An EIFF special presentation of The Talented Mr. Ripley
Countdown to Downton Abbey: A New Era
Boorman and the Devil + Q&A Special Screening
Modern Cult Classic Donnie Darko restored & re-released on 4K
About The Establishing Shot
Thunderball Villain Emilio Largo’s Palmyra Estate Film Location Bahamas
BOND 23 Skyfall Filming On Hankley Common, Surrey
The Cabin in the Woods Film Review
Get tickets For The JCFC Future Cult Screening Of Headhunters
I have just got back from the Film Distributors Association (FDA) Autumn Films Preview event, held at the very chichi (and white) Vanilla Club in central London. Described by host Alex Zane as Great Tichfield’s answer to heaven.
If you are still unfamiliar with FILM4 FRIGHTFEST it's time to come out from under that rock and embrace the UK's premiere fantasy and horror film festival.| MAIN EMPIRE SCREEN | DISCOVERY SCREEN |
| Thursday 26th August | |
| 6.30 - HATCHET II 9.15 - PRIMAL 11.15 - DEAD CERT | |
| Friday 27th August | |
| 11.00 - EGGSHELLS 1.00 - TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE 3.00 - TOTAL ICON TOBE HOOPER 5.00 - ISLE OF DOGS 7.15 - F 9.25 - RED HILL 11.30 - ALIEN VS. NINJA | 10.45 - BURNING BRIGHT 12.45 - THE CLINIC 3.00 - FINALE 5.00 - WOUND 7.15 - OUTCAST 9.45 - HIGANJIMA: ESCAPE FROM VAMPIRE ISLAND2 |
| Saturday 28th August | |
| 11.00 - CHERRY TREE LANE 1.15 - THE TORTURED 3.15 - 13 HRS 6.30 - I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE 9.00 - MONSTERS 11.30 - DREAM HOME | 11.00 - CHRISTOPHER ROTH 1.15 - FANBOYS 3.30 - AFTER.LIFE 6.35 - FINALE 9.00 - BURNING BRIGHT |
| Sunday 29th August | |
| 11.00 - THE PACK 1.00 - ANDY NYMAN'S QUIZ FROM HELL + FILM4 FRIGHTFEST INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM SHOWCASE 4.00 - WE ARE WHAT WE ARE 6.30 - DAMNED BY DAWN 9.00 - A SERBIAN FILM 11.30 - THE LOVED ONES | 11.00 - HIGANJIMA: ESCAPE FROM VAMPIRE ISLAND 1.30 - OUTCAST 4.05 - WOUND 6.35 - AMER 9.05 - THE CLINIC |
| Monday 30th August | |
| 11.15 - VIDEO NASTIES: MORAL PANIC, CENSORSHIP AND VIDEOTAPE 1.15 - THE DEAD 3.30 - BEDEVILLED 6.30 - RED WHITE & BLUE 9.00 - THE LAST EXORCISM | 11.00 - AMER 1.30 - AFTER.LIFE 3.35 - FANBOYS 6.35 - CHRISTOPHER ROTH |
Empire magazine and the BFI team up again to bring Movie-Con back with a vengeance. In response to popular demand, we're beginning the weekend early to bring you a currently top-secret film screening followed by a specially programmed Dark Fibre night on Friday. The rest of the weekend will be packed with a showcase of the very best in upcoming action, horror, fantasy and sci-fi, including exclusive footage fresh from being premiered at San Diego Comic-Con.
Director: Richard Berry
Wearing the charms and eccentricities of Wes Anderson on its sleeve, THE BROTHERS BLOOM is a classy indie crime caper and the second feature from head-turning filmmaker Rian Johnson (BRICK).
Written by Peep Show pen team Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong and directed by cult satirist Chris Morris (Brass Eye, Nathan Barley), FOUR LIONS is the latest British political comedy that is as tasteless as it is timely.
SCI-FI-LONDON 09 kicks off later this month. Unless you have been asleep under a dark monolith you will know that SCI-FI-LONDON is the UK’s leading genre event and an internationally recognised launch pad for genre movies.
