Scotland Film Event Highlights – October 2014

The BFI's Sci-fi: Days of Fear and Wonder season beams down, with events across the country. At the GFT (10 Oct) guests are invited to dress in their finest Barbarella-inspired costumes for Peaches Christ's BEAR-BARELLA, a campy extravaganza featuring the San Francisco drag queen herself. Celebrating the cult-classic Barbarella, this interactive evening includes Roger Vadim's film and a pre-show performance. The season also includes a special Escape From New York Treasure Hunt. Beginning at the GFT (26 Oct), guests must navigate Glasgow, solving a series of clues, in order to discover the location of the film's screening.

All Night Horror Madness also returns to Scotland this month, at the ‘officially haunted’ Cameo in Edinburgh (11 Oct) and the Grosvenor in Glasgow (18 Oct). As well as the usual vintage trailers and raffle, five films are showing throughout the night, ranging from trash and exploitation (Tourist Trap, Street Trash) to arthouse horror (Flesh for Frankenstein). Also screening is David Cronenberg's early foray into psychological body horror The Brood, and 80s zombie horror-comedy Night of the Creeps, ensuring that, despite the comfy seats at both cinemas, no one will be sleeping.

The inaugural Spanish Film Festival takes place this month in Edinburgh (8-12 Oct), with a packed programme of films and events. The festival opens with a special screening of documentary In a Foreign Land, featuring a Q&A with its director Icíar Bollaín. At the University of Edinburgh, Michelin-starred chef Andoni Luis Aduriz presents gastronomic-musical collaboration, Mugaritz BSO, followed by a rum cocktail tasting. Check edinburghspanishfilmfestival.com for the full line-up.

The always popular Scotland Loves Anime festival returns to the GFT (10-12 Oct) and Filmhouse (13-19 Oct). There's something for everyone here: as well as anime classic Ghost in the Shell, the season includes the first new Dragonball Z movie in seventeen years, Dragonball Z: Battle of the Gods, video game-inspired Bayonetta: Bloody Fate, and Giovanni's Island, based on true events following World War II. The latter's director, Mizuho Nishikubo, will be in attendance to answer questions.

BAFTA-winning director Michael B Clifford will be at the Cameo (16 Oct) for a Q&A following the screening of his latest documentary, Bicycle, charting the history of, well, bicycles. As more and more people abandon four wheels for two, this quirky film comes at the perfect time, and features interviews and anecdotes about the humble bike and its place in the British psyche.