he Front
News, gossip and opinion
"—3 7 ’52?
[In I. V . . .‘
FV in crisis
Community film group needs cash. Words: Miles Fielder
dinburgh's grass roots filmmaking E organisation. the Film And Video
Access Centre. is suffering a cash crisis. The centre. which offers much- needed training and eguipment hire at rock bottom prices to everyone from local filmmakers to voluntary organisations. scrapes by on a grant of 536.020 from Edinburgh City (Iouncfl from which it generates an $88,000 turnover. But the current finanCial difficulties have forced the FVA to cut back on core staff and streamline the sen/ices it offers.
So is this the end for community filmmaking at the FVA? Clare Kerr. board chairperson for the centre. tempers her concern with optimism. ‘This is not the first crisis the FVA has dealt with in its eighteen years.‘ she says. ‘Increased usership of the centre has created a need for increased staff. but there's no more funding and we don't want to raise training and equipment hire prices in a prohibitive manner. The FVA has become a victim of its own success.‘
Over the years the FVA has nurtured numerous filmmakers. both first timers and more experienced talent. The List's recent special feature showcaSIng
Scotland's Top 50 new filmmakers. included more than a dozen who had benefited from the FVA's servrces. Abbi Warrilow. for example. made her first film. Cross Spin. through the centre's Small Wonders scheme. The scheme. sponsored by The List. awards cash and free eQuipment use to recipients and affords them the opportunity to work with both the FVA's resident filmmaker and industry professionals. Cross Spin, a dance piece. went on to play in UK cinemas supporting features and has lead to Warrilow teaching a dance on film (:Ourse in Scotland.
Yet despite successes Such as this. the FVA‘s future remains uncertain. What can be done? Kerr has an answer: “The FVA needs to become more self-suffiCient. We now have professional standard equipment in place. so the centre will for the first time be able to offer its facilities to professionals.‘ The centre is taking immediate action by seeking a new staff member with entrepreneurial skills. while the board is taking the centre‘s case to offiCial funding bodies.
'lt's the nature of the game.’ says Kerr. 'keeping the centre accessible.‘
Coming quite soon . . .
CCA and The List on the move Redevelopment completed on time
We‘ve been waiting two years for it to happen and now Glasgow‘s CCA bLiilding is finished and awaiting the arrival of its staff. artists and Cultural tenants. The List is one such tenant and Will be movmg into the bright corner space on level three of this remarkable building on Monday 2:3 June.
The bquing has been stripped back and redew-ilooed using metal walkways. glass ceilings and the original stonework to house six new arts spaces and offices. Alongsrde these is a bar de8igned by Jorge Pardo. courtyard cafe/restaurant. bookshop. resource room and an artist's flat. It opens to the public on 25 October. (Jane Hamilton)
All the page Book festival
attracts galaxy of stars
Some of the hottest names in Scottish books Will rub shoulders With the world's top literary types when the Edinburgh International Book Festival opens for busmess in August. Irvrne Welsh. lan Rankin, A.L. Kennedy, Alasdair Gray. Iain M. Banks. Janice Galloway, Denise Mina and Christopher Brookmyre will be doing their bit during the festival which has around 500 events to choose from. Among the international stars appearing are (deep breath) Gore Vidal, Nick Hornby. Naomi Klein. Clive James. Zadie Smith. Michael Ondaatie. Peter Carey, Louis de Bernieres and PD. James. Clearly delirious with the talent hitching a ride on her maiden voyage as director. Catherine Lockerbie was moved to quote a Chinese proverb: 'a book IS like a garden in the pocket'. (Brian Donaldson)
Danny Teneglia, oming to - ouand
Ecosse Films. the London production company run by Scot Douglas Rae responSible for Mrs Brown and the forthcoming Charlotte Gray. is to shoot two €20 million films in Scotland. Jude Law and Kate Beckinsale may take the leads in Bonnie Prince Char/re. the stery of the 1745
Jacobite campaign. while The Waterhorse is a family film about the Loch Ness monster written by Babe author Dick King Smith . . . The Trainspotting team director Danny Boyle and producer Andrew Macdona/d are to reunite With The Beach author Alex Garland to film his original script for the post-
apocalyptic science fiction adventure 28 Days Later . . . The Coen brothers have been involved in two concerts featuring music from O Brother. Where Art Thou? Fans will be delighted to hear that rockumentary maker D.A. Pennebaker (Don 't Look Back) filmed one in Nashville. The resulting film. Down
From The Mountain, will be released along with CD soundtrack. ‘We're talking to Pennebaker about a concert we're putting on at the Royal Albert Hall next year of Tuvan throat-singing.‘ says Ethan Coen. ‘They have this Pete Townsend thing at the end of their act where they smash their . . . well. you just have to
see it' . . . The Liquid Room (voted second best nightclub in Scotland in the recent BEDA Awards) has bagged an exclusive by booking Danny Teneglia to play at the venue in February of next year. it's a long wait but worth it for the New York legend is rated. rightly, as one of the best DJs in the world.