Central Scotland Documentary Festival Guide 2019

Docs, talks & more 10–14 OCT 2019

Stirling, Scotland Curated & presented by Macrobert Arts Centre

TICKETS & INFO / FUNDERS VENUE Macrobert Arts Centre, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA

Please note that Ella Fitzgerald: Just One of Those Things will take place at the Albert Halls in Stirling.

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 YOU CHOOSE: £2.50 / £5.50 / £8.50

We ask you to make a choice about the ticket price that you can afford.

No-one’s judging and it can depend on lots of things – who’s coming to see the film, how many films you’re seeing at the Festival or how close to pay day it is. For more information about our pricing policy and suggestions on what might influence your choice, visit our website.

FESTIVAL PASS (STANDBY): £25

Get entry to any film (subject to availability). Operated 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 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, all non-English films will be subtitled 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.

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WELCOME

Grahame Reid Head Curator & Programmer (Central Scotland Documentary Festival) Film Programmer (Macrobert Arts Centre) I’m delighted to present another selection of fantastic documentaries for our third Central Scotland Documentary Festival. In 2019 we’re taking you on a journey from Harlem to Aleppo, Mexico City to Oslo and Rio de Janeiro to Glasgow for an insight into the lives of some interesting people – a rock and a blues icon, teenage best friends, a gay transgender parent, blacklisted construction workers, Australian cyclists and a global adventurer to mention just a few.

We’re also continuing our commitment to making the Festival as affordable as possible, offering you a choice of three ticket prices - £2.50, £5.50 or £8.50 – and there are some free events on the inside back page of this guide too.

So, take some time to browse through our 2019 programme and we hope you’ll be able to join us, and bring your friends and your family, for a programme of films that will make you laugh, cry, learn, question, critique and be entertained. ​

Grahame Reid

THANKS TO OUR SUPPORTERS

TAKE ONE

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OPENING EVENT

h is e t t ier co m S re P DON’T BE A DICK ABOUT IT

Benjamin Mullinkosson / USA 2018 / 69 mins

BENJAMIN MULLINKOSSON Ben is a documentary and commercial filmmaker based in LA. His work includes the internet sensation Gnarly in Pink and Osama and Ayman's Fourth of July, the story of two goof-off brothers who skate, laugh, pray and reflect on what it means to be Muslim Americans.

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Peter and Matthew are growing up at home together with their parents - crazy about each other, but also constantly at each other’s throats. Peter is obsessed with the TV show Survivor, and re-enacts the elimination rounds every day in an uncompromising ritual. His younger brother Matthew is scared of dogs and trying to get over it. Peter supports Matthew’s anxiety and Matthew supports Peter’s autism, while the camera follows their everyday lives.

Thu 10 Oct, 7.30pm I Filmhouse

DOCUMENTARY & LIVE MUSIC

ELLA FITZGERALD: JUST ONE OF THOSE THINGS Leslie Woodhead / USA 2019 / 89 Mins /

Ella Fitzgerald was a 15 year-old street kid when she won a talent contest in 1934 at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem. Within months she was a star. This film uses never-before-seen images and unheard interviews to bring Ella to life and to tell the story of her music; a black woman who makes her career in the face of horrifying racism. It includes interviews with Tony Bennett, Jamie Cullum, Laura Mvula, Johnny Mathis, Smokey Robinson and a rare interview with Ella’s son, Ray Brown Jr.

+ THE BRILL BAND Enjoy a selection of jazz and blues numbers straight from the American songbook. A rich chronicle of diverse individuals, creating enduring, ground-breaking work, that defined a culture.

Sat 12 Oct, 7.30pm I The Albert Halls (Lesser Hall), Dumbarton Rd. Stirling, FK8 2QL Presented in partnership with

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CLOSING EVENT

EMINENT MONSTERS Stephen Bennett / UK 2019 / 89 Mins

STEPHEN BENNETT Stephen is a BAFTA award-winning filmmaker. His work has contributed to changes in Government policy on the treatment of veterans and this film was screened at the United Nations Human Rights Council. It will also be used to develop International Protocols on Non-Coercive Interviewing

by Member States.

