December Film Events

For those who embrace a “bah, humbug” sensibility in December, the GFT in Glasgow is offering two anti-Christmas films: Gremlins on 3 December and Bad Santa on 17 December. Whether you’d rather see what happens when some cute but strange new pets are allowed near water or fed after midnight, or watch Billy Bob Thornton’s drunk, abusive, utterly cheerless department store Santa, these films are definitely the antidote for those allergic to goodwill.

At the DCA in Dundee there’s a chance to celebrate the life and works of acclaimed German choreographer Pina Bausch as part of the DANCE: FILM 2010 tour. On 4 December, a documentary of her life is screened as part of a double bill, proceeded by a filmed version of her 1975 adaptation of the 1913 French ballet, Le Sacre du Printemps. The iconic 1980s film Flashdance, about a welder who dances at a club at night, is on the same day. Also screening is a selection of short dance films on 5 December.

For heavy metal fans, head straight to the Belmont in Aberdeen on 7 December for a special screening of Lemmy. A documentary about the legendary lead singer of Motörhead, directors Greg Olliver and Wes Orshoski trace the life of Lemmy Kilmister with the help of the people he influenced, including Alice Cooper, Dave Grohl and Slash. He is, without a doubt, rock and roll royalty, and the film promises to be both entertaining and enlightening.

If German punk takes your fancy, try the CCA in Glasgow on 15 December for a Goethe Institute screening of OstPUNK! Too Much Future. Showing as part of a film festival celebrating the lives of people living within the former GDR, OstPUNK! follows six men and women involved in the punk scene in East Germany during the final ten years of the divide. The directors, Carsten Fiebeler and Michael Boehlke, were themselves part of the East German subculture of the time, and their film provides valuable insight into life during this strict regime.

Finally, for one day only the First UK Disability Film Festival is at the GFT to coincide with the International Day of Disabled People on 3 December. The three films screened are free (get your tickets from the GFT box office on the day) and subtitled, and include a BBC production, Raspberry Ripple, starring John Gordon Sinclair in the lead role as a man who escapes the confines of his wheelchair through his gangster-movie-inspired fantasies.