GFF 2010: Sights and Sounds

From music that pays tribute to filmmakers to films that pay tribute to musicians, the Glasgow Film and Music Festival offers a veritable feast for fans of both creative genres.

There are two films that address the risks of being an artist in a country where political turmoil restricts musical expression. Xavier de Lauzanne's With One Voice concentrates on the electro-acoustic pioneer Jean-Yves Labat de Rossi in his attempt to unite musicians of differing religious denominations from the Gaza Strip. Having experienced conflict first hand in the 1970s as a prisoner of the Nakasero Death Camp in Uganda, de Rossi brings together Israeli and Palestinian artists to join a French tour that nobly attempts to forge communication, despite inevitable political tension backstage. Also in the Middle East, No One Knows About Persian Cats tells the story of two musicians, Ashkan and Negar, in Tehran as they attempt to follow their dream of taking their band to perform in the UK amidst tight restrictions that are placed on the arts in Iran. Winner of the Special Jury Prize at Cannes in 2009 and inspired by real events, the film captures a journey through an underground Iranian culture in a darkly authentic representation.

When You’re Strange: A Film About The Doors chronicles an intimate account of the band from their early days at UCLA up until Morrison's untimely death. Using previously unseen footage of their most private moments, Tom DiCillo presents an alternative view of the group than what we might expect. Enthusiastically narrated by Johnny Depp, who stated he is as ‘proud of this as anything I have ever done’, it is sure to be an attractive take on one of America’s most fabled bands. And speaking of fabled, a pair who seem to propagate their own musical mythology on a regular basis come to the big screen in the documentary White Stripes Under Great White Northern Lights. Filmed stylistically in their trademark black, white and red, Emmet Molloy follows them on their 2007 Canadian tour. With spontaneous performances on public buses and playing for unusual audiences such as tribal elders, the blues-rock journey of these divorced ‘siblings’, will likely be an interesting one.

Appearing in person, Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard will be visiting the festival to discuss the showing of their film about Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. The Good Son is an observational retrospective named after the album, and pays tribute via interviews with famous people and not-so-famous people whose own life and work has been influenced by the much revered Australian band. Other Antipodeans, in the form of Kiwi twin sisters Lynda and Jools Topp, are biographically documented in The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls by Leanne Pooley, which covers everything from Kiwi national affection for their country and western musical history, to their involvement in political issues ranging from gay equality to Maori rights.

If you are a fan of The Kinks, you can bet Geoff Edgers is more so as he optimistically attempts to reunite the band in Do It Again, directed by Robert Patton-Spruill. Interviewing other celebrities such as Sting, Zooey Deschanel and Peter Buck (REM), Edgers take a loving look at the band and their back catalogue in the hopes of pulling a ‘Justin Lee Collins’ with one of the forerunners of the 60s British Invasion. Also from that era, the 1968 documentary from Sheldon and Diane Rochlin, Dope, will be showing. Providing an artistic representation of London at the height of its drug-saturated swinging scene, it uses a dreamlike film style that perfectly reflects the fleeting nature of that specific moment-in-time. Immediately following Dope is The Delian Mode by Kara Blake, a short film documenting Delia Derbyshire, the fascinating Radiophonic Workshop innovator who realised Rob Grainer's epic Doctor Who composition to amazing and iconic electronic effect. John Cavanagh, the broadcaster, musician and friend of the late Derbyshire will be there in person to introduce the film.

Until The Light Takes Us is a look at black metal rock in Norway, a dark enlightenment on a subculture's roots and followings, as well as the few cases where musicians have tragically ended their own lives. Aaron Aites and Audrey Ewell are the directors who relocated to Norway to gain this unique insight and will introduce the film followed by a short Q & A session. On the polar opposite side, Chopin: Desire For Love looks at the great man's relationship with the feminist author Aurore Dupin, which will be preceded by a piano recital by Aleksander Kudajczyk. Whatever your musical taste, GFF 2010 is certain to give you a musical insight to suit.