This film traces the roots of western governments’ love affair with torture. In 1950s Montreal psychiatrist Dr. Ewen Cameron, born in Bridge of Allan, Scotland, experimented on his patients using sensory deprivation, forced comas and LSD injections. Covertly funded by the Canadian government and the CIA, his techniques have been used in Northern Ireland, Guantånamo and 27 countries around the world.

Including extraordinary first hand testimony from Guantanamo survivors, Hooded Men from Northern Ireland and senior American psychologists and military personnel, this documentary shows how the collusion of doctors to aid and abet torture began in the 1950s and continues to this day.

Q&A: Join us for a post-screening conversation with Stephen Bennett (Director) Mon 14 Oct, 7.30pm I Filmhouse

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CONFLICT, CULTURE, EXPLORATION, FAMILIES, HISTORY, RELATIONSHIPS, SEXUALITY, TERRORISM just some of the themes explored in this year’s Central Scotland Documentary Festival (films are listed in alphabetical order)

DON’T BE A DICK ABOUT IT (Relaxed Screening) Benjamin Mullinkosson / USA 2018 / 69 mins

Peter and Matthew are growing up at home together with their parents - crazy about each other, but also constantly at each other’s throats. Peter is obsessed with the TV show Survivor, and re-enacts the elimination rounds every day in an uncompromising ritual. His younger brother Matthew is scared of dogs and trying to get over it. Peter supports Matthew’s anxiety and Matthew supports Peter’s autism, while the camera follows their everyday lives.

S Re cr la ee x ni ed ng

Sat 12 Oct, 11am I Filmhouse

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FOR SAMA

Waad Al-Kateab, Edward Watts / UK 2019 / 100 Mins /

A love letter from a young mother to her daughter, this is the story of al-Kateab’s life through five years of the uprising in Aleppo, Syria. She falls in love, gets married and gives birth to Sama, all while cataclysmic conflict rises around her. Her camera captures incredible stories of loss, laughter and survival as she wrestles with an impossible choice – whether or not to flee the city to protect her daughter’s life, when leaving means abandoning the struggle for freedom for which she has already sacrificed so much.

Sat 12 Oct, 2.30pm I Playhouse

HER CENTURY

Scotland’s National Moving Image Archive / 75 mins Scotland’s women lived through major social change in the twentieth century, challenging their roles in society and fighting for equality; at work and at home, classroom to croft, girlhood to motherhood. Discover their stories in Her Century, a timely collection of archive film curated by Scotland’s National Moving Image Archive. Featuring work from Scottish female filmmakers including Sarah Erulkar, Brigid ‘Budge’ Cooper and Jenny Gilbertson, these fascinating films follow women’s histories and voices through 100 years of filmmaking in Scotland.

Her Century is supported by Film Hub Scotland, part of BFI FAN and supported by The National Lottery and Screen Scotland.

Sun 13 Oct, 1.30pm I Filmhouse

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Hi, AI

Isa Willinger / Germany 2019 / 88 mins

With an AI, you have to keep your sentences short and to the point. This piece of advice is given to Chuck as he's picking up his robot partner Harmony fresh from the factory. In Tokyo, Grandma Sakurai is given the cute robot Pepper, so that she feels less lonely. How will robots and artificial intelligence change our lives?

This stunning emotional documentary shows us tomorrow‘s world today.

S Pr co em t t ie ish re

Sat 12 Oct, 2.15pm I Filmhouse

HOME

Jen Randall & Sarah Outen / UK 2019 / 92 mins

Between 2011 and 2015, UK adventurer Sarah Outen traversed the globe by bike, kayak and rowing boat, travelling over 20,000 miles by human power alone.

Her voyage was followed by thousands, hooked on her infectious humour and love of life. But travelling solo, the trip took its toll, and a violent storm on the Pacific took Sarah to the physical and mental brink. Using hundreds of hours of footage, Home tells a story of heart and soul, of real struggle and joy, and one woman’s trek towards true emotional acceptance.

