Tag: cinema

‘Life-affirming and innovative’ film comes to Edinburgh

A ‘life-affirming and innovative’ film comes to Edinburgh

“Breathtakingly beautiful” – The Guardian   –   “Viewing should be compulsory” – The Mail

104 Sara Daqdaq

Summer in the Forest is the surprise success story of the summer’s documentary releases and this week makes its debut at Edinburgh’s Cameo Picturehouse. 

This is a contemplative indie film that stands apart in our frenetic times.  Its stars, who have intellectual disabilities, know something we don’t.  Something that will change our lives.

Summer in the Forest focuses on the lives of Philippe, Michel, Andre and Patrick – once labelled idiots and locked away in violent asylums – and the philosopher Jean Vanier, whose life and work has transformed their lives, and his.  Together they created L’Arche, a commune at the edge of a beautiful forest near Paris, and a quiet revolution was born.

Director Randall Wright says: “In a confusing power crazed world here is a place that makes surprising sense.  To paraphrase Jean Vanier, it may not be a utopia but it certainly offers hope to us all.”

Now in 30 cinemas, most of which are extending their runs, Summer in the Forest has attracted universal praise and tens of thousands of supporters, running for four straight weeks at a major West End cinema.

Reviewers have commended its “unparalleled calibre”, “poetic appreciation of humanity”, and its “joyously uplifting” tone, with a “the power to change lives”.
Producer Richard Wilson adds: “This is a life-affirming film that offers an alternative to our confrontational on-line world and the relentless pursuit of power and wealth. We hope the film gives people a connection with our common humanity.”

Randall’s follow-up to his critically acclaimed and award-winning film Hockney showcases compelling story-telling at its best. It offers us a beautifully-paced and magical glimpse of a reality where there is friendship, hope and wisdom to be found; if we just take the time to slow down and listen.

Summer in the Forest screens at the Picturehouse on Thurs 13th July 2.10pm & 6.00pm, Fri 14th July 4.10pm, Sat 15th July 4.10pm, Sun 16th July 4.10pm, Mon 17th July 4.10pm, Weds 19th July 4.10pm, and Thurs 20th July 4.10pm.

See https://www.picturehouses.com/cinema/Cameo_Picturehouse/film/summer-in-the-forest for further details. Box office 0871 902 5723.

Screen Education Edinburgh seeks talented youngsters for BFI Film Academy

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The BFI Film Academy and Screen Education Edinburgh are offering an intensive course in filmmaking for 16-19 year olds who live in the South East of Scotland. Continue reading Screen Education Edinburgh seeks talented youngsters for BFI Film Academy

Expect the unexpected at Mountain Film Festival

Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival 6 & 7 February

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Why do people go to the mountains? You’ll find many different answers at the 13th Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival, which runs Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 February. Continue reading Expect the unexpected at Mountain Film Festival

How to change the world … in Edinburgh!

New documentary tells the story of the birth of Greenpeace

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My old mate Dave Woods has alerted me to a film made by his friend Jerry Rothwell he describes as ‘wonderful – it is a fabulous thing.’ High praise indeed … ‘How To Change The World‘ premieres at The Cameo  on Wednesday 9 September at 8pm (also showing at Cineworld Edinburgh and Odeon Lothian Road). 

How To Change The World tells the gripping story of the origins of Greenpeace. A Sundance 2015 award winner, the film draws on stunning unseen footage from the early days of the modern green movement.
In 1971 a brave group of young activists set sail from Vancouver in an old fishing boat. Their mission: to stop Nixon’s atomic bomb tests in Amchitka, a tiny island off the west coast of Alaska.

It was from these humble but courageous beginnings that the global organisation that we now know as Greenpeace was born. Chronicling the fascinating untold story behind the modern environmental movement, this gripping new film tells the story of eco-hero Robert Hunter and how he, alongside a group of like-minded and idealistic young friends in the ’70s, would be instrumental in altering the way we now look at the world and our place within it.

