In my attitudes to Edinburgh I guess you could call me stereotypically Glaswegian. Thankfully my love of film considerably outweighs my intolerance of the capital. Thus I found the EIFF to be was a very enjoyable experience indeed.
Shorts:
Wed 24 Jun
International Shorts 3: Teen Spirit
This was a great way to start my festival experience. This was an eclectic programme of shorts all of which dealt with the theme of young people struggling with the coming of adulthood.
Things started off with Taiwanese short 'The Eighteenth Birthday Party' [Chuang Ching-shen] an elegant, disturbing and visually impressive if somewhat pompous and self-satisfied film. Next was sweet yet slight Kiwi comedy 'Betty Banned Sweets' [Michelle Savill] about the strained relationship between a boy who dreams of travelling and his emotionally detached mother. Following this was 'Eiko' [Christoph Kuschnig] from Austria; a brilliant little mysterious thriller, with a suitable nasty twist in its tail. The strongest film featured on this programme came next with the American 'Short Term 12' [Destin Daniel Cretton]; a funny, human and heart-breaking look at the day to day difficulties for social workers and the neglected children in their care. The programme ended with fantastic looking and creepy Irish entry 'Lowland Fell' [Michael Kinirons] in which the discovery of a mummified bog man brings a teenage girl and two brothers together for a night of sexual exploration.
Thur 25 Jun
UK Shorts 1
'Transgress' [Leanne Welham] kicked off the programme of varied British shorts, an intriguing if routine film in which the sexual tension between a woman and the wounded man she’s run over comes to a head. The charming 'Monsters & Rabbits' [Nicky Lianos] followed the friendship between of a lonely boy and girl and the threat this puts to the existence of the formers’ invisible friend. Then came 'Jade' [Daniel Elliot] about the emotional dilemma a teenage girl is faced with upon her discovery that she is pregnant. The creepy and distressing 'The Happiness Salesman' [Krishnendu Majumdar] followed. This was a great, highly effective little horror story featuring a Faustian Christopher Eccelston giving a young mother the opportunity to change her life and fulfil her dreams. My own favourite came next in wicked comedy 'Love Hate' [Blake & Dylan Ritson]; a fantastically sleek film in which a charity worker is reintroduced to his ‘hate’. Five Miles Out [Andrew Haigh] brought things to a close with an ambiguous and highly emotional film, that somewhat suffered from being too ordinary.
Press Screening Films:
I managed to get to two press and industry screenings in my two scheduled days at the festival.
Wed 24 Jun
I don’t want to give the following film any more attention than it deserves, so I’ll keep this review brutally short.
Romeo & Juliet vs The Living Dead (2009) [Dir: Ryan Demark] is utterly unfunny garbage.
*
Thur 25 Jun
Adam (2009) [Dir: Max Mayer] was a warm, funny and intelligent film, a welcome difference from the usual cold-detachment and self-indulgence of most US “indies”. Hugh Dancy gives a fantastic performance in the titular role as the Asperger‘s syndrome suffering lead. His future is uncertain, but romance may be around the corner in the shape of new neighbour Beth (Rose Byrne) and a new job across the country. In truth, the story is very slight (indeed one separate plotline involving Beth’s father’s criminal trail didn’t do anything for me) and the film is rather standard fare. But what elevates this is the strong performances from the two leads and an unexpected ending.
* * *
Talks:
My own personal highlights for the festival where the various talks and workshops I attended.
Wed 24 Jun
Having spent many an hour of my formative years enjoying watching low-grade and trash horror, monster, gangster and sci-fi movies I wasn’t going to miss out on seeing the “king of B’s” himself; Roger Corman (amongst his millions of films are the classics: A Bucket of Blood, The Masque of Red Death, X; the Man With X-Ray Eyes, The Wild Angels, The Trip, Little Shop of Horrors, The Intruder and The St Valentine’s Day Massacre). Corman is a fantastic orator, speaking in great detail with authority and humour about his long career. His talk was filled with fantastic stories and interesting asides. I was very much entertained.
Thur 25 Jun
The first of today’s talks was one for the camera-geeks. Cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos (Mamma Mia, The Other Man, Sleuth) spoke about his preferred method of filming, the importance of preparation and his route into the industry. I found him insightful and brimming with useful tips and ideas.
We followed this talk by attending another with Corman protégée Joe Dante (Gremlins, Small Soldiers, The Howling). This was certainly and interesting talk, yet it was catered to the die hard Dante fan-boys and thus only being a casual viewer of his films I felt somewhat lost.
Sat 27 Jun
Another one for the camera-geeks; Seamus McGarvey in Conversation with Anthony Dod Mantle (Oscar winner for Slumdog Millionaire). As Steven so simply put it to me both are indeed ‘leges’ within the cinematography world, and as expected resulted in a simply fantastic talk from two masters of the craft. Mantle spoke of this route into the industry and his collaborations with various directors (Lars von Tier, Danny Boyle etc.). The talk was full of inspiring stuff for tech-heads but was never impenetrable and enjoyably humorous. This was by a long distance the best thing I saw in Edinburgh and on the strength of this I will certainly be coming back next year for more.
