Scotland Film Event Highlights – October 2015

Halloween

John Carpenter may no longer be the filmmaking force he once was, but as long as film-fans continue to crave horror thrills around Halloween, his 1978 slasher masterpiece named after the annual spooky holiday will continue to remind us of his artistry. Glasgow Film Theatre screen Halloween on 31 Oct, as do Filmhouse in Edinburgh, who pair it with playful 3D horror The House of Wax, which stars Vincent Price as a dastardly artist who finds a macabre shortcut to creating extremely lifelike wax sculptures.

Wings of Desire

The terror of All Saints’ Eve is replaced by more positive emotion on All Saints’ Day as Glasgow Film Festival join the BFI’s nationwide Love Season with an unmissable screening of Wings of Desire at Paisley Abbey (1 Nov). This tender love story is Wim Wenders’ most ravishingly beautiful film, so seeing it on the big screen in this unique location would be reason enough to buy a ticket, but as GFF have proven over the last few years, they are also experts at turning a humble film screening into an unforgettable multi-sensory experience. In this case, expect a performance that incorporates an unearthly soundscape from Tut Vu Vu, live vocals from artist Kathryn Elkin, and some breathtaking aerial acrobatics above the audience.

Kurbick on the big screen

All great films improve on the big screen, but some film visionaries’ work demands it more than others. Stanley Kubrick is one such filmmaker. Culture Shock are bringing five of his films to the Cameo in Edinburgh this month, including The Shining (19 Oct), Dr Strangelove (26 Oct) and Full Metal Jacket (2 Nov). Sadly, Kubrick's most visually sumptuous movie, Barry Lyndon, doesn’t make the cut.

Jarman Award

Your annual opportunity to check in on the most exciting and inventive emerging voices in filmmaking comes around again this month as the films nominated for the annual Jarman Award tour the UK. The programme arrives at the CCA in Glasgow 8 Oct and features boundary breaking work by artists Adam Chodzko, Seamus Harahan, Gail Pickering, Bedwyr Williams, Andrea Luka Zimmerman and Alia Syed. The latter will be in attendance to take part in a Q&A session following the screenings. Free but ticketed.

Female filmmakers

The gender split in the Jarman Award nominees is 50:50. If only feature filmmaking in the UK was even close to this ratio. This disparity is the central concern of ICA’s Onwards and Outwards programme, a touring series designed to celebrate the women filmmakers from Britain who have excelled in making independent and original work outside the mainstream. Screenings at GFT this month includes Sally Potter’s surreal epic The Gold Diggers (12 Oct) and Riddle of the Sphinx (19 Oct) from Laura Mulvey and Peter Wollen, which is rarely screened outside the film school lecture hall.