This year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival programme was unveiled this morning at a press conference at the Filmhouse on Lothian Road. Artistic Director Hannah McGill raised the curtain on twelve scintillating days of cinema, including 22 World premieres and twelve International premieres and a wide range of special events. Altogether, the Festival will showcase 133 from 34 countries, whittled down from over 1500 submissions.
Special events range from spectacular gala evenings for high-profile films, including The Illusionist and a 3D screening of Toy Story 3, to After the Wave, a retrospective look at the “lost and forgotten” years of British cinema from 1967 to 1979.
Meanwhile, Sir Patrick Stewart discusses his work as a Shakespearean actor, a Star Trek captain and more besides at a special BAFTA Scotland interview on Monday 21 June and The Dunwich Horror, based on the work of HP Lovecraft, promises a uniquely terrifying ‘No-D’ experience. In contrast to the 3D visual feasts of Avatar et al, The Dunwich Horror is an audio-only experience taking place in a darkened cinema and guaranteed to scare you out of your wits.
Elsewhere, Sir Sean Connery’s 80th birthday is celebrated with a special screening of The Man Who Would Be King, from 1975, and various creative workshops and panel discussions dissect the art of film-making.
After feasting on the clips on show at this morning’s press launch and having perused the 2010 Edinburgh International Film Festival brochure, I’ve selected my top five movies to watch out for this year.
The Illusionist
An animated spectacle set in the Capital itself, The Illusionist is the perfect movie to kick-start the Edinburgh International Film Festival at the Opening Night Gala on Wednesday 16 June. Described as “a love letter to Scotland and Edinburgh in particular”, the film follows the titular illusionist as he moves from Paris to Scotland in search of work, trying to convince all around him of his magical abilities. Directed by Sylvain Chomet, of Belleville Rendez-vous fame, The Illusionist maintains its own distinctive visual style, while drawing on the beauty, life and elegance of the director’s previous work.
Jackboots on Whitehall
Billed as Britain’s answer to Team America: World Police, Jackboots on Whitehall is an irreverent, animated alternate history of World War II, that depicts the nightmare scenario of a German invasion of Britain in the 1940s. An entirely stop-motion endeavour, the film is also strongly reminiscent of Wallace & Gromit and its associated spin-offs. Winston Churchill flees northwards to Scotland, where the lawless Highlands serve as the only refuge from the oncoming Nazi armies. With an all-star voice cast including Ewan McGregor, Richard E. Grant and Timothy Spall, Jackboots on Whitehall combines the best of British cinema talent with beautiful animation and a script so sharp it could cut itself.
Restrepo
Restrepo, Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger’s docu-drama set in the midst of the ongoing Afghan conflict, is perhaps one of the most intimate and unflinching accounts of how modern warfare is conducted ever committed to celluloid. Granted unprecedented access to US armed forces, the filmmakers spent 15 months embedded in the 173rd Airborne Brigade, recording shockingly powerful images of the human cost of the war. Restrepo promises to be the definitive Afghan war movie and, in time, may even rank amongst the genre greats.
Mr Nice
Making its European premiere at the Film Festival, Mr Nice documents the rise and fall of the infamous international drug smuggler Howard Marks. Based on Marks’ own autobiography, this biopic stars Rhys Ifans and chronicles the heady days of the 1970s and 80s when Marks was rumoured to control over 10% of the global cannabis trade and was under constant threat from the law, fellow smugglers and the IRA. Just as charming and mischievous as its titular anti-hero, Mr Nice is leading the charge of superb British films at this year’s EIFF.
My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done?
My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done is the latest project by celebrated German director, Werner Herzog, combining drama, psychological horror and deadpan black comedy to make a gripping and unsettling film. Lead character Brad has locked himself inside his house after stabbing his mother to death. The narration jumps between the murder scene and the outside world, as police painstakingly uncover the chain of events that lead Brad to such a dark place. Willem Dafoe stars alongside Michael Shannon, Chloe Sevigny and Udo Kier.
This year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival runs from 16 – 27 June at various locations across Edinburgh, including the Festival Theatre and the Filmhouse, Cameo and Cineworld cinemas. For more details and to book tickets, see the EIFF’s website.
