Scotland Film Events Highlights – April 2014
There'll be screams this month as horror fest Dead by Dawn is resurrected at Filmhouse and Bowie's codpiece gets an airing at Cameo. But there's laughs too as That Sinking Feeling's new DVD release is launched at GFT
Now in its 21st year, Dead by Dawn returns to the Filmhouse in Edinburgh this month (24-27 Apr). The horror festival has yet to announce its full line-up – Greatful Dead, a darkly comic Japanese exploitation-horror-indie film by Uchida Eiji, and Takashi Miike’s Lesson of the Evil has been confirmed – but, as always, guests can expect a wide variety of old and new horror movies as well as vintage trailers, fun events, and the traditional Shit Film Amnesty. The festival's twisted mini-sibling Spawn of Dawn (26 Apr) runs from midnight to the early hours of the morning, showing a “best of” selection of five movies. Check www.deadbydawn.co.uk for the full programme.
Acclaimed classic film In the Heat of the Night is showing at the DCA in Dundee (6 Apr) as part of their ongoing Focus on Film strand. Considered one of Hollywood's most important contributions to the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, it stars Sidney Poitier as a black detective hired to work with a bigoted Southern sheriff. The film won five Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Actor (Rod Steiger, as sheriff Gillespie), and remains as fascinating today as ever.
The GFT in Glasgow is hosting a special screening of That Sinking Feeling (15 Apr) to coincide with its re-release on DVD – finally restored with the original Glaswegian dialogue track rather than America-friendly dubbing. Writer-director Bill Forsyth's debut film (also the first film financed and made in Scotland), shot on a micro-budget in Glasgow, is a clever comedy about a group of hapless youths who decide to get rich quick by stealing some sinks. There will be special guests at this screening, yet to be announced. Keep an eye on www.glasgowfilm.org for more details.
Anyone feeling nostalgic should head to the Cameo in Edinburgh – as well as showing a different Disney cartoon every Sunday, the cinema's also showing a special double bill of two classic 80s kids films, The Princess Bride and Labyrinth (26 Apr). The former, directed by Rob Reiner, a cult favourite, is a tongue-in-cheek fairy tale, while the latter notoriously terrified and entertained children in equal measures – Bowie's outfits arguably caused the most anguish.
Rockumentary Unknown Passage: The Dead Moon Story is showing at the GFT (12 Apr), charting Fred Cole's career from the 1960s, when he toured alongside Janis Joplin and The Doors, to his punk-rock days of the late-70s and early-80s. The film will be introduced by Brian Hogg, and everyone attending will receive a special 7" vinyl (record player not included).