e i f f
2 0
1 5
which pulls together inl uences from various eras. Carlyle explains that this rel ects the way ‘Barney limps through his present; he could have existed in any time.’ As well as the pressure of making his i rst i lm as a director, Carlyle was set the challenge of turning a misanthropic killer into a sympathetic protagonist: a feat he pulls off. ‘A lot of Barney is my dad,’ he reveals. ‘Especially with the jacket, you never see him take it off; my dad had a terrible habit of permanently keeping his jacket on. I wanted to make this guy in some way likeable; there’s no real malice in Barney.’
The prospect of premiering the i lm at other festivals was mooted but, although he’s surprised and ‘absolutely delighted’ for the i lm to have been chosen to kick off the EIFF, Carlyle always had his sights set on Edinburgh. ‘It’s a Scottish i lm, and the Edinburgh Festival has played such a huge part in my career.’ He’ll shortly be returning to Vancouver to shoot the i fth season of Once Upon a Time and is fortunate enough to be able to select his next directorial project from a number of possibilities. And with the glitz and prestige of EIFF’s opening night on the horizon, as he puts it himself: ‘I’m the luckiest man in the world.’
The Legend of Barney Thomson, Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Wed 17 Jun, 9pm. General release from Fri 24 Jul.
ISLAND ESCAPE
The Closing Gala at this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival will be Iona, the second feature from Scottish director Scott Graham, which stars Ruth Negga (Marvel’s
Agents of SHIELD) and Douglas Henshall (Shetland, Primeval). Yasmin Sulaiman
caught up with Graham ahead of its screening to fi nd out more
What happens in Iona? It’s about a young woman who returns to the island of her birth so that she and her teenage son can hide from a crime they’ve committed; but her reasons for leaving the island as a teenager come back to haunt her. So it’s all about old wounds, old pain. You i lmed on location in Iona: it must have been amazing i lming in such a beautiful location? It was, but it can be hard to soak in all that the island has to offer when you’re i lming. In the right frame of mind, the island can have a profound effect on you. I’d like to go back now the i lm is i nished and
18 THE LIST 4 Jun–3 Sep 2015
just wander about, camp, do all the things I did when I was a kid. I think a few of us will be doing that. One amazing thing about shooting there is the incredible support we got from the islanders. We couldn’t have made the i lm without them. Does it feel good to be screening this at Edinburgh where Shell and Native Son screened, too? What does the festival mean to you? Edinburgh was my home when I was trying to become a i lmmaker and the festival is where I learned the value of i lms and i lmmaking. It’s really very, very exciting.
There’s a strong empahsis on Scottish i lm at this year’s festival: what’s it like being a Scottish i lmmaker right now? It’s pretty exciting being Scottish full stop at the moment. I think it ties in with that sense of having a voice and trying to be heard; that’s something you’re always struggling with as a i lmmaker. You’ve got to have something to say that’s worth listening to, of course, but right now it feels like a lot of us are speaking and being heard and that’s a wonderful thing to be part of. Iona, Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Sun 28 Jun, 5pm.