S Pr co em t t ie ish re

Sun 13 Oct, 6pm I Playhouse

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IT IS NOT ONE WAY

David Kenny / UK 2018 / 70 mins

Three people with hugely contradictory political and social beliefs have dinner and discuss their differences: Dipu is a Labour Councillor and devout Muslim, John is a prominent member of the English Defence League, and Rob is a member of ANTIFA. Each have their own belief system, fears and prejudices, and together they air their views, confront their prejudices and break bread with one another.

Q&A: Join us for a post-screening conversation with David Kenny (Director)

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Sun 13 Oct, 4.15pm | Filmhouse

MIDNIGHT FAMILY Luke Lorentzen / Mexico 2019 / 90 mins

In Mexico City’s wealthiest neighbourhoods, the Ochoa family runs a private ambulance, competing with other for-profit EMTs for patients in need of urgent help. As the Ochoa’s try to make a living in this fraught industry, they struggle to keep their dire finances from compromising the people in their care.

Sun 13 Oct, 7.45pm I Playhouse

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MIDNIGHT TRAVELER

Hassan Fazili / USA, UK, Canada, Quatar 2019 / 100 mins

When the Taliban puts a bounty on Afghan director Hassan Fazili’s head, he is forced to flee with his wife and two young daughters. Capturing their uncertain journey, Fazili shows first-hand the dangers facing refugees seeking asylum and the love shared between a family on the run.

Sat 12 Oct, 8pm I Playhouse

MIKE WALLACE IS HERE Avi Belkin / USA 2019 / 88 mins

An engaging look at the life and career of legendary 60 Minutes newsman Mike Wallace, and how he redefined broadcast journalism with his hard-hitting interview style. For over half a century, 60 Minutes' fearsome newsman Mike Wallace went head-to-head with the world's most influential figures. Relying exclusively on archival footage, the film interrogates the interrogator, tracking Mike's storied career and troubled personal life while unpacking how broadcast journalism evolved to today's precarious tipping point.

S Pr co em t t ie ish re

Sat 12 Oct, 12.45pm I Playhouse

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MILITIA MAN

Lisa Clifford / UK 2018 / 75 mins

When the International Criminal Court (ICC) decided that 23-year-old Germain Katanga was the person most responsible for years of carnage in northeastern Congo, a complex 10-year legal process unfolded.

Seen through the eyes of Katanga, his lawyers and a family that lost everything in a terrible massacre this film explores a flawed ICC war crimes trial. After serving eight years in The Hague, a shocking development awaits Katanga in Congo, raising further questions about the competence of the ICC.

Sat 12 Oct, 3.45pm I Filmhouse

QUEEN OF LAPA

Theodore Collatos, Caroline Monnerat / USA, Brazil 2019 / 73 mins

Luana Muniz has been a larger-than-life actress, cabaret performer, activist, and proud sex professional since the age of eleven. Also arguably one of Brazil’s most recognisable transgender personalities, Luana shapes a new reality for the next generation of transgender sex workers in her hostel by providing a safe working environment in the dangerous neighbourhood of Lapa in Rio de Janeiro.

This documentary explores the day-to-day lives, quests for love, house-mate rivalries in a turbulent political climate - under matriarch Muniz’s watchful and guiding eye.

Sat 12 Oct, 6.30pm I Playhouse

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Q&A: Join us for a post-screening conversation with Lisa Clifford (Director)

RECONSTRUCTING UTØYA Carl Javér / Sweden, Norway, Denmark 2018 / 96 mins

On 22 July 2011, a bomb exploded outside government buildings in central Oslo.

The perpetrator was a Norwegian farright terrorist. After the bombing, he travelled to the island of Utøya, where he murdered 69 people in the course of 72 minutes. Six years after the terrorist attack, four survivors from Utøya and twelve young Norwegians come together to reconstruct the survivors’ memories of what happened. The survivors tell their story for their own sake, but also for ours.

For the present, but also for the future.