‘A real-life thriller with larger than life heroes‘ – Huffington Post
‘Tremendously inspiring, and by turns thrilling, comic, and shocking‘ – Slashfilm
A panel discussion, broadcast live via satellite, follows the screening featuring legendary fashion designer and long-standing Greenpeace supporter Vivienne Westwood, director Jerry Rothwell, Robert Hunter’s daughter Emily Hunter and other special guests to be announced. The event will be hosted by Mariella Frostrup. 
You can check out the trailer here: https://vimeo.com/126619145

The Cameo  Link: https://www.picturehouses.com/cinema/Cameo_Picturehouse/film/how-to-change-the-world-live-premiere

Local project’s films to premiere at Filmhouse

Films produced by local young people screening at the Filmhouse this Saturday

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Screen Education Edinburgh has announced that five short films -produced by an innovative new North Edinburgh partnership and made entirely by young people – will receive their premieres at the Edinburgh Filmhouse this Saturday (2 May).

The films will be shown with ten other shorts from their wider BFI Film Academy and CashBack for Creativity projects.

The North Edinburgh partnership, a joint initiative involving Screen Education Edinburgh and Total Craigroyston, with funding from CashBack for Creativity, encourages young people to get involved in filmmaking rather than crime. Five of the films to be shown during the special two hour event were made by young people who are at risk of offending or reoffending.

Irvine Welsh, Patron of Screen Education Edinburgh, said: “If you come from a disadvantaged area, the world can often seem to conspire against you, constraining your vision to the streets around you and the urgent here and now of simply getting by. Cinema is a wonderful tool in combating that horrible malaise, opening up windows into different worlds, and helping us to understand our own ones better through the broadening of our horizons. The skills you learn through being part of a committed team, working on a task that can create a little bit of magic are transferable to other areas of our life.”

The partnership works with groups of 11-19 year olds from the city’s Pilton and Muirhouse area – currently ranked the worst for crime in the whole south east of Scotland – teaching young people film making skills in the evenings. The initiative was set up to improve the lives of families living around Craigroyston Community High School and is a co-ordinated effort to encourage and stimulate young people’s interest in film when they might otherwise be out on the streets.

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The short films were all written, directed, filmed and acted in by the youngsters. These films explore issues through drama and music videos including motorcycle theft, the feeling of being alienated, first love and peer pressure.

Graham Fitzpatrick, Creative Manager at Screen Education Edinburgh, said: “The Pilton and Muirhouse area experienced serious issues of crime involving youths, and sometimes children, throughout 2014.

“The aim of this scheme is to help young people engage and deal with their offending issues, whilst giving them positive activities throughout the week, particularly late evenings.”

James Riordan, Lead Youth Development Worker with the Alternative to Crime Project added; “Through being involved in diversionary activities and projects such as the film programme with Screen Education Edinburgh, Young People, who have been involved in anti-social/offending behaviour in North Edinburgh, have the opportunity to be part of something positive and to get a taste of new activities and skills they wouldn’t normally have access to.

“Through working with Screen Education Edinburgh the Group have learned to adapt to different scenarios which in turn has led to them increasing their levels of self-esteem, allowing them to develop as confident Young People”.

Screen Education Edinburgh (formerly Pilton Video) was founded in 2010 to help young people develop and express themselves through film making. Edinburgh born novelist, playwright, storyteller and screenwriter, Irvine Welsh became patron of Screen Education Edinburgh in March last year.

Screen Education Edinburgh is currently running three separate local projects. One, based at FACE North (Focussing on Alternative’s to Crime Edinburgh North)  and POP (Preventative Opportunities Programme), is making film drama with groups of  14 to 19 year old males, whilst another focuses on music video production with 10-12 years olds in four local primary schools.

The third supports children and youth workers based out of the Muirhouse Millennium Centre, providing film skills training to the workers, helping them to support large groups of young people in their first forays into film production.

This partnership was funded through the CashBack for Creativity scheme, part of a wider £45 million Scottish Government initiative which reinvests the proceeds recovered from criminals for the benefit of young people.

Saturday’s event at the Filmhouse will showcase the films to parents, friends, the community, councillors and guests.

The screening will also incorporate films from all Screen Education Edinburgh’s CashBack for Creativity projects, including; Score Scotland, Panmure School, MYPAS Dalkeith, Bridges Project Musselburgh, Edinburgh Young Carers and from the advanced BFI Film Academy South East of Scotland initiative. 

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