Scotland Film Event Highlights – April 2013

This month Dead by Dawn celebrates its 20th anniversary the only way it knows how: with horror, lots of horror. Elsewhere, the Italian Film Festival returns to Scotland and Pedro Almodóvar is back with a raunchy comedy

Feature by Becky Bartlett | 02 Apr 2013

Horror festival Dead by Dawn returns to the Filmhouse in Edinburgh from 25-28 Apr – it's celebrating its 20th anniversary, so the line-up is sure to be extra special. The full selection of movies has yet to be announced, but Jug Face, a supernatural thriller about a hick community and a mysterious pit that requires human sacrifice, has been confirmed. Also a dead cert is the attendance of Frank Henenlotter, the man behind twisted gore flicks Basket Case and Frankenhooker, while guests are invited to participate in the Shit Film Amnesty – bring your worst movie along, and see if you can win everyone else's.

If you still haven't had your fill of horror after that, the Filmhouse is also screening Sam Raimi's nasty classic The Evil Dead on 30 Apr. With the remake hitting cinemas this month, see how it compares to the original, in which a group of college kids arrive at an isolated cottage in the woods, only to be terrorised, possessed and turned into zombies. Starring cult favourite Bruce Campbell, Raimi's gore flick is low-budget, trashy, dated, and seriously twisted.

The Italian Film Festival returns to Scotland this month, screening fourteen films, both old and new, at the GFT in Glasgow, with certain events also showing in Edinburgh, Dundee, and Inverness. Running from 12-21 April, the lineup includes two Roberto Rossellini films: The War of the Volcanoes (in which he stars with Ingrid Bergman) and Stromboli (which also stars Ingrid Bergman; Rossellini is in the director chair) – both 17 Apr. The latter will be introduced by Dr Pasquale Iannone from the University of Edinburgh. See www.glasgowfilm.org for more details.

The Cameo in Edinburgh and the GFT are screening a special preview of I'm So Excited! on 23 April, with a special satellite Q&A session with the film's director, Pedro Almodóvar. Featuring regular collaborators Penelope Cruz and Antonio Banderas in minor roles, this unlikely comedy, set on board a plane suffering from potentially catastrophic technical problems, sees the prolific Spanish director return to his more light-hearted roots.

Finally, Pixar fans should head to the GFT on 16 April for An Audience with Pixar's Mark Andrews. The event marks the only public appearance of the director of the recently Oscar-winning, Scottish-set Brave. As well as taking questions from the audience, Andrews will be showing clips from a number of his films, including The Incredibles and Ratatouille. The event is free, but ticketed – get yours early so you don't miss out.