S Pr co em t t ie ish re

Sun 13 Oct, 4pm I Playhouse

SCHEME BIRDS

Ellen Fiske, Ellinor Hallin / Sweden, Scotland 2019 / 86 Mins

Scrappy Scottish teenager Gemma has never backed down from a fight. That is the way of life in the small-town, lowincome housing scheme where she grew up, southeast of Glasgow. Scheme birds either get "locked up or knocked up," so perhaps Gemma’s path is set. But her grandfather, who raised her from infancy, won't accept that. Channelling her energy away from the streets, he opens a boxing gym that he converts once a week into a pigeon show – hoping to give Gemma and the local ex-cons a sense of purpose.

Q&A: Join us for a post-screening conversation with Tamara Van Strijthem (Executive Director of Take One Action Film Festivals) Fri 11 Oct, 6pm I Filmhouse centscotdocufest.org | 13

SEAHORSE

Jeanie Finlay / UK 2019 / 91 Mins /

Freddy is 30 and yearns to start a family, but this poses unique challenges. He is a gay transgender man. He is unprepared for the physical and emotional realities of pregnancy.

To him what feels pragmatic, to others feels confrontational; this was not part of his plan. Against a backdrop of hostility towards trans people, he is forced to confront his naivety. Made with unprecedented access and collaboration, this is an audacious and lyrical story about family, gender and love.

Sun 13 Oct, 8pm I Filmhouse

SELFIE Agostino Ferrente / France, Italy 2019 / 78 mins

Alessandro and Pietro are 16 year old best friends. Alessandro works as a waiter in a bar, Pietro dreams of becoming a hairdresser. In the summer of 2014 Davide Bifolco, also 16, was shot by a policeman who mistook him for a fugitive in the district where the boys live. The best friends accept the director’s proposal to record themselves with an iPhone, commenting live on their own daily experiences, their close friendship, their neighbourhood – now empty, in the middle of summer – and the tragedy that ended Davide’s life.

Sat 12 Oct, 4.30pm I Playhouse

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SOLIDARITY

Lucy Parker / UK 2019 / 75 mins

Blacklisting in the UK construction industry impacted thousands of workers who were labelled 'troublemakers' for speaking out and secretively denied employment.

Activists uncovered alarming links between workplace blacklisting and undercover policing. Solidarity attentively follows meetings between activists and law students, brought together for the film, revealing the determination of a community working together to find a route to justice.

Q&A: Join us for a post-screening conversation with Lucy Parker (Director) Fri 11 Oct, 8.15pm I Filmhouse

SUZI Q

Liam Firmager / Australia 2019 / 89 mins

The definitive, unexpurgated story of the girl from Detroit City – singer, songwriter, bass player, bandleader, actress, radiopresenter, poet, the one and only Suzi Quatro. Before she burst into the music world in 1973, there were almost no women in rock, and absolutely none who played bass, sang lead vocals and led the band. Suzi Q re-wrote the rule book, re-inventing the role of women in rock and roll as well as selling over 50 million records.

Fri 11 Oct, 8pm I Playhouse

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THE BIG MEETING

Daniel Draper / UK 2019 / 91 mins /

Every second Saturday in July the city of Durham is taken over by miners, trade-unions and the public for The Durham Miners’ Gala, known locally as "The Big Meeting". An annual celebration of noise, colour, culture, creativity, unity and endeavour it attracts 20,000 people who parade through the streets with banners and brass bands to honour their heritage.

This film reflects the past, present and future of the Gala and labour movement, whilst following four protagonists over the course of this momentous working-class occasion.

Sat 12 Oct, 12.30pm I Filmhouse

THE BIKES OF WRATH

Cameron Ford, Charlie Turnbull / Australia 2019 / 100 mins

Five Australian friends attempt to cycle from Oklahoma to California in honour of the Dust Bowl migration of the 1930s. This is a story of adventure, humanity, and America today, told through the lens of Steinbeck's Pulitzer prize-winning novel, The Grapes of Wrath. Through chance encounters with everyday Americans, the cyclists expand on the novel’s core themes of migration, inequality and the perceived land of opportunity. They also explore whether America has progressed since the book was written, discussing the wealth gap, immigration and the American Dream.

