SHORTS
Five shorts you really shouldn't miss during the Festival.
Blake’s Junction 7 (directed by Ben Gregor), showrng in UK Shorts — Blake's 7 return! But this tune the crew look strangely like the cast of The Office.
No Cars, One Night (directed by Taika W'dllllll. shoWing in Ant/podean Shorts. Terrible title. but the funniest acting by children you will ever see.
Headway (directed by Jens Jonsson). showing in Nordic Shorts — Deadpan comedy from possibly the most talented European short filmmaker around at the moment.
The Russell Tribunal (directed by Staffan Lamm). showing with Peace One Day — Astoundineg timely rediscovered footage of a 1967 anti—Vietnam War tribunal. Rogue Farm (directed by Mark Bender & Garry Marshall). showing in New Found Land 7 — Japanese anime from Scottish animators? It's gotta be worth checking out. (Nimrod Corduroy)
IAntipodean Shorts. Cameo 1 (623 8030) Thu 79 Aug 3. 75pm.
desei'ihed h) l’iesident llusli .is ‘the mouth
pieee of ()sama llin ladin' l. \oujaitn's fl\-
on the \\.lll teeliiiitjue pio\ides intimate .teet'\s lit lllt' \Httlsltlgs “I :\l .ltt/L't't'u tilltl ls hotli a faseinating .ieeount of net\\ork llt‘\\s iepoiting .iiid also the grounds for .\'oujaim to highlight the equal hias of the :\merieaii iie\\s maeliine l'iihelieuzhl) good. il's'aleeiii .\ft.ihi ('(it ' 3. film! Demi-Taritf (1/2 Price) .000 llieatlitakiiigl} hold portrait of three eliildien ti}iiig to look after thenisehes on the streets of ga} l’aiis. ('onipai'ahle to the \\i\ll\\ of .-\gnes \atda. (iodai'd and Vigo. this is a stunning dehut fioiii lsild le Beseo. a ll _\e.ii old .ietiess. \\i'itei. dit'eetor and editor. \l.ikes _\ei siek. doesn’t it" 1 Paul l).ilel ll/lll/lr’llu 3. 0.15pm
Coffee & Cigarettes 0000 Sure to l‘t' lllk' \‘ititlt'sl lllllt \‘l lllC l'CsllMtl. .llflt .laimtiseh's eoiiipilation of short films the “lute tjiiiffed dude has heen making sinee l"t\'l\. \\ltett he got l)(’ltll I)‘\ 1.4m is Ritl‘L't'lH llenigni .iiid Stewii \\ right to miss heats and inisundeistaiid one another ox er numerous eups of .loe and smokes III a lo“ ke) numhei titled Minuet to Meet litll. ()f' the ten moie (‘ttt ‘ shorts .l.ii'mtiseh has sinee shot. the third. l‘l‘ll's .S'unit'ii/it‘n' in (alumina. \ihieh hoasts prieeless pairing of li~':—‘.\ l‘i‘l‘ and Tom \thlh. remains the hest.
NEXT ISSUE OUT THRSDAY 19
But. apart from .i touple of duds. the rest
are iith \sitli Jainiuseh‘s signature offheatdoisnheaf liuinout (ate lilanehett pl.i_\s herself and liei dagg} iel.iti\ e in the self-depteeiating ( r'll\lll\ In l’t /iii:m: the \\ u lang (‘lan's R/.-\ .md (i/.r\ .iigue the merits of tea o\ei toffee \sith Bill \lurta} .\iid \\ e get to see the \\ liife Stiips .lkl itlie} tan. soil of i in the self t'\[\l.tlt.tlitl} isoit ofi link \ltiiu \ Ur u HM It \ltl (iii/l \een ttl one sitting. similarities hlaek and \iliite film sloek. methead shots of lath lilletetl \tttli enipt} eups and full .islitia} s. the toffee eompanioiis ne\ei getting along 0 lllk'lll. -\\ tlii lllt‘ \.tlt.illtttts. .lttlses .tle repeated and tilted tipoii lliits in
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lloll_\\\ood .\lfted \lolina .ind Stu e (‘oogan
drinking onl} tea tn ("out/m. for e\.iiiiple The final film. in \sliieh \eteian undeigrouiid moxie performers l.l_\lttl \lead and llill Riee imagine their jaiiitois elieap eups of sludge .it'e (hum/merit . is .tl‘\ttllllt'l_\ heautiful. t.\liles l'ieldeii I (i(' T, T/ini
A Letter to True 0.. Another filmie sei'ap book from i‘enouned photographer llt'uee \Vehei. This one. a letter to his dog: "liuef starts out .is an ode to .\laii\ hest friend. hefoie \sandering off on sueh di\erse tangents as Haitian refugees. Vietnam \sai photographer l.arr_\ lltirrous and l)ii’k liogai‘de. lieaiitifull} put together as _\oii uould imagine. hut the |u\taposition of images doesn't alua}s sit \\ ell. 'l‘liei'e is a niesiuei'ising tjtialil} about the first half of the film hut the latter deseends into looking like a ('al\in Klein ad\ert \\llll dogs. l'ltiniatel) its self indulgenee eaii‘t hold _\oti past the first Jfl minutes.
