FILM SCOTTISH
2_ -j
SOOTTISH FILM
I Geur Ghearr: The Gaelic language short flltn scheme based on the Tartan Shorts formula is now inviting applications for its second year. Two films have already been funded under Geur Ghearr - Roimit G/ram'tir A' Giteamhraidlr (Before The Winter Winds), which shoots later this year, and An lobairt ( Tire Sacrifice), which is currently in post-production. Both films are due to premiere at next year's Celtic Film Festival.
Geur Ghearr falls into two categories: a writer/producer/director team in which each member is fluent and literate in Gaelic and a team with a non-Gaelic speaking director. Priority is given to the former. Two films will be chosen from the new batch and allocated a budget of £45,000. The deadline for the 1996 scheme is 16 February, and application forms are available from the Scottish Film Production Fund, 74 Victoria Crescent Road, Glagsow G12 9JN.
I Fringe Film and Video Festival: The 1996 event takes place in April, which might seem far off now, but the deadline for submissions is 30 November. For its eleventh year, the festival is encouraging film and video makers to send in work on any format made since April 1995. More
information is available on 0131 556 2044.
I International Video Workshop For Dance: While Fred and Ginger glide across the screen at the GFT’s ‘Dance on Film' season, choreographers, dancers and film and video makers will be gathering at the Glasgow Film and Video Workshop in the Merchant City in order to explore the creative possibilities of video dance. Between 27 November and 3 December, Elliot Caplan, Filmmaker in Residence at the Merce Cunningham Foundation in New York, will be guiding eight Scottish- based filmmakers and eight choreographers from Germany, Spain. Canada. England and Scotland through the creative process. There will be an opportunity to see some of the work made during the week at an informal screening and feedback session at 4pm on Sunday 3 December. For further information, contact Katrina McPherson on 0141 334 7132.
I Berlin Tapes: it’s still a struggle to get challenging and independent work shown on UK television, but the non- profit making Berlin Tapes initiative has ensured that, over the past year, new Scottish talent has had an outlet in Germany on Berlin‘s free and uncensored TV channel. The co- ordinators are now looking for a new batch of good quality original footage on lo-band U-rnatic or BVU format. Hi 8 or S-VHS. The deadline for submissions, along with completed registration forms, is 10 December. Details and fomts are available from Berlin Tapes at the Department of Communication and information Studies. Queen Margaret College, Clerwood Terrace, Edinburgh EH12 8TS(0131317 3631).
BOOK ON LOCATION
‘. .g)~‘s.‘.‘\; " " . _ \ if“ §§1FX \
ismsaafiss“wz~ :.. 5». .L, “Nu 2..., "
:.. ‘7" I S {x W V‘s» s ~
All kinds ot cinematic magic can be coniured up in a studio, but tor authenticity and a tuller flavour, there is no alternative to shooting on location. With the tourist industry in Scotland rubbing its hands in anticipation of bumper income after the box ottice successes of Braveheart and Rob Bay, this location work can also have important spin-oft benetits tor the local communities. But which glen, which castle?
(in location: The Film Fan’s Guide To Britain And Ireland (Mainstream £18) will help the travelling butt recognise the actual shooting areas once the cameras have packed up and gone borne. Scotsman journalist Brian Pendreigh not only points out which
Mb-
enus Peter: shot entirely in Orkney site was used in which movie, he also throws in some background intormation, trivia and gossip to make the read - or the visit - a bit more enlightening.
