Staande! Debout!
Crossing the Line
2012, Vilvoorde, an abandoned industrial area in Flanders, Belgium. Felix is an ex-car factory worker. Fifteen years ago his employer suddenly announced the plant’s closure. In response 4,000 workers went on strike, paralysing Belgium for weeks. But what remains after solidarity and struggle? Based on true events, this fictionalised account follows Felix’s attempts to overcome forgetting and myth-making to make sense of the traumatic events. Part of ECONOMY, an exhibition presented across CCA (Glasgow) and Stills (Edinburgh) which examines how the economy shapes human life (www. economyexhibition.net). Presented in collaboration with The GSA’s Friday Event programme, the screening will be followed by a talk and the whole event will last 2h.
GFT Friday 22 February (10.30) Directors Anu Pennanen, Stéphane Querrec Belgium/Germany/Finland 2013, 40m, Flemish & French with subtitles, N/C 12+ Thanks to AVEK – The Promotion Centre for Audiovisual Culture (Finland) and Helander Foundation (Finland)
Free but ticketed, tickets available from GFT box office on the day.
Starlet
The State of Independents
An unlikely, odd couple alliance lies at the heart of this sweetly funny, poignant tale from Prince of Broadway writer/director Sean Baker. Dree Hemingway (daughter of Mariel) plays Jane, a naive young woman drifting through life in California’s San Fernando Valley with a cute chihuahua called Starlet. Jane buys an old thermos flask at a car boot sale and discovers a stash of money hidden inside. The owner of the flask is suspicious, cantankerous octogenarian widow Sadie (Besedka Johnson in her film debut) and their chance encounter is the start of an unexpected friendship that transcends their ages and very different lives to make a lasting impression.
Steve Niles in Conversation
In association with
With work such as 30 Days of Night and Criminal Macabre, Steve Niles brought horror comics back to a larger audience, proving that genre literature need not be all romance, bright colours and capes (his bestial vampires are a far cry away from other recent romanticised creatures of the night). In this special event, Niles will be looking back at his career, not only in comics, but also films, television and video games – all while maintaining his uniquely dark, dangerous and slightly deranged edge.
Cineworld Thursday 21 February (20.45) Friday 22 February (14.00) Director Sean Baker Cast Dree Hemingway, Besedka Johnson, James Ransone USA 2012, 1h43m, N/C 18+ Thanks to Rezo Films
Kapow!@GFF CCA Tuesday 19 February (20.30) 1h, N/C 15+ Thanks to Steve Niles and Mark Millar
30 Days of Night will screen on Tuesday 19 February (21.45). See p15 for details.
Stoker Arriving fresh from its world premiere at Sundance, Stoker is an unmissable work from Park Chan-wook, the cult director of Oldboy and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance. There are echoes of Alfred Hitchcock’s classic Shadow of a Doubt in the story of India Stoker (Mia Wasikowska), a young woman devastated by the death of her father in a car accident. Then Uncle Charlie (Matthew Goode) arrives to spend quality time with India and her fragile mother Evie (Nicole Kidman). India’s instincts tell her that the mysterious Charlie should not be taken at face value and yet she becomes increasingly infatuated with him in a twisted thriller that is not for the fainthearted.
Strings Make a note of the name Rob Savage – it is one you will want to remember. Writer/ director/photographer Savage turned eighteen on the first day of shooting this hugely impressive first feature that dodges the obvious clichés for a raw, realistic evocation of teenage romance in all its messy awkwardness. In the last weeks of term before school is out forever, German exchange student Grace falls for quiet, introspective Jon while her best friend Scout finds her love/hate relationship with boyfriend Chris growing increasingly volatile. Made on a budget of just £3,000 and marked by its freshness and maturity, this is the work of a talented newcomer.
Sunset Boulevard Billy Wilder’s Oscar-winning classic is as dark and savage a portrait of Hollywood fame as the screen has ever witnessed. Gloria Swanson mesmerises as imperious movie queen Norma Desmond, a silent era icon living on past glories and false dreams of a glorious comeback. William Holden is the cynical, doomed hack prepared to sustain her grand illusions if the price is right. A gothic melodrama with a caustic wit, unforgettable, acid-tipped dialogue and a once in a lifetime cast, Sunset Boulevard is one of the all-time greats and we are proud to host the European premiere of its sumptuous 4K restoration from Paramount Pictures in celebration of the 10th anniversary of Park Circus.
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Gala GFT Saturday 16 February (20.30) Cineworld Sunday 17 February (16.30) Director Park Chan-wook Cast Mia Wasikowska, Matthew Goode, Nicole Kidman USA/UK 2013, 1h39m, 18 Thanks to 20th Century Fox
Best of British Cineworld Friday 15 February (16.15) Saturday 16 February (21.15) Director Rob Savage Cast Philine Lembeck, Oliver Malam, Hannah Wilder UK 2012, 1h29m, N/C 15+ Thanks to Vertigo Films
Out of the Past GFT Saturday 16 February (18.00) Director Billy Wilder Cast Gloria Swanson, William Holden, Erich Von Stroheim USA 1950, 1h46m, PG Thanks to Park Circus
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