(( ioi'don liltlt'ettl IVI'lnr/roiiu' /. 7, [5pm. Buena Vida Delivery 0... l'tlll. amusing. if' diseoneet'titigl) \\ eird. hlaek embed} from Argentina. When a _\oung huek meets a prett} \sailt'ess in a bar he lll\ ites her to he his flatniate in the hope that he \xill hag off \sith her. What he doesn't eount on is her \shole faniil} turning tip a \\ eek later and nioxing tn
\\ ith them. lli/ari‘e. (loneseo meets :\lf (iarnettl and \ei‘} limit} (if )oii like this kind of thing i. (irand pri/e \\ inner at the Mar Del l’laiita film f'esti\al. tl’atil l)alei ('(i( ' 6, 7.15pm.
Yasmin O... l'aseinating. gritt} pieee of. social t'ettltsttt lltatl tells the slot} of a British .\ltislim \soman u ho finds herself emhroiled in post OH I h_\ steria in the north of liiigland. linmtn is a
po\\ erf'ul look at \\ here liheral idealism ends and tahloid disdain and prejudiee hegins. l)ireetor Kenn} (ilenaaii ((im strriuli pt'o\ es )et again that lie is one of the most important filmiiiakei's euri‘entl} \soi‘king iii the l'ls'. This is also sei'eeimriter Simon Beaufo) 's hest seript sinee I'lie I'll/l .lloiin'. See panel. right. tl’aul l)alei ('(i( ' H. "Hill/rm
The Motorcycle Diaries (Diarios de Motorcicleta) .000 See \VL‘tlttestltt} lh' August. (i/ilwmi ltlm I‘lti'ulre I. 7.45pm.
Primo Amore (First Love) 0.. “ms mueh \sould )ou he \xilling to ehange for the person )ou lo\ el’ ‘l’hat's the hasie premise of .\latteo (iarroneK tale of a \soman \\ ho takes tip \\ ith a rather ohsessn e goldsmith. Vittorio likes things to he light. \shether that he in
jeu eller} or in his lo\ e object. and (iat‘t'one \seax es a tale of metaph) steal lightness at odds \sith human realit} in this tlL‘ltL‘dlL‘l} [old but Clll'ltlll\l} UllC note stor}. .\la_\he the problem lies in (iarrone's hold on the s}mholie dimensions so that the eharaeters ne\ er quite fun e a realit} of their t\\\ll. Rather l'ittingl} perhaps. gix en the eentral ehai'aeter's llll\\llllfl:_'l1C\\ to let ‘real life' get in the ua} of his 0\\tt preoeeujmions. ('l‘on} Mels'ihhini (1am I. N/mt.
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LET MOHAMMED COME TO ARTHUR’S SEAT Miles Fielder finds representations of European Muslims all over the film festival this year and he rejoices.
One of the many repercussions of 9/11 is the way much of the Western media and some governments' demonising of ethnic groups as terrorists. Into this xenophobic ‘catch all’ are snared Asian Muslims, British, European or otherwise, an ignorant, not to say criminal trend dealt with in Kenny Glenaan’s Yasmin. It was Glenaan who picked up a Michael Powell Award for his debut film Gas Attack, a truly frightening film that detailed a terrorist attack on (not by) Asian asylum seekers in Glasgow. Yasmin concerns a British Muslim woman in the North of England who becomes embroiled in the post-9/11 witch-hunts when her Pakistani-born husband is wrongly accused of being a terrorist.
Elsewhere in the EIFF programme, Hamburg Cell, written by Irish novelist Ronan Bennett (Face) and directed by English filmmaker Antonia Bird (Ravenous, Priest), takes a non-partisan and semi-documentary-style look at a young Asian Muslim man who, in the run-up to 9/11, makes the ideological leap from secular student in Germany to Islamic fundamentalist and hijacker.
But lest you think British cinema is becoming as narrow-focused about Asian Muslims as the UK and US governments have shamefully proved themselves to be, Ken Loach and his Glasgow writing partner Paul Laverty weigh in with their latest collaboration, Ae Fond Kiss, a charming comic drama about love in the face of race prejudice between an Asian Muslim man and an Irish-Catholic woman.
Although 9/11 has given filmmakers a focal point for screen debate, the three films mentioned above highlight a healthy, ongoing trend in British cinema which, from East is East to My Son the Fanatic and My Beautiful Laundrette, engages with the political and the domestic, employing hard- hitting drama, heartbreaking romance and rib-tickling comedy.
I K’is'tii". UGC. €23 7‘) Aug. 7. 30;)r77,‘ Firehouse. 623 803.0. 22 Aug. ’00; Fond Kiss. UGC. €23“ r3030. 22 Avg, 7,9,”: 27AM}. (0. 30pm; (Sf-7. 623
€0.30. 23‘ Air}. Hamcarg Ce 82”: 8030. use. 2- a 2/. Avg. 7. 30m.
‘ 'I ; ,-1 THE LIST FESTIVAL MAGAZINE 55