ScreenPlay Programme 2010

SATURDAY 28 AUGUST SUNDAY 5 SEPTEMBER 2010

�������� ������ �������� SHETLAND FILM CLUB Welcome to Screenplay 2010, Shetland Arts’ 4th Film Festival.

This year we salute the art of ‘making a song and dance’, with many of our films featuring singing and dancing of the highest quality. From the grace and verve of the legendary Gene Kelly to Andy Serkis’ brilliant portrayal of Ian Dury, established stars (and stars in the making) will sing and dance their way through a week of screenings from Fetlar to Sandwick. Live music will also feature, with a screening of the rarely seen White Oak, a silent cowboy film with accompaniment from Mark Kermode’s skiffle band, The Dodge Brothers, along with Shetland’s own Philip Taylor.

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TIM BENTLEY PRODUCTIONS

AMNESTY

INTERNATIONAL

SHETLAND

Cover image: Useless Dog - see page 23

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This year we are also celebrating the art of documentary film making, and we have some tremendous examples of the genre – from the lighthearted and gently humorous to the visually stunning and deeply moving. We are very fortunate to have acclaimed director Julien Temple visit the festival this year (Oil City Confidential, Requiem for Detroit). Irish film maker Ken Wardrop is also coming, with his first full length documentary on the lives and loves of Irish women (His &

Hers) along with some of his lovely short films (don’t miss the staff’s runaway favourite, Useless Dog). We also welcome Gill Parry, producer of The First Movie, a tribute to the resilience of Kurdish children and to the power of film in empowering them to tell their own stories.

Speaking of illustrious guests, are you Harry Potter fans out there brave enough to meet the sinister Lucius Malfoy? Or if you’re more of a Peter Pan fan, would you like to put a question to Captain Screenplay p3

Hook? Well now’s your chance as we are delighted to welcome Jason Isaacs, one of Britain’s most talented and internationally recognised film and television actors.

Apart from screening one of the early Harry Potter films we will also be showcasing Jason’s latest film, a dark comedy called Skeletons (winner of the Michael Powell Prize at this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival) as well as celebrating some of his best work in television drama.

There will be outreach screenings at schools, care centres and community Screenplay p4

halls, and workshops by Red Kite Animation Studios from Edinburgh. And of course, Shetland’s local film makers will have their own screening session – always a highlight of the festival.

All this in addition to contributions from our regular curators, internationally renowned film critics Mark Kermode and Linda Ruth Williams; this is going to be a week to immerse yourself in film, to glory in some old favourites and to make some exciting new discoveries.

Shetland Arts would like to thank curators Mark and Linda, for all the work they do for the festival each year, and for their absolute commitment to Screenplay.

We’d also like to thank our partners, funders and sponsors: Regional Screen Scotland, Shetland Film Club, Tim Bentley Productions, DITT, Amnesty International Shetland, Peter Johnson Partnership, Taste Shetland and Lerwick Building Centre – without you all it simply couldn’t happen.

CURATORS MARK KERMODE

LINDA RUTH WILLIAMS

Mark Kermode is resident film critic for BBC Radio 5Live and the BBC News Channel. He writes regularly for The Observer and is a contributing editor to Sight and Sound magazine. He has written monograph books for the British Film Institute on The Exorcist and The Shawshank Redemption and his ‘cinematic autobiography’ It’s Only A Movie was published this year by Random House. His television documentaries include Hell On Earth: The Desecration and Resurrection of The Devils and On the Edge of Blade Runner.

He plays double bass and harmonica in skiffle & bluegrass band The Dodge Brothers whose first album Louisa and the Devil is issued by Weeping Angel Records.

Linda Ruth Williams is Professor of Film in the English Department at Southampton University. She is currently writing a book on Steven Spielberg and childhood, as well as a biography of Ken Russell, and has authored and edited numerous books and articles on contemporary cinema, women in film, sexuality and censorship, including the 2006 book Contemporary American Cinema with Michael Hammond (of The Dodge Brothers). She regularly writes for the BFI journal Sight and Sound, and contributes to TV and radio programmes on film issues whenever she can.

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VISITORS

GILL PARRY

KEN WARDROP

JULIEN TEMPLE

Gill is an Edinburgh based producer who runs a small independent production company called CONNECTfilm.

She started out in the film business working in the cutting rooms, before moving into the production office and working on a range of projects from broadcast docs to feature films.

