The best film events in Scotland in October

The ten big screen movie happenings you should make time for this month, from festivals Africa in Motion, Document and Scotland Loves Anime to celebrations of Claire Denis, John Hughes and Charlie Kaufman

Preview by Jamie Dunn | 03 Oct 2017

1) Africa in Motion


Soleil O

Africa in Motion returns for its 12th edition to shine a much-needed spotlight on the films coming out of Africa, with cinema from all corners of the continent represented here. Among the contemporary film highlights there’s Wallay, a coming-of-age film following a French teen adjusting to life in his new home of Burkina Faso, and opening film Félicité, about a singer trying to make ends meet in Kinshasa. If you’re after older films to discover, we recommend Med Hondo’s Soleil O (1970), Safi Faye’s Mossane (1996) and Selma Baccar’s Fatma 75 (1976).

27 Oct-5 Nov, various venues. Full programme info: www.africa-in-motion.org.uk

2) Scotland Loves Anime


The Night is Short, Walk on Girl

Anime nuts rejoice! Scotland Loves Anime is back with a typically lively and eclectic line-up. Masaaki Yuasa is the director of focus at this year’s festival with new movie Lu Over the Water screening alongside his classics Mind Game and The Night is Short, Walk on Girl. Other highlights include Fireworks, from the studio behind last year’s anime smash Your Name; 80s gem Venus Wars; and the bonkers-sounding Dragon Dentist, about, well, a dragon’s dentist.

Glasgow, 13-15 Oct; Edinburgh, 16-22 Oct. Full programme info: www.lovesanimation.com

3) Dundead


Young Frankenstein

Get your Halloween scares on with DCA’s annual scare fest Dundead, which kicks off with a screening of George Romero’s little-seen 1973 horror The Crazies, which sees a small town’s residents turn homicidal when an army nerve gas is accidentally unleashed. Other films to look out for over the horror weekender are Swedish YA horror Room 213Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde, Roy Ward Baker’s gender-bending take on Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic story; and curious suspense thriller To the Devil a Daughter, starring Christopher Lee, Richard Widmark and Nastassja Kinski. Mel Brooks’ peerless horror spoof Young Frankenstein rounds off the festival.

27-29 Oct, DCA. Full programme info: www.dca.org.uk/whats-on/films/dundead

4) Claire Denis: CineMaster


Beau Travail

Is Claire Denis the finest filmmaker working today? The French filmmaker has a strong claim for the title with modern masterpieces like Beau Travail and 35 Shots of Rum on her CV. This latest CineMasters season from GFT also includes Denis’ White Material and her most recent UK release, the masterful noir Basterds.

Read more about GFT's Claire Denis season here.

5) Being Charlie Kaufman


Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Filmhouse’s Filmosophy returns with a season of work from one of the most original minds currently working in Hollywood: Charlie Kaufman. The three-film season includes the two films Kaufman made with Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich and Adaptation) and masterpiece Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, from Michel Gondry. Each film will be preceded by an introduction and followed by a post-screening discussion hosted by James Mooney, lecturer in film and philosophy (Centre for Open Learning, University of Edinburgh).

18 Oct-6 Dec; More details: www.filmhousecinema.com/seasons/filmosophy-being-charlie-kaufman

6) We Heart John Hughes


Pretty in Pink

The Cameo are celebrating the king of 80s teen comedy throughout October, with one of Hughes' films screening every Sunday. As well as the teen angst of Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink and Weird Science, there’s also an outing for Hughes’ finest film, odd-couple road movie riot Planes, Trains and Automobiles.

8 Oct-5 Nov. Details here: www.picturehouses.com/cinema/Cameo_Picturehouse

7) Document


Rat Film

A screening of Patricio Guzmán's The Battle of Chile is one of the must-attend screenings at this year’s Document Film Festival. Other highlights look to be opening film Gulîstan, Land of Roses, which follows the female Kurdish guerrilla fighters taking on Isis; Rat Film, a terrifying subterranean trip into the world of rat infestations; and sharp Dutch feature Strangers in Paradise, which gives a brutal lesson on European refugee politics at Lampedusa migrant detention centre.

19-22 Oct, CCA, Glasgow. Full programme info: www.documentfilmfestival.org

8) Edinburgh Spanish Film Festival


Happy 140

Scottish audiences get a snapshot of contemporary Spanish cinema with the fourth Edinburgh Spanish Film Festival. As well as films from stalwarts like Gracia Querejeta (Happy 140) and Alex de la Iglesias (My Big Night), there’s also a special gastronomic screening planned of documentary The Balance of Opposites, which will be accompanied by a Q&A session with Michelin star chef Javier Olleros and director Alberto Baamonde, and then the screening is followed by some fine Galician wines and tasty tapas.

Edinburgh, 5-14 Oct; Glasgow, 24-26 Oct. Full programme info: www.edinburghspanishfilmfestival.com/en/

9) The Square

Black comedy The Square, Ruben Östlund’s cutting satire on the art world, was the toast of Cannes last year, winning the Palme d’Or away from some stiff competition. Audiences get a chance to see the film months ahead of its March UK release thanks to this special European Art Cinema Day preview.

15 Oct, GFT & Filmhouse

10) Belle de Jour

Luis Buñuel's transgressive masterpiece about a reserved housewife (Catherine Deneuve) who turns high-class prostitute gets a spruce up for its 50th anniversary, with the new digital print making its way to GFT this month.

18 & 19 Oct, GFT

http://theskinny.co.uk/film