singularity of this picture. The script was adapted directly from the court transcripts of Joan’s trial, but words are scarcely needed when the director is imbuing every shot with such intensity. From the leering close-ups of Joan’s accusers to the devastating physical and mental anguish we witness in the eyes of the young heroine, The Passion of Joan
of Arc creates a portrait of suffering and faith that exerts a vice-like grip on the viewer. When he isn’t focusing on Falconetti’s incredibly expressive visage, Dreyer directs and edits with an exhilaratingly experimental flair that’s most striking in the torture chamber and the climactic scenes of rebellion and martyrdom – two of the most violent scenes in cinema. As Joan burned was burned at the stake, Dreyer’s film very nearly suffered the same fate. The original negative was destroyed in a fire and for decades the film was thought lost until, in a bizarre twist of fate, a copy was discovered in a Norwegian mental institution in 1981. Such a discovery may seem like a miracle, but with this film it feels entirely apt. The Passion of Joan of Arc is a miracle. It is a work of art that stands alone, continually challenging us, moving us, inspiring us, and inviting us to study a face that seems to express the essence of cinema itself. 23 FEB – GLASGOW CATHEDRAL @ 18.30 GLASGOWFILM.ORG/FESTIVAL/WHATS_ ON/4609_THE_PASSION_OF_JOAN_OF_ARC
director Allison Gardner fea tured here
4 — WHAT DO YOU THINK? Apparently Game of Thrones
WORDS: PHILLIP CONCANNON WHEN HE made The Passion of Joan of Arc, Carl Theodor Dreyer spent a fortune constructing huge and detailed sets to create a realistic approximation of Rouen Castle, where Joan was imprisoned during her trial. The film was one of the most expensive European productions of its day, but you won’t see much evidence of this expense on the screen. For much of The Passion of Joan of Arc, Dreyer ignores the sets that he had put so much effort into creating and instead he makes his film a study of the human face. One of those faces in particular will stay with you forever. Renée Maria Falconetti was an actress in her early 30s who was earning a modest living on the stage in Paris as Dreyer searched for his Joan. By the time he sat down to watch Falconetti perform in a light comedy, Dreyer had spent weeks scouring the streets for his leading lady, but as soon as he laid eyes on Falconetti he knew that she was the one; as he later said, “There was a soul behind that façade.” It was an unlikely piece of casting – the actress was some 15 years older than
4 — FRIGHTFEST Including the ABCs of Death,
was worth the really long wait
Produced by The Skinny magazine in association with the Glasgow Film Festival Editors Designer Digital Deputy Editor
Lewis Porteous Jamie Dunn Marianne Wilson Nathanael Smith Josh Slater-Williams
GFF BOX OFFICE Order tickets from the box office at www.glasgowfilm.org/festival or call 0141 332 6535 or visit Glasgow Film Theatre 12 Rose Street, Glasgow, G3 6RB boxoffice@glasgowfilm.org
SATURDAY 23 FEBRUARY THE CINESKINNY 1
TODAY’S PICKS TREASURES FROM A FAR FUR COMPANY 15.00 @ CCA THEATRE
This documentary, with live fiddle accompaniment and the director in attendance, recalls a lost era of exploration and tells a tale of survival. Turns out there’s more to Canada than maple syrup, mounties and Celine Dion.
TREASURES FROM A FAR FUR COMPANY
AN OVERSIMPLIFICATION OF HER BEAUTY 18.00 @ GFT 2
This could be the most unique American indie film in years, blending animation and live action to create a unique look at unrequited love, although that could be oversimplifying it a bit.
GREETINGS FROM TIM BUCKLEY 20.15 @ GFT 2
Could Imogen Poots be the actor of the festival? She’s in this biopic of Jeff Buckley, but also appeared in The Look of Love and A Late Quartet. I can’t imogen what she’ll get up to next.
GREETINGS FROM TIM BUCKLEY
NOW, FORAGER 21.00 @ CINEWORLD 16
The best dramas find conflict in unexpected places, and Now, Forager must be the first film we’ve come across about mushroom pickers. A marriage comes into crisis when she wants stability, but he just wants to be a fun guy.
