A look ahead to Homage to Catalonia: Scotland's Catalan Film Festival
Film festival Homage to Catalonia aims to explore the relationship between Scotland and Catalonia through cinema
All eyes are on Catalonia at the moment as its people prepare to take to the ballot boxes on 1 October for the region’s independence referendum. While that’s all happening, Edinburgh-based film collective Cinemaattic will be bringing the best of Catalan cinema to Scotland with festival Homage to Catalonia.
Taking place in both Edinburgh and Glasgow, Homage to Catalonia will play host to a fifteen strong programme showing a sharply curated mix of shorts and feature films that give a snapshot of the region’s cinema, which currently feels like it’s going through a bit of a purple patch. As well as cinema, the festival offers a week of poetry, spoken word, parties, gastronomic events and talks.
Homage to Catalonia has a particularly strong showing for the short filmmakers coming out of the region, who seem to be on fire right now. As evidence, two Catalan films made the short film shortlist at last year’s Oscars: Juanjo Giménez’s Timecode and Lluís Quílez’s Graffiti. Both screen at Homage to Catalonia in the Catalan Shorts programme alongside Xavier Marrades’ Cucli, and the latest short animation from masters of the form Anna Solanas and Marc Riba's Dead Horse (Old St Paul's Hall, Edinburgh, 29 Sep; CCA, Glasgow, 6 Oct).
Another highlight is Dead Slow Ahead, a stunning experimental doc following the journey of a shipping freighter named Fair Lady as it crosses the Atlantic. The film got an ecstatic reception when it screened at SxSW last year. Emily Yoshida of the Verge called it “one of the most engrossing experiences I've ever had in a theater.” Do not miss it on the big screen (Summerhall, Edinburgh, 30 Sep).
The festival also aims to explore the relationship between Scotland and Catalonia through cinema, and debate “relevant and central issues including political participation, democracy today and national security as most screenings are integrated with talks and panels.” There's an opening cocktail party at Summerhall, Edinburgh on 28 Sep, and the festival closes 6 Oct at Glasgow's CCA, with a party that includes Catalan gastronomy, Mediterranean beer, live music and DJ sets exploring the roots of “rumba catalana”.
Edinburgh 27 Sep – 1 Oct; Glasgow 3-6 Oct
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