The First Movie is the first feature documentary Gill has produced, and a film she’s very proud to have worked on. It will receive its UK theatrical release through City Screen this October. p6 Screenplay p6

Ken Wardrop has been described as one of Ireland’s freshest creative talents, establishing a sterling reputation for crafting elegant short films. His work captures humanity through an original treatment of character studies. His documentary Undressing My Mother is one of Ireland’s most successful short films, winning a European Film Academy Award in 2005.

Expanding on this technique Ken has crafted his distinctive debut feature His & Hers.

Julien Temple is one of the early pioneers of music videos, directing such diverse talents as The Rolling Stones, Sex Pistols & David Bowie. He has directed numerous feature films.

The Filth & The Fury won the audience award at Sundance.

He has recently completed Oil City Confidential a documentary about Dr Feelgood, which won the main prize at the 2009 Turin Film Festival, and the acclaimed Requiem For Detroit a feature documentary which aired recently on BBC2.

THE DODGE BROTHERS

JIM STIRK

JASON ISAACS

The Dodge Brothers features Mike Hammond (lead guitar, lead vocals), Mark Kermode (bass, harmonica, vocals), Aly Hirji (rhythm guitar, mandolin, vocals) and Alex Hammond (washboard, snare drum, percussion). Their music has an authentically American tang – lead guitarist/ vocalist Mike Hammond was raised in Alabama and his youthful musical travels took him all over the southern and western USA. These guys play with dust in their Levis and the road in their hearts.

Jim graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in 1997 and hasn’t stopped animating since. Jim considers himself a 2D animator, though the animations he’s made often mix drawn, cut-out and digital techniques. After 8 years working for West Highland Animation making various Gaelic childrens series and educational games, Jim moved to Red Kite Animation and became their workshop manager, teaching children and adults all over Scotland how to make films.

Jason was born in Liverpool. He is perhaps best known for his role as the sinister Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter films but he has appeared in many other wellknown movies, including Black Hawk Down, The Patriot, Peter Pan, Armageddon and Event Horizon. His television work has included appearances in Taggart, The West Wing, Brotherhood and The State Within. He and his family live a “calm, suburban life”, which he prefers to the high-pressure, high stress and compromised existences lived Screenplay p7 by p7 many of his fellow stars.

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CHICAGO

DIR: ROB MARSHALL | 2002 | 113 MIN | 12 Starring Catherine Zeta-Jones, Renée Zellweger, Queen Latifah and Richard Gere

Sultry night club chanteuse Velma finds herself in prison for shooting her sister and her own philandering husband; in the cell next door is unsophisticated wannabe singer and dancer Roxie, who has killed her lover who used and rejected her, having first committed the worse crime of failing to make her a star. The two sirens need fame - and the services of flamboyant lawyer Billy Flynn - to keep them from the

gallows, and they ruthlessly compete to achieve both. Winner of six Oscars, this is a raunchy, extroverted and high energy movie that bounces from one song and dance routine to another, with more exposed stocking top and plunging neck lines than a night at the Oscars.

The cast give it everything they’ve got (Zeta-Jones is particularly good) and you can hum the tunes all the way home.

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YOUNG @ HEART

DIR: STEPHEN WALKER | 2007 | 107 MIN | PG

their home town of Northampton, but inevitably, given the age and sometimes failing health of its members, some individuals will not make it to the big performance. Be prepared to laugh and cry simultaneously, and to be ultimately uplifted.

GARRISON THEATRE TUESDAY 31 AUGUST 1400 ÂŁ5 (ÂŁ3.50 concessions)

This life-affirming documentary concerns the activities of a very special Massachusetts based choir, average age eighty, who dare to take on the music of Coldplay, The Ramones, Bob Dylan and The Clash rather than more conventional choral fare. Marshalled by its formidable (and much younger) director Bob Cilman, the choir plays a central role in the lives of its members, with some of them dodging hospital treatments in order to be there. Their annual concert is clearly a big attraction in

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Film sponsored by Peter Johnson Partnership

AN AMERICAN IN PARIS

DIR: VINCENTE MINNELLI | 1951 | 113 MIN | U Starring Gene Kelly, Lesley Caron, Oscar Levant and Georges Guetary

to a friend of his, the course is set for someone to end up with a broken heart. This has been described by some as Kelly’s own favourite, and one wherein he had the greatest creative freedom (the avant-garde ballet scene is evidence of this); for the audience it is a chance to indulge in some nostalgia and in some old time Hollywood sparkle.