CINEMA CITY TREASURE HUNT 14.00 @ CCA TERRACE BAR
It’s a treasure hunt. In the city. Why would you not want to be a part of it?
LOVE, HONOUR AND OBEY
We look at BANAZ - A LOVE STORY, which documents the investigation into the honour killing of a young Kurdish woman, and look at how our ideas of female roles are changing through cinema WORDS: HELEN WRIGHT
In Banaz - A Love Story , detective Caroline Goode explains that solving a murder is often motivated by helping a victim’s family to cope with their loss. Bringing the killers of Banaz Mahmod to justice, by contrast, involved convicting her own relations, who killed the young woman because she threatened their ‘honour’ by falling in love with someone other than her husband. A disturbing account of oppression and brutality, director Deeyah Thathaal’s film is effective in educating its audience about a misogynistic practice thought to claim the lives of around five thousand people a year. The idea of family as a collective drives the practice of honour killing. Banaz , as a piece of activist filmmaking, is instrumental in describing this cultural idea in detail. The Mahmods, originally from Iraq and part of a Kurdish community living in London, believed their status to be in jeopardy because Banaz walked out of her abusive marriage. Deeyah’s impassioned work delves into the cultural clash for people of Kurdish descent moving to western countries where women are granted more autonomy and men must give up some of their power. One of the points raised by commentators is a lack of understanding and the reluctance of authorities to interfere in the customs of ethnic minorities – in this case resulting in shocking failures on the part of the police to protect Banaz. This documentary thus serves as a useful instructional stratagem. There’s a difficulty in communicating sexism in non-western contexts through cinema. Stereotyping of male and female roles in Middle Eastern countries in particular is rife and although this doesn’t mean that depictions of domination have no basis in reality, they are only one part of people’s lives. Western media are often guilty of concentrating on negatives of non-white ethnicities. Some excellent fictional films of the last 15years – such as those of
BANAZ - A LOVE STORY
“Banaz is an example of how documentary methods can overcome racist archetypes through exhaustive treatment of their topic”
interpretations of female experiences in places like Iran and Saudi Arabia. Banaz is an example of how documentary methods can overcome racist archetypes through exhaustive treatment of their topic. The horrific story is told by a director who has herself suffered honour-based violence, adding to Banaz ’s honesty and truthfulness. Her film will hopefully help spread knowledge of a subject not usually given the meticulous attention it requires. 23 FEB – GFT 2 @ 13.30 REPRESENTATIVES FROM LOCAL WOMEN’S CHARITIES WILL TAKE PART IN A DISCUSSION ON THE ISSUES RAISED IN THE FILM GLASGOWFILM.ORG/FESTIVAL
Samira Makhmalbaf, Marzieh Meshkini’s The Day I Became a Woman , and GFF standout Wadjda – offer more nuanced
Be the star in your own movie
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REVIEWS VITO
DIRECTOR: JEFFREY SCHWARZ STARRING: VITO RUSSO (ARCHIVE FOOTAGE), LILY TOMLIN, ROB EPSTEIN, DAVID EHRENSTEIN
The life of the late Vito Russo, an activist for both LBGT rights and AIDS awareness, has particular resonance for cinephiles, being that he was also a film historian and the author of The Celluloid Closet. That famous, influential 1981 book – later adapted to documentary form in 1995 – examined the history of how Hollywood films have portrayed gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender characters, whether through coded subtleties, realistic portrayals or cruel stereotypes. Jeffrey Schwarz’s documentary on the man conveys the astonishingly full life Vito had before his tragic succumbing to AIDS in 1990, and really makes you feel the loss of a figure that would have been a great voice to still have
in the cultural landscape today. What remains of that great voice in archive form is a huge part of the film’s success, with audio and video recordings of Vito’s ruminations and autobiographical anecdotes offering a Senna-like means of narration, interspersed with an also interesting set of talking heads. The documentary also includes some fascinating clips from films whose cinematic legacy Vito could attest to having shaped. [Josh Slater-Williams] 23 FEB – CINEWORLD 16 @ 14.45 24 FEB – CINEWORLD 16 @ 19.45 GLASGOWFILM.ORG/FESTIVAL/ WHATS_ON/4714_VITO VITO
