Scottish Film Event Highlights – September 2015

Subterranean slugs, shorts and sports socks – here are Scotland's film picks for September

Preview by Jamie Dunn | 02 Sep 2015

Scalarama

Born out of nostalgia for scurrilous London rep house the Scala, Scalarama has become one of the highlights of the UK's cinema calendar. Scotland doesn’t have the busiest programme in the nationwide Scalarama lineup, but it does have the best nickname: Scaladonia. The Glasgow film clubs’ screenings seem most in keeping with the kind of disreputable trash in which the Scala specialised, and includes a 35mm screening of video nasty Nightmares in a Damaged Brain (CCA, 6 Sep), batshit Japanese teen ghost story Hausu (The Old Hairdressers, 17 Sep) and the adventures of a papier-mâché wielding demigod in Hercules Returns (Grosvenor, 26 Sep). For the full lineup, go to scalarama-2015.screeningfilm.com

Tremors

Another film that would fit nicely into the Scala line-up is Tremors, Ron Underwood’s perfectly executed B-movie in which a small Nevada township is terrorised by a group of subterranean slugs. The 1990 film is screening in Glasgow and Edinburgh to mark the film’s 25th anniversary and the publication of journalist Jonathan Melville’s book Seeking Perfection: The Unofficial Guide to Tremors (GFT, 13 Sep; Filmhouse, 20 Sep). Melville will be at both screenings to give an intro and for book signings; at the Edinburgh screening, director Underwood will join the audience via Skype for a post-film Q&A.

Polish and Czech cinema

Filmhouse’s Made in Prague season is currently in full swing, and there are two more films still to screen in this showcase of contemporary Czech cinema: Jan Hrebejk's terse melodrama Honeymoon (6 Sep), set during a two-day wedding celebration, and Martin Dusek's sensitive documentary Into the Clouds We Gaze (10 Sep), which centres on a mechanic looking for love. Meanwhile, the DCA continue to celebrate the great cinema of the Czech Republic’s neighbour, Poland, with touring programme Masterpieces of Polish Cinema (until 27 Sep), curated by legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese. Four films are still to screen, including Krzysztof Kieslowski’s international breakthrough Blind Chance (27 Sep) and Jerzy Kawalerowicz’s exquisite thriller Night Train (6 Sep).

Shorts at GFT

GFT have a couple of welcome short film programmes this month. First up, a screening of Indonesian shorts (10 Sep), ranging from fictions to documentaries to artists’ films, which explore divisions within the country’s society. Emerging homegrown talent is celebrated, meanwhile, with Blueprint (15 Sep), a new quarterly short film night dedicated to independent Scottish shorts.

City as a Movie Screen

As part of the BFI’s Britain on Film season, three iconic Glasgow venues will be transformed into pop up cinemas this autumn, beginning with the much-loved Barras Market for the GFT’s City as a Movie Screen (27 Sep). On the night, they’ll be recreating the legendary atmosphere of the Barras with traders flogging their wares, a live swing band, and archive films highlighting Glasgow life across the ages. Get on down, you might also be able to pick up some sports socks – two for a pound.