GARRISON THEATRE TUESDAY 31 AUGUST 1900 £5 (£3.50 concessions)

This year’s classic film sees the exuberant Kelly dancing and singing his way through Paris, and through a series of Gershwin favourites.

He plays an impoverished artist who falls for a shop assistant (Caron in her film debut). As he is already being pursued by someone else – a rich socialite and would-be patron – and the object of his desire is engaged

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A selection of short films on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender themes, curated by Peccadillo Pictures, Shetland is just one of three island festivals where these screenings will take place this year.

PREVIEW: WE ONCE WERE TIDE Dir. Jason Bradbury (UK) 2mins Anthony, torn between his boyfriend and dependent mother, must realise that to love something is to give it away. Shot entirely on the Isle of Wight, We Once Were Tide is currently in post-production.

BREATH Margien Rogaar (Netherlands) 8mins On a trip to the lake, 12yo Erik feels deeply attracted to the father of his friend Sophie, and hatches a plan to express the extent of his feelings.

By kind permission of Peccadillo Pictures HENNA NIGHT Dir. Sally El Hosaini (UK) 12mins Set within the home of a BritishArab family, Henna Night takes you on a journey full of food, magic, and manipulation, subtly exploring a darker side of love.

THE ISLAND Dir. Trevor Anderson (Canada) 6mins A filmmaker with a vivid imagination considers, with the help of animation, a piece of fan mail he received. What if all the gays in the world were put on an island?

LATECOMERS Dir. Olivia Humphreys (UK) 16mins What happens when you finally come out during the later stages of life, when you have a spouse and children?

Latecomers is a sensitively filmed account of two people’s struggles to reconcile their new found zest for life and the sadness experienced by leaving behind an alternate reality.

PROMTROVERSY Dir. Leanna Creel (USA) 12mins It’s prom season again in Sherman Valley - the biggest night on the town’s social calendar. But this year is different. Cassie, the local high school’s only know lesbian student, wants to run for prom king! The locals aren’t having it. Starring Jane Lynch from TV’s ‘Glee’ TREVOR Dir. Peggy Rajski (USA) 23mins Trevor takes a sensitive yet blunt approach to a young boy’s thoughts about his sexuality at a very important stage of his life. There’s a little bit of Trevor in all of us. Winner of the Academy Award for Best Short Film, Oscars 1995

GARRISON THEATRE TUESDAY 31 AUGUST 2130 ADMISSION FREE

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LA DANSE – THE PARIS OPERA BALLET

DIR: FREDERICK WISEMAN | 2010 | 159 MIN | CERT PG

This is a must-see for fans of dance, and especially of ballet. The legendary documentary film maker Frederick Wiseman’s magisterial account of the Corps de Ballet of the Paris Opera is a unique opportunity to see how the choreographers, dancers, stage crew and administrators prepare for a season’s programme. In rehearsal are seven different pieces, from the contemporary work of Wayne

McGregor to the classical Nutcracker. Wiseman really brings home to the viewer the depths of commitment and the personal, physical and emotional endeavour that goes into creating each performance (as well as the myriad challenges faced by the theatre staff and stage crews). All this and more has prompted Sight and Sound critic Kate Stables to comment that “this superb, utterly engrossing piece manages to dissect both an institution and an art form with extraordinary skill and beauty”.

Immerse yourselves, ballet lovers, and enjoy.

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Supported by Tim Bentley Productions

HOME MADE IN SHETLAND - FESTIVAL DVD VARIOUS DIRECTORS | 110 MIN

The best of this year’s local submissions are introduced by the makers – always a great night at Screenplay and always popular with audiences. This year we will include the new Shetland Film Critic of the Year Award.

Come along and support your local film makers.

GARRISON THEATRE THURSDAY 2 SEPTEMBER 1830 ADMISSION FREE

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Sponsored by Shetland Amnesty International

THE FIRST MOVIE

DIR: MARK COUSINS | 2009 | 76 MIN SUITABLE FOR GENERAL VIEWING

utterly unlike the material on regular commercial release.”

This wonderful and visually gorgeous film is a testament to the children of Goptapa, celebrating their resilience and their creativity rather than casting them simply as victims of history and circumstance; it is moving, exhilarating and not to be missed.