The experience of discovering a film can be wonderful. Some of my favourite films are films I have seen without prior knowledge of our raised expectations. I was aware that it had done well at Cannes the same year that Un Prophete won (it won the Special Jury Prize in the Un Certain Regard section) and that it was about the music scene in Iraq. With that in mind I made my way to a screening of “No One Knows about Persian Cats”.
What’s it like
In the first couple of minutes of No One Knows about Persian Cats I was immediately struck by the similarity in its cinematic style to the raw 60s French new-wave cinema. Not only its Cinéma vérité handheld camera style, fresh editing, real dialogue, real locations and regular use of characters in transit. For me the similarities didn’t end there. Persian Cats evoked the same feeling in me that Goddard or Truffaut’s films brought to the fore when (much in the same way Persian Cats reveals a hidden Tehran and its people) they exposed me to a world and culture so different from my own.
However where Godard's maxim is "all you need for a movie is a girl and a gun", Persian Cats director Bahman Ghobadi’s approach is more all "all you need for a movie is a girl and music" as he explores the underground music scene in Iran showcasing what must be some of Tehran’s best unknown bands. The comparison between Goddard’s gun device and music is intentional as we find out that for over 30 years the Iranian government has banned certain types of music deemed as impure, forcing many fans of Iranian alternative music and western bands to go underground. At this point we shift into guerrilla D. A. Pennebaker style music documentary and we are introduced to different musicians each representing a different music style such as indie rock, progressive rock, Jazz and Electric Blues, Farsi death metal, Iran street rap, and traditional Persian music. The soundtrack is mesmerising and it’s worth owning. You can sample the music and read a review of the Soundtrack over here on BBC Music.
Background
No One Knows about Persian Cats was Produced written by American born Iranian journalist Roxana Saberi. She was sentenced to an 8 year jail spell for “spying for America”. Eventually her sentence was reduced and she was released. Her experience permeates through Persian Cats.
The Director Bahman Ghobadi (A Time for Drunken Horses, Turtles Can Fly) is an award-winning Director whose films are rarely seen in his own country. At the beginning of the film we are told that it’s based on real people, real locations and real events and that really hit home when I found out that Persian Cats was made without permission or “official permits”. My understanding is that after he has shown Persian Cats to the world Ghobadi will not be returning home. His love of music makes each musician’s scene a joy to experience.
The lead actors do have a band and it's called Take It Easy Hospital, they live in London having fled their homeland.
The talented musicians are undoubtedly the stars of Persian Cats. If you are a fan of world cinema, Middle Eastern or just good music, then No One Knows about Persian Cats is a must-see. However Persian Cats’s greatest strength, the chance to gain some insight into a little known or seen culture, may also possibly be its greatest weakness. Its lack of pandering to western audiences may make it less accessible than more crowd-pleasing fare.
In case you are wondering, (as I was) in the clip below Vincent Maraval expains where the title came from as well as gives some insight into No One Knows About Persian Cats. Apologies for the sound quality.
Michael owes money to Dublin's meanest gangster, Darren Perrier. When the debt is called in Brenda, Michael's recently "dumped" and suicidal best friend, accidentally shoots dead one of his goons. To make matters worse Michael's estranged father, Jim, arrives just in time to witness the scene. With a bounty on their heads Michael, Jim and Brenda flee to the mountains.
Channelling the epic power of Tolstoy and Visconti, I AM LOVE sweeps us inside the world of a wealthy Milanese family to deliver a saga of great subtlety and dazzling impact. The Recchis are Italian aristocracy, ensconced in an opulent mansion under the iron hand of Emma (Swinton) and her father-in-law, patriarch Edoardo Sr.
In the first screen instalment of the best-selling ‘Millennium’ trilogy of novels, investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Nyqvist) is hired by elderly industrialist Henrik Vanger to reopen a 40-year-old case of suspected murder within the family. Blomqvist and tough computer hacker Lisbeth (Rapace), a young woman whose own life is riddled with corrupt figures and a murky past, begin to connect a series of grotesque murders and unravel the appalling darkness that lurks in the Vanger family history. With the Hollywood slickness of fast-paced action thrillers, director Niels Arden has crafted an atmospheric detective story with a distinctive Nordic core.