Scotland, on the whole, is used by tilmmakers to represent Scotland, although, as Pendreigh points out, there are exceptions: Doune, Sherittmuir and Glencoe tor the medieval England oi Monty Python And The llon Grail; Dunnotter and Blackness Castles tor Hamlets Elsinore; the Hebrides for, ehm, Jupiter in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Scotland is one or ten chapters in the book, which also ranges across England and Wales, and over to Dublin and the rest of Ireland. (Alan Morrison)
RENTAL
I Killer (18) Desire turns the black-and-white rules of a hitrnan’s world into shades of grey when he falls for his latest target, a woman with a desire for her own death. With its close focus on the central duo of Anthony LaPaglia and Mimi Rogers over the course of a single night, Killer is almost theatrical (in the best sense) in its concentration on character. Both stars are at their absolute best. bringing the double-edged male/female relationship of classic nm’r tip into the sexually charged 90s. (First independent)
I Exotica (18) At first it may seem like sleaze given artistic credibility by the critics' enthusiastic response. but Atom Egoyan's character study. set in an upmarket table- dancing strip club. is one of the films of the year. Literally stripping away levels of behaviour and layers of narrative, the director teases us with glimpses of the key event that undermines the characters' traumatised present tense. A seductive thriller with plenty of human compassion and excellent performances by Elias Koteas and Bruce Greenwood. See Competitions for a chance to win a copy. (Fox)
I Excessive Force 2: Force 0n Force (l8) ‘Four years ago.‘ says the blurb. 'l-larly Cordell was a highly trained Navy Special Forces officer. But when her own field commander shot her in the head. she was forced to retire.‘ Can't this woman take a hint? Seemingly not. as she obsessively tracks down her former boss and his team of designer assassins in this above average video actioner. (First independent)
I Soldier Girls ( 15) Documentarists Nick Broomfteld and Joan Churchill follow a group of female US Army recruits through six weeks of basic training. observing with a neutral eye the shock when aspirations meet reality. The stupidity of the offlcers' rules and punishments. as well as their moral viciousness in the name of national good, is quite startling. although a closing episode has much to say about the causes of this loss of humanity and humility. A masterly. frightening portrait of how individuality is slowly eroded in favour of the more controllable group.
VIDEOS
5%.
Killer
(Academy £12.99)
I Annie Leibovitz The Melvyn Bragg intro gives the game away: this is an hour-long Sour/r Bunk Show documentary on Leibovitz, btrt that doesn‘t undermine its attempts to provide a portrait of the artist. There’s plenty of interviews with the photographer herself. her family, famous subjects and commentators, illustrated by a sprinkling of her work. ()ther releases this month from the same series bring to your home the art of David Hockney. lirancis Bacon, Roy Lichtenstein and Raphael. (l’haidon £14.99)
I Patlabor 2 (PG) Three years on from the events of the original. a new wave of terrorist attacks on Japan have brought the Tokyo Police Special Vehicle Division back into action. This brand of unimc usually shows more interest in machinery than flesh but. surprisingly. this gripping. character-driven sequel paints a convincing portrait of a city under siege. The power struggles and depiction of social collapse have a resonance beyond end-of- the-millennium Japan. (Manga £13.99)
I Falling in Love Again (12) Michelle l’feiffer’s first movie role is one that has been deservedly buried under the weight of her subsequent career. Swarnped by the worst excesses of sentiment. the story shifts between a visit to New York by disillusioned lilliott Gould and flashbacks to the time when he. a poor Bronx boy. fell in love with the wealthy daughter of his father's boss. lndulgently written and directed by Steven Paul. who shovels syrup down the throat and
l
iConogr'aphy. this could
tip the nostrils of anyone who gives this rubbish a seCond glance. (Arrow £9.99)
I Transgression r is) With its fast. lomm opening shots of murder mixed with (‘hristran
well be Abel l“errar‘a's graduation filru. It doesn't. however. have that director's narrative drive or sense of psychological redemption. A TV reporter strays over the line when following a story about a serial killer and. after being kidnapped by him, slips from the moral path herself. No insight. just some expected plot turns and heaps of pt‘ctcnsion -- quotes from Baudelaire and Nietzsche for artistic ‘wcight'. one presumes -— although sortie of the acting is very good arid naturalistic. (Screen lidge £12.99)
I Pumping Iron 11: The Women (PG) The original , is probably the more I famous. as it launched the career of some body builder called Schwarzenegger. btit this debate on what is brawn and what is beatin in the eye of the beholder is actually the more gripping. (‘eritr'ed on the US Women‘s Bodybuilding Championships in 1983. i George Butler's documentary succeeds in raising serious and not-so-
serious issues while indulging itself in the ‘who'll be the wirrner' cxciterrrerrt of the competition. ’l‘hcr'e's an odd sideshow feel to a sport where the men have bigger breasts than the women. (Acaderrry £12.99)
I Plucking The Daisy ([5) Yet again. director and one-time husband Roger \'adirrr does his best to exploit the nymphet qualities til Brigitte Bardot. In this sub- standard movie. totally lacking in charm. she plays a young woman thrown out of her stuffy household when her scandalous novel is published. which means she has to earn rrrorrey in a strip show. Despite what 1'. says on the hos. this isn't in wrdescr'ecrr and it s dubbed. not subtitled. (Arrow £14.99)
. t ' I! -A ;
Soldier Girls
£4 The List 17-30 Nov 1995