Sun 13 Oct, 1.15pm I Playhouse

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THE MAGIC LIFE OF V

Tonislav Hristov / UK, Finland 2019 / 87 mins / Subtitled

Veera is haunted by her childhood traumas. In order to cope with her family problems and help her mentally disabled brother become more independent, she turns to the magic of LARPing (live-action-role-playing). As she guides her brother through the world of multiple roles and identities, witches and wizards and medieval knights, she finally finds the courage to face the demons of her own past; namely their abusive father.

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Fri 11 Oct, 5.45pm I Playhouse

THIS IS WRESTLING: THE JOEY RYAN STORY

James Agiesta / USA 2019 / 65 mins

It took a career of hard work to make Joey Ryan a professional and one grab of his crotch to make him an international sensation. Go behind the scenes, and below the belt, of the viral life of Joey Ryan, during a two year period at the beginning of a ‘Golden Age’ for wrestling. See how the freewheeling world of independent wrestling thrives thanks to its rabid fans and the unconventional lifestyles of the performers they love.

Pr U em K ie re

Sun 13 Oct, 6.30pm I Filmhouse

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KEEP IN TOUCH

KEEP IN TOUCH More details about this year’s Central Scotland Documentary Festival will be released in the run up to the Festival, so make sure you stay in touch to hear about: • Additional Q&As • Extra events • Other opportunities to join the conversation • And be the first to hear about dates for the 2020 Festival

info@centsctodocufest.org centscotdocufest.org

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FREE EVENTS

THE GRIERSON WOMEN

Documentary makers Ruby Grierson (1904-1940) and Marion Grierson (19071998) developed a remarkable career in the 1930s, truncated at the beginning of the next decade for different reasons.

This event aims to shed light on the life, and showcase the work, of these Scottish sisters, who were full-fledged members of the British Documentary Movement.

Mon 14 Oct, 4.30pm I Filmhouse Image: John Grierson Archive, University of Stirling

SHORTS IN THE CITY

We’re putting a big screen in the heart of Stirling during this year’s Festival, to showcase a selection of short documentaries from both established and up-and-coming documentary makers.

Keep an eye out for dates and times regarding this event.

POTLUCK SOCIAL

Join us for the chance to share some good food and good chat about your Festival experiences. Bring your own food, and if you’re happy to share with friends, old and new, then all the better!

Sun 13 Oct, 3:30pm I Upper Foyer

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EVENT CALENDAR

Thu 10 Oct 7:30PM Opening Event: Don’t Be A Dick About It Filmhouse

2:15PM Hi, AI

6PM Home

Filmhouse

Playhouse

2:30PM For Sama

6:30PM This Is Wrestling: The Joey Ryan Story

Playhouse

Filmhouse

3:45PM Militia Man

7:45PM Midnight Family

Filmhouse

Playhouse

Fri 11 Oct 5:45PM The Magic Life of V Playhouse

6PM Scheme Birds Filmhouse

8PM Suzy Q

4:30PM Selfie

8PM Seahorse

Playhouse

Filmhouse

6:30PM Queen of Lapa

Mon 14 Oct

Playhouse

7:30PM Ella Fitzgerald: Just One of Those Things The Albert Halls

4:30PM The Grierson Women

8PM Midnight Traveler

Filmhouse

Playhouse

7:30PM Closing Event: Eminent Monsters

Playhouse

8:15PM Solidarity Filmhouse

Sat 12 Oct 11AM Don’t Be A Dick About It (Relaxed)

Sun 13 Oct 1:15PM The Bikes of Wrath Playhouse

1:30PM Her Century Filmhouse

Filmhouse

4PM Reconstructing Utøya

12:30PM The Big Meeting

Playhouse

Filmhouse

4:15PM It Is Not One Way

Filmhouse 12:45PM Mike Wallace is Here Playhouse

Filmhouse