Dew Barrymore's directorial debut Whip It has been getting rave reviews, everyone loves this film and the BFI have brought an early preview to London.
Here at theestablishingshot.com we love fresh cinema and music, so when we heard that No One Knows About Persian Cats the Cannes 2009 Special Jury Prize Winner had a UK release date we were quite excited. This is after all, the same Jury that gave A Prophet top marks.
A disgraced Stockholm journalist, Mikael Blomkvist, is hired to research a family history but finds himself on a dangerous quest to solve the 40-year-old mysterious disappearance of his client’s great-niece. When things heat up only the help of the mysterious girl with the dragon tattoo saves him. Based on the award-winning novel by Stieg Larsson, the first in his Millennium Trilogy.
While The Twitterverse and Blogosphere are swamped with stories about the Odeon Cinema chain's decision not to show Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. As a response to Disney shortening the time from from the film's cinema release to it's DVD/Blu Ray release.
Anyone that knows the The_EST knows that my support for Secret Cinema goes all the way back to the very beginning last year :). Now in their 2nd successful year Secret Cinema are back and bigger than ever before.“The Secret Cinema is a monthly gathering of all that love stimulating, challenging and ground breaking cinema. The Internet is changing the way we watch films. The Secret Cinema changes where you watch films.Here is a complete list of Secret Cinema screening so far:
Every month a new secret location, you will receive an email the day of the screening stating the film that is to be shown and the location.
The film will be chosen by the secret cinema folk whose names will remain secret and sometimes by you the secret audience who will send in your secret votes.
The locations will vary. Anything from derelict theatres, rooftops, parks and other secret spaces. There will be surprise re-scores and special guests. Register at secretcinema.org”
The Movie Lounge, aka the Hip-Hop Film School, is a film club supported by Film London’s Outer Boroughs Pilot Fund – an initiative that creates opportunities to see films beyond mainstream cinema exhibition. The driving force behind the project is Anointed Productions, a grassroots social enterprise based at London’s 3 Mills Studios and an organisation looking to engage the young local community in East London.
Revolver Entertainment are holding a charity screening of Wyclef Jean’s ‘Ghosts of Cite Soleil’ at the Electric Cinema on Friday 26th February in aid of Action Against Hunger’s emergency Haiti appeal.
This month's Off The Record features a special preview screening of upcoming psychological thriller Beacon 77, followed by a Q & A with the film’s director and star - Brad Watson and Jonathan Rhodes.
Ondene (Lucy Konadu) is beautiful, talented, and destined to study law at Oxford if she gets the required A-Levels. Nothing less will satisfy her domineering mother, Hyacynth (Suzann McLean). When a basketball court is set up near her private school, Ondene is charmed by a charismatic, good-looking freestyle basketball player, Leon (Arinze Kene), and they decide to enter a competition.Kolton is an established Director and Writer. He represented the UK as an international basketball player before turning to sports journalism. He worked for The Voice, and became editor within a year, before becoming news editor for The News on Sunday.
Kolton worked for the BBC before being accepted for The National Film And Television School where he was signed up by a film agent the moment he graduated. He worked on several TV series, including Eastenders before taking on directing projects in New York. Whilst there, he made the acclaimed short film, American Mod, and his play, An Evening with Michael Jordan, was staged at the Natural Black Theatre of Harlem.
Kolton wrote and directed the low budget feature film Cherps (“a brash indie debut…a fitting ‘Alfie’ for these times..” Variety.com) for which he won an Independent Spirit Award. Cherps has played in festivals across the world and was recently bought by the BBC to be broadcast as part of their British film season. Kolton’s most recent film Blood was also recently sold to MTV in North America.
Freestyle was developed and produced as part of Film London’s Microwave programme.
The BFI are delighted to announce a late addition to their February programme.Jamaica has always been the spiritual home of James Bond, and at Cocoa Walk Bay that legacy feels almost tangible. Standing on the s...
