FEATURE
CROWD FUN
This year, the Glasgow Film Festival will be holding its fi rst ever Audience Award. The accolade is exclusively for movies by debut or second time directors, and will be dished out on the festival’s fi nal day. Matthew Turner and Scott Henderson take a look at some of the contenders
WHEN ANIMALS DREAM THEEB
(Denmark) Director: Jonas Alexander Arnby
(Jordan/Qatar/UAE/UK) Director: Naji Abu Nowar
Arnby’s chilling coming-of-age horror stars a captivating Sonia Suhl as 16-year-old Marie, whose
body is undergoing a strange
transformation that threatens the stability of life in her village. An
atmospheric, starkly beautiful debut. ■ GFT, Sat 21 & Sun 22 Feb.
Thrilling adventure set in 1916 starring Jacir Eid Al-Hwietat as Bedouin orphan Theeb on a
dangerous journey to help his older brother guide a British ofi cer across the Arabian desert. Exciting plot, strong performances and stunning
location work in Jordan. ■ GFT, Thu 19 & Fri 20 Feb.
APPROPRIATE BEHAVIOUR THE WONDERS
(US/UK) (Italy/Switzerland/Germany)
52 TUESDAYS (Australia)
MARDAN (Kurdistan)
Director: Desiree Akhavan Director: Alice Rohrwacher
Director: Sophie Hyde
Director: Batin Ghobadi
Akhavan writes, directs and stars in this hipster comedy about a
bisexual Persian-American woman
Italian writer-director Rohrwacher’s mesmerising coming-of-age drama about a young girl (Alexandra Lungu)
in Brooklyn dealing with identity who enters her unconventional
issues, a bitter break-up and other beekeeping family in a talent
carnage. Appropriate Behaviour marks Akhavan as a talent to watch.
contest. Rohrwacher coaxes terrii c performances from her young cast.
Winner of the World Cinema Best Directing award at Sundance 2014, at its core, this is a coming-of-age tale in which 16-year-old Billie (Tilda Cobham-Hervey) learns her mother has decided to live her future life
as a man.
■ GFT, Thu 19 & Fri 20 Feb.
■ GFT, Sun 22 & Mon 23 Feb. ■ CCA, Sun 22 & Mon 23 Feb.
Iraq’s ofi cial Oscars submission centres on brooding police
ofi cer Mardan (Hossein Hasan), investigating the case of a missing construction worker. An impressive debut by Ghobadi, this is a gripping
and thought-provoking drama. ■ GFT, Mon 23 & Tue 24 Feb.
TENDER (Australia)
LIFE IN A FISHBOWL (Iceland)
RADIATOR (UK)
Director: Lynette Wallworth Director: Baldvin Zophoníasson
Director: Tom Browne
A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT
(US)
Director: Ana Lily Amirpour
Sensitively directed documentary focusing on an Australian town where a community group, who
set up a non-proi t funeral service for cash-strapped residents, are
hit hard when one member is
Set on the eve of Iceland’s economic meltdown, Zophoníasson’s second feature cleverly weaves together the lives of three separate characters, each of whom is leading a double life. One of Iceland’s biggest ever
Moving, blackly comic drama – shot in the director’s parents’ house –
about a Cumbrian cottage-dwelling retired couple who clash with their middle-aged son when he arrives to help them deal with the junk they’ve
diagnosed with a terminal illness. box-ofi ce hits.
■ CCA, Mon 23 & Tue 24 Feb. ■ GFT, Tue 24 & Wed 25 Feb.
accumulated over 40 years. ■ GFT, Wed 25 & Thu 26 Feb.
Amirpour’s debut feature is set in a ghost town where a hijab-wearing female vampire (Argo’s Sheila Vand)
stalks the townsfolk in glorious monochrome. Its premise is easily one of the festival’s most unique.
■ GFT, Fri 27 & Sat 28 Feb.
20 THE LIST 5 Feb–2 Apr 2015