THE HISTORY OF FUTURE FOLK
DIRECTOR: JOHN MITCHELL, JEREMY KIPP WALKER STARRING: NILS D’AULAIRE, JAY KLAITZ, JULIE ANN EMERY, DEE SNIDER, APRIL L. HERNANDEZ, ONATA APRILE
Arriving on our planet to evaluate it for invasion and resettlement, General Trius (d’Aulaire), later called Bill, is seduced by the sounds of music, a concept previously unknown to him. Smitten, he abandons his plans and eventually starts a family. Years later, fellow Hondonian Kevin (Klaitz) is sent to set Bill straight, but the pair end up forming a bluegrass duo instead, as you do, leaving both to deal with another threat sent by their home. A lo-fi sci-fi, The History of Future Folk is an aliens on Earth tale that has more in common with Flight of the Conchords and the films of Aaron Katz, though there is a bit of The Man Who Fell to Earth in there too. A unique blend of musical comedy, sci-fi and drama, directors Walker and Mitchell substitute an epic scope with relatable small-scale issues and inventive production design. Though made with a light touch, the entertaining Future Folk potently explores both the power of music and connection with people, achieving a surprisingly sweet sincerity with its high concept. [Josh Slater-Williams] SAT 23– GFT 2 @ 22.15
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THE LEGEND OF KASPAR HAUSER
THE LEGEND OF KASPAR HAUSER DIRECTOR: DAVIDE MANULI STARRING: VINCENT GALLO, SILVIA CALDERONI, CLAUDIA GERINI, ELISA SEDNAOUI, FABRIZIO GIFUNI, MARCO LAMPIS
Writer-director Davide Manuli takes the basic concept and some specific details from the true story of Kaspar Hauser , and twists it into a surreal techno-western that will fascinate and infuriate in equal measure. In a dual role, Vincent Gallo is suitably deranged as The Sheriff - the spitting, rambling, peaceful lunatic who discovers the person who may or may not be Kaspar washed up on the beach one morning - and his
less-featured brother, The Pusher, but the most enigmatic, fascinating presence is that of Kaspar, the “boy” played by the supremely androgynous Silvia Calderoni. Despite the apparent absurdity, the film follows a linear narrative – the discovery, life, and death of Hauser – and each progressive section is handily divided into clearly defined chapters. That’s where the normality ends, however. Scenes vary from strange to maddeningly
repetitive; one features the characters literally going around in circles. With an excellent, pounding soundtrack by electronic artist Vitalic, this hypnotic, mesmerising film has ‘future cult classic’ written all over it. [Becky Bartlett]
SATURDAY 23 FEBRUARY THE CINESKINNY 3
We look at Saturday’s horror highlights WORDS: CHRIS FYVIE SATURDAY SEES yet more goodrenched madness at FrightFest, with gleeful gorehounds ready to enjoy carnage courtesy of some of horror’s finest directors. The prospect of new work from genre favourite Eli Roth will no doubt have fans salivating all down their Evil Dead t-shirts. The Roth co-written and starring disaster-flickcum-slasher-romp Aftershock looks set to continue his alliance of awkward laughs and bloodshed as the locals go a bit loco following an earthquake in Chile. Comic director Nicolás López takes the reins for this one, both his horror and English language debut. One surprising entry to the fest is Oscar winner Barry Levinson’s involvement in found footage (yup, another one) schlock-fest The Bay where a community is terrorised by a particularly icky parasitic infection. Reviews have been strong, so there’s hope this might inject some vim into that most banal of subgenres. From slightly farther afield, we have Chille’s Bring Me the Head of the Machine Gun Woman, a delirious homage to exploitation cinema with a badass, if perpetually impractically dressed heroine. Grimy, bloody and reassuringly cheap, it looks to be oodles of fun. The biggest draw for many hardened terror aficionados, however, will be portmanteau The ABCs of Death, an ambitious collection of shorts from 26 (in)famous directors including Srdjan Spasojevic, Ti West, Xavier Gens, Jason Eisener and Ben Wheatley. Compendiums are always tricky, but with a good chance of more hits than misses, this rapid-fire approach might just produce a classic. Promotional footage says prepare for two hours of absolute carnage. With the promise of some special guests and surprise events to go along with all the teeming cinematic treats, FrightFest could be set for its most successful foray north of the border yet. It’s a unique experience, delivering splatter catnip to one of the most fervent, cine-literate and good-natured crowds there is.
