Edinburgh Film News February 2007

There's a busy month ahead at the Filmhouse and the Cameo.

Feature by Nick Mitchell | 10 Feb 2007

This month the Cameo pays homage to Fife born filmmaker and former punk singer Richard Jobson with a retrospective of his three feature films. The ex-Skids frontman will appear in person at a screening of A Woman in Winter on 8th February to introduce the film and answer audience questions. Starring Jamie Sives and Julie Gaynet, the film was shot entirely in Edinburgh, and the opening sequence even features screen one at the Cameo – how very post-modern! Also featuring in this mini-programme is a filmmaking masterclass with Jobson (6 Feb), a couple of late night screenings of his Beat Takeshi-inspired gangster flick, The Purifiers, and a Sunday matinee slot for his semi-autobiographical account of street-level life in Edinburgh, Sixteen Years of Alcohol.

There's also a busy month ahead at the Filmhouse. Aside from the new releases, there are six (well, five and a half) seasons of films lined up for the month of February. Look out for a John Huston retrospective running throughout the month, which includes his first film, The Maltese Falcon, his last film, The Dead, and selected highlights from the intervening forty-six years. Tying in with the city-wide Festival of Middle Eastern Spirituality and Peace, there's a series of Middle Eastern films scheduled for 7-17 February. Look out for Crossing the Bridge, a fascinating documentary about the music of Istanbul.

Continuing the global flavour, a Japanese season cheekily titled 'Move Over, Ozu' attempts to show a different side to contemporary Japanese cinema than blood-splattered schoolgirls and killer videotapes. Which leaves a Canadian film season, the (gloriously specific) Winter Bicycle Film Festival, and an extra-small Jacques Tati retrospective. The Filmhouse have organised all this while also installing new digital projectors and attempting to find a replacement for chief projectionist Andy Forrest, who is retiring after almost 50 years in the business. Good luck to 'em, and happy retirement Andy!

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