Scotland Film Event Highlights – January 2015

The Adventure Film Festival returns to Scotland this year, with eleven action and adventure documentaries screening across the country. Now in its tenth edition, the festival boasts a range of adrenaline-fuelled tales of human endeavour, filmed in some of the most rugged, wild, and beautiful locations. Among the excellent selection of shorts and features is Higher, which includes vertigo-inducing footage of the filmmakers' attempts to snowboard down Shangri La in the Himalayas (Glasgow Fort, 20 Jan; Filmhouse, 26 Jan), and award-winning documentary Valley Uprising (Glasgow Fort, 22 Jan; Filmhouse 2 Feb), a light-hearted account of American counterculture and the enduring appeal of rock climbing in Yosemite from the 1950s to the present day. See the festival's website for the full programme: adventurefest.co.uk

Fans of teen and high school movies should head to the Cameo in Edinburgh for a special screening of Beyond Clueless (22 Jan). Narrated by Fairuza Balk (The Craft), this debut film from British critic Charlie Lyne draws on over two hundred coming-of-age movies – including horror, comedy, art films, drama and dance films – to provide an engaging examination of adolescence in cinema. Lyne will be attending for a special Q&A session following the screening.

While the fascinating celebration of Alasdair Gray's considerable contribution to Scottish culture continues at various locations in Glasgow, the DCA in Dundee is screening Alasdair Gray: A Life in Progress (4 Jan). First shown at GFF 2014, this affectionate portrait of the artist-author is essential viewing for anyone interested in the man who, amongst other things, painted the stunning mural on the ceiling in the Oràn Mór, and is responsible for one of the finest works of contemporary Scottish literature, Lanark, a book of four parts that took almost thirty years to complete.

The CCA, in association with the Goethe Institute and Alliance Français, is continuing its programme of Franco-German films, currently exploring themes surrounding modern fairytales and fables. This month's offering is the award-winning Absurdistan, a romantic, surreal comedy (14 Jan) in which a water shortage leads to a sex strike that threatens to disrupt the first-night nuptials of a couple of childhood sweethearts.

The Institut Français in Edinburgh is screening Pauline Détective (20-21 Jan), a crime-comedy film in which an investigative journalist tries, and fails, to forget about work and enjoy a holiday on the Italian Riviera after breaking up with her boyfriend. If you're broke after Christmas, this free event is the perfect way to spend an afternoon.