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Mark Cousins heads to Goptapa in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq, once the subject of one Saddam Hussein’s genocidal chemical attacks in 1988. In his backpack are half a dozen children’s feature films and a large sheet for a makeshift screen, which is erected in the village square. The children, who have never seen a film before, are then given small digital video cameras and invited to make their own films; what they produce is magical and remarkable, prompting Guardian film critic Peter Bradshaw to say that “…this is a terrifically enjoyable and engaging film: open-minded and open-hearted, and

There will be a Q and A session with producer Gill Parry at the end.

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Screened by kind permission of Venom Films

HIS & HERS 2009

plus THE HERD, USELESS DOG & UNDRESSING MY MOTHER DIR: KEN WARDROP | 90 MIN PLUS INTRODUCTION

SUITABLE FOR GENERAL VIEWING

There will be an introductory talk by the director.

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One of the many skills of Irish film-maker Ken Wardrop is to use what is around him for his film-making, and in doing so, to discover the profound in the disarmingly simple. Family members feature regularly in his delightful and frequently moving short films. His first full length documentary, His & Hers, demonstrates his fine appreciation of the intimacies and nuances of emotion that make up the lives of Irish women, as told through the prism of their relationships with their fathers, boyfriends, sons and husbands: a subtle and beautifully crafted film which will resonate with women of every age

KEN WILL BE DISCUSSING HIS SHORT FILMS AT THE GARRISON THEATRE ON FRIDAY 3 SEPTEMBER 1030 ADMISSION FREE

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WHITE OAK

DIR: LAMBERT HILLYER 1921 | 64 MIN | PG Starring William S Hart, Vola Vale, Alexander Gordon Now here are two rare opportunities rolled into one - the chance to see a silent western, with live accompaniment from a skiffle band. Gambler Oak Miller seeks revenge on Granger, the man who misused his sister Rose, who is ill and under the care of Barbara, the woman Oak loves. Granger is planning to rob a wagon train with the collusion of the Indians under Chief Long Knife. When Barbara is suspected of killing her lascivious stepfather, Oak takes the blame and is arrested just before he is needed to

save the threatened wagon train. Now read on…The Dodge Brothers, who will be playing the soundtrack, are renowned for playing the hell out of classic Americana. Described as “wonderful stuff” by Radio 2 presenter Bob Harris, they play an exuberant hybrid of country blues, rockabilly, jugband and skiffle. Firmly rooted in these traditions The Dodge Brothers bring to them a freshness that has feet stomping and hands clapping from California to Cropredy, from the Mojave Desert to the New Forest. Their music features vocal virtuosity and heartfelt harmonies underpinned by joyous guitars, thumping double bass and rattlin’ snare and washboard, and they bring all of this to White Oak.

The Dodge Brothers frst provided a live soundtrack to White Oak at the British Film Institute’s 12th Annual Silent Film Festival at The Barbican. The Times Literary Supplement said “They are neither brothers nor from Dodge City but play like they are both.” On this occasion they will be ably assisted by pianist Philip Taylor, also from the Wild West (well, Aith actually).

The screening will be introduced

by Mark Kermode and Mike Hammond.

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By kind permission of Number 9 Films

SOUNDS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT

DIR: JAMIE J JOHNSON | 2008 | 100 MINS | PG

superficially confident Marina from Bulgaria who is desperately hoping that her estranged father will see her on TV and come home, the children’s ambitions are all deeper and more meaningful than simply wanting to win the contest. According to critic Sally McIlhone, “If I could roll this film out like a blanket and wrap myself up in it for eternity, I’d do it in an instant.”

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The 2007 Junior Eurovision Song Contest may not sound like everybody’s cup of cinematic tea but this cracking documentary will have you enthusiastically rooting for its youthful contestants by the time they take to the big stage. The film follows the fortunes of a handful of contestants, all with different stories to tell and all with their own particular motivations for being part of Junior Eurovision.

From ten year old Georgios from Cyprus who has been bullied all his school life, to the earnest Mariam from war-torn Tblisi, or the

The film will be introduced by Linda Ruth Williams.

GARRISON THEATRE SATURDAY 4 SEPTEMBER 1030 ADMISSION FREE

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HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS DIR: CHRIS COLUMBUS | 2002 | 161 MIN | PG Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson and Jason Isaacs

has been opened and that a monster is stalking the school; the problem is that according to legend, the chamber can only be opened by the Heir to Slytherin, and Harry, Ron and Hermione must discover who that is, and at the same time evade the malice of the Malfoy family and of Lord Voldemort himself.