WHAT’S NEW ONLINE? JOSS WHEDON
The Herald interview the Much Ado director ahead of the film’s GFF premiere. “The only way to real mature love is to get past the tropes of what we consider romance” tinyurl.com/HeraldWhedon
FRANK LANGELLA
The star of Robot & Frank talks to The Scotsman. “I’m not going to walk away from anything that intrigues or excites me over money or billing. It’s nonsense” tinyurl.com/ScotsmanLangella
FESTIVAL DIARY
Another brilliant festival dispatch from GFF resident blogger Sean Welsh. In this instalment he discusses why the festival is like eating a bag of Revels
FESTIVAL CLUB
tinyurl.com/SeanWelsh
HEYUGUYS
The massive film site has many reviews from GFF, all well worth a read. Here’s their view on Steven Soderbergh’s Side Effects, celebrating the supposedly retiring auteur’s ability to create tension tinyurl.com/GuysEffects
Join us at our new Festival Club! Open every day, 12noon till late. Come along for free talks & live DJ acts.
SARAMAGO TERRACE BAR, CCA, 350 SAUCHIEHALL STREET
PIC OF THE DAY
ALLISON GARDNER ANNOUNCES THE SURPRISE FILM WITH A BEACH BALL
WHAT DID YOU THINK? THE BEST TWEETS @ELAB49 The Fifth @ROSSLPETE Rory Season @glasgowfilmfest McCann aka ‘The Visuals from Breughel & Hound’ from #game@SOMEONEONTWITTER @SOMEONEONTWITTER Caspar David Friedofthrones was an I thought this film was quite good. I thought this film was quite good. righ, hints of Death of absolute gent at the I’ve seen worse, but also seen better I’ve seen worse, but also seen better Grass & lawnmowers Blackwater screening at too as well! #GFF #CINESKINNY too as well! #GFF #CINESKINNY chasing cocks #GFF #gff13 last night. And #CINESKINNY full of stories! #GFF #CINESKINNY
@SIDEBURNS1970 Dark Star with live @Animatmusic soundtrack @SOMEONEONTWITTER was so coooooooool!!! I thought this film was quite good. A highlight of @glasI’ve seen worse, but also seen better gowfilmfest if missed it, too as well! #GFF #CINESKINNY you missed out big time -#GFF #CINESKINNY
@MEGAN_TOOSDAY @SOMEONEONTWITTER Actually surprised at I thought this film was quite good. how amazing Game of I’ve seen worse,Thrones but alsolooked seen better on the too as well! #GFF big#CINESKINNY screen, GFT should definitely screen more #GFF #CINESKINNY
@ANDREWSMCAR@SOMEONEONTWITTER THUR Completely won I thought this filmby was quite good. over Francois Ozon’s I’ve seen worse, but also seen bet-to In The House. I’ve yet ter too as well! #CINESKINNY see#GFF him make a bad film #GFF #CINESKINNY
@QUIETTRICKSTER @SOMEONEONTWITTER The Thieves: Slick, I thought this film was S. quite good. snappy Korean heist I’ve seen worse, butGood also seen bet-the flick. fun, and ter too as well!double #GFF #CINESKINNY crosses mostly outweigh the plot holes #GFF #CINESKINNY
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