Film
Film screening and panel discussion: WORDS : WALLS
WORDS : WALLS is a road movie and a documentary; an investigation and a performance. Traveling through the scarred landscape of the West Bank, a group of poets and singers encounter the many and varied forms which resistance can take. Meeting artists, activists and those just trying to survive in almost unbearable conditions, this film is a record of the trip which changed a loosely-connected, sympathetic, yet by their own admissions naïve group irrevocably.
Acoustic Routes
Acoustic Routes tells the story of seminal guitarist and singer Bert Jansch, from his early days in Edinburgh to becoming the acoustic guitarist that everyone wanted to be. As a teenager, in the early 1960′s Bert sat at the feet of Brownie McGhee at the Howff Folk Club in Edinburgh mesmerised by ‘Key to the Highway’. Armed with that raw American Blues influence and a bewildering technique, he fashioned sublime interpretations of traditional and blues music on the acoustic guitar. The result was music that had a profound influence on a generation of musicians including Bob Dylan, Paul Simon and Neil Young, and it still inspires todays’ generation of guitarists and singers. The film follows Billy Connolly as he uncovers the network of Jansch’s musical connections. (12, 1992)
Short film: Welcome to Greenbelt
Tom Price’s short film Welcome to Greenbelt won the Greenbelt Award category in the 2013 Insight Film Festival for best short film on the subjects of ‘faith’ and ‘festival’. Insight, which includes Lord Puttnam and Frank Cottrell Boyce amongst its patrons, works in association with the interfaith organisation Coexist to promote film-making that examines the role of faith in contemporary life; Greenbelt is a Solas Festival partner.
Family films
Brave
Oscar-winning Disney Pixar film set in a wild and mystical Scotland. Determined to make her own path in life, Princess Merida defies a custom and brings chaos to her kingdom. Granted one wish, Merida must rely on her bravery and her archery skills to undo a beastly curse. (PG, 2012)
The Goonies
Cult classic teen adventure film, written by Steven Spielberg and Chris Columbus. Brothers Mikey and Brandon face foreclosure and the loss of their home to the developers who want to turn their neighbourhood of Goon Docks into a golf course. The chance discovery of an old map in the attic – and its hints at buried treasure – sends ‘The Goonies’ and their friends on a wild adventure. (PG, 1985)
Muppet Treasure Island
The Muppets’ inimitable take on Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic tale of pirates, buried treasure and ocean-going adventure. Billy Connolly, Kevin Bishop and Tim Curry star alongside Kermit, Miss Piggy and the gang. (U, 1996)
Ponyo
Award-winning Japanese animation from Studio Ghibli, based on Hans Christian Andersen’s tale of the Little Mermaid. Ponyo, a young fish-girl living in the ocean with her once-human father and siblings, longs to explore more of the world. Her escape and chance meeting with the young boy Sosuke changes everything, and Ponyo is forced to choose between life as a human and the magical realm she inhabits. (U, 2008)
Late night films
Local Hero
BAFTA Award-winning British comedy. An American oil company representative is sent to the fictional village of Ferness on the west coast of Scotland to buy land and build a refinery which would change the town forever. He is met with varied reactions from the townsfolk, and his encounters cause him to reassess his journey and reset his moral compass. (PG, 1983)
Film screening and discussion: Fight Club
For those who dare, intense late night viewing and analysis of the marvellous Fight Club (18, 1999). A chance encounter between an insomniac office worker and a charismatic soap salesman turns into a violent, uncontrollable underground organisation. A classic modern fable about identity and freedom, and soap.
“First rule of Fight Club is: you do not talk about Fight Club.”