Introduced by Harry Whitham and Freya Garden, this screening will be preceded by a Q and A session with Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy).

Harry is visited by house-elf Dobby just before returning to Hogwart’s for his second year. Dobby warns Harry that he will be in mortal danger should he go back to the school. Back at Hogwart’s, strange and sinister things start to happen – in particular several students are turned to stone. It becomes apparent that the Chamber of Secrets

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REQUIEM FOR DETROIT

DIR: JULIEN TEMPLE | 2010 | 78 MIN | ADVISE 12 AND OVER

though they had heard some kind of broadcast warning.

The photography is breathtaking, with some stunning and unforgettable imagery. But for all its apocalyptic visions, nature (in the guise of trees, greenery, urban farming) - and hope - are beginning the fight back to reclaim the city that was once ruled and defined by the giants of the automobile industry.

There will be a Q and A session with Julien Temple after the screening.

Julien Temple’s masterful telling of the fate of what was once the United States’ third largest city, now with large proportions of its buildings crumbling and in ruins, and its population in despair.

To say that this is a cautionary tale of unbridled capitalism and industrialism is to put it mildly. As the camera roams through a series of abandoned buildings, one commentator aptly remarks that it feels like the inhabitants of Detroit suddenly got up and left as

GARRISON THEATRE SATURDAY 4 SEPTEMBER 1930 ADMISSION FREE

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OIL CITY CONFIDENTIAL

DIR: JULIEN TEMPLE | 2009 | 106 MIN | 15 Julien Temple has made a number of films about musicians including The Great Rock and Roll Swindle and The Filth and the Fury (both about The Sex Pistols) and The Future is Unwritten about Joe Strummer. This one is about Canvey Island’s finest, R & B band Doctor Feelgood, and is as deeply engaged with the landscape of Canvey as with the band itself. The film is structured around a series of interviews with the band members, their friends and relations, taking in their views on music, philosophy, friendship, social history, stardom and many other things besides. Interspersed with their memories are live footage sequences of the band in their heyday, pumping out their music with total commitment - ‘rock and roll played with passion and with venom’ as one of them describes it. The bleak landscape (“next stop Belgium”), dominated by an oil refinery and by brave bastions of yesteryear’s holidays on the beach - old cafes, caravans and clubs on their last legs - haunts the whole film and is both evocative and compelling.

Introduced by Julien Temple and Mark Kermode, this is Screenplay’s contribution to this year’s Shetland Blues Festival.

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ANIMATION WORKSHOP FOR ADULTS WITH RED KITE STUDIOS Join Jim Stirk, an animator from Red Kite studios in Edinburgh on this full day workshop. Learn a variety of animation techniques including traditional drawn, cut-out silhouette, stop motion model and even sand on glass. If you’re an artist looking to expand your techniques or if you’re just curious how animation is made, come along to this hands-on event.

Animation is not just for children!

SHETLAND MUSEUM AND ARCHIVES WEDNESDAY 1 SEPTEMBER 10.00 – 4.30 Workshop fee £10 tickets from Shetland Box Office 01595 745555 Sponsored by DITT

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RED KITE ANIMATIONS ADVISE PG

THE GREEN MAN OF KNOWLEDGE A young man ventures forth from his home for the first time on his 21st birthday and finds himself in The Land of Enchantment. There he plays chess with the mysterious Green Man of Knowledge and completes three challenges to win the hand of his youngest daughter. Together the couple try to escape in a thrilling chase with a surprising conclusion…

LUNAR JIG At night in a secluded corner of the forest, a romance blossoms between a most unlikely duo.

THE WITCHES Set in the reign of King James VI of Scotland, ‘The Witches’ tells the story of three fishwives who concoct a plan to save themselves from the threat of witch dooking.

By kind permission of Red Kite Studios LOCH NESS KELPIE The Kelpie is a legendary beast from Scottish Mythology that, in the guise of a horse, drags unwary people to their death in the Loch. Ewan is a young boy in the Highlands who decides to vanquish the Kelpie, in a terrifying encounter that challenges his resolve.

THE SKELETON WOMAN This haunting and beautiful Inuit folktale tells of a fisherman who unwittingly hooks a skeleton. Terrified, he races home trailing the bones in his line, but as he sleeps, the skeleton woman sings back her human form.

THE TRUE STORY OF SAWNEY BEANE In 16th-century Scotland, young Sawney Beane yearns to itch and scratch and buccaneer. So he bids farewell to his parents and their life of honest toil. Forty years on, Betty Beane strikes off on her quest across

There will be an opportunity to ask questions from Red Kite animator Jim Stirk at the end of the screenings. the land to find her lost son, with the family savings in a hankie and a secret suspicion in her heart.

FAMINE Winter… The streets of Insect City echo with the hungry cries of its starving inhabitants. When a cannibal starts preying on the weakened insects, a small fly is framed for the crime. Can he save them from the growing menace about to engulf the city?

SHHH… When a ringing mobile phone disturbs a quiet library, an old man uses a magical thumb trick with sweeping consequences, unaware that his grandson has been slyly observing him…

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THE CURSE OF STEPTOE

DIR: MICHAEL SAMUELS 2008 | 67 MIN | 15 Starring Jason Isaacs and Phil Davis Steptoe and Son was one of the most successful television series ever, giving birth to the modern sitcom and transforming its actors into national treasures. It told the story of two rag and bone men, Harry H Corbett (Jason Isaacs) and Wilfrid Brambell (Phil Davis), trapped together for an eternity that neither of them had foreseen. Off-screen, however, a stranger story would mirror fiction as the two men find themselves unable to escape the drudgery of the format, their own inner complexities, or each other.

First shown on BBC television as

The Curse of Steptoe by kind permission of Number 9 Films

Scars by kind permission of Kudos Film and Television

part of its ‘Legends of Comedy’ series, Isaacs was nominated for a BAFTA for his compelling performance as Corbett.

account of a series of interviews with Chris over a period of about a year, interviews in which the subject himself did not want to appear.

The result is an extraordinary and disturbing glimpse of what goes on in the mind of a man who has been inured to violence at an early age, but who desperately wants to believe that he can live a normal family life NB This film contains strong language and is concerned with adult themes. The screening will be followed by a Q and A session with Jason Isaacs.

GARRISON THEATRE SUNDAY 5 SEPTEMBER 1330 ADMISSION FREE

SCARS

DIR: LEO REGAN 2006 | 48 MIN | ADVISE 15 Starring Jason Isaacs This powerful portrayal of a violent man wrestling with his demons was first screened on More4 in 2006. Jason Isaacs gives a masterclass in acting as he plays Chris, a man with an extremely violent past who is struggling to change his life and to confront the truth about himself. Scars is a verbatim

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SKELETONS

DIR: NICK WHITFIELD | 2010 | 93 MIN | ADVISE 15 Starring Ed Gaughan, Jason Isaacs, Andrew Buckley

the ‘company rules’ by raking through his own emotional past. According to the Guardian, this is a ‘genuinely ambitious and brightly original comedy’, wherein director Nick Whitfield ‘has created a playfully off-kilter universe.’

Skeletons won the Michael Powell Prize for Best New British Feature Film at this year’s Edinburgh Film Festival.

The screening will be introduced by Jason Isaacs and Mark Kermode.

Davis and Bennett travel the country working as ‘psychic cleaners’ who literally and metaphorically remove skeletons from the cupboards of troubled people, exorcising painful memories with the aid of some seriously weird equipment. A new assignment takes them to an isolated cottage where a woman is grieving the disappearance of her husband eight years previously. This presents the pair with a particularly tough challenge, further complicated by the fact that Davis has been breaking

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SEX AND DRUGS AND ROCK AND ROLL DIR: MATT WHITECROSS | 2010 | 115 MIN | 15 Starring Andy Serkis, Tom Hughes, Clifford Samuel

Punchy biopic of the late Ian Dury, artist, singer-songwriter, leader of The Blockheads and so much more besides. Andy Serkis gives what has been described as ‘a barnstorming performance’ as the immensely talented but undeniably difficult Dury, and he is ably supported by a terrific cast. It is a bravura turn, requiring Serkis to be in almost every scene, as well as singing Dury’s songs himself. The film does not shrink from showing the star as a somewhat less than perfect family man, and one who was cheerfully and cynically not above exploiting his polioinduced disability for his own ends.

There will be discussion and Q and A opportunities with Mark Kermode afterwards, making this a perfect way to end a festival whose theme has been ‘making a song and dance’.

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