firs.
AGENIA
news
Stars in the picture at Film Festival
Tim Roth, Paul Schrader, Atom Egoyan and French band Air are all on the guest list at this year's Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF), which runs from 15-29 Aug. The Festival has also recently received a sponsorship shot in the arm from FilmFour, which combines a six-figure sum with in- house marketing support from Channel 4.
Films confirmed ahead of the official programme launch include Roth's directorial debut, The War Zone, Wim Wenders's Buena Vista Social Club, the acclaimed Bill Murray comedy Rushmore, and David Mamet's version of The Winslow Boy. From across the Channel come Catherine Breillat's controversial Romance, Cannes Grand Prix winner L’Humanité and the latest film from the Dogme stable - Lovers,
actor Jean-Marc Barr's first film as director.
A new section called ‘Late Night Romps' will ensure that cinema-goers don't slip off to sleep too early. ’This is young, funky cinema,’ says EIFF Director Lizzie Francke, ‘filled with kinetic, adrenalin-rush movies.‘ Titles include Go, Doug Liman’s follow-up to Swingers; Run Lola Run, in which a woman plays out three possible scenarios as she tries to raise enough money to stop The Mob killing her boyfriend; and Red Ball, which Francke describes as ‘Homicide on speed'.
ElFF’s groundbreaking Mirrorball section, which celebrates the art of music videos, continues to go from strength to strength. An undoubted highlight this year will be a forum featuring director Mike Mills and French duo Air, while guest director Roman Coppola will head the Mirrorball Education Project. Coppola worked on his father's films The Outsiders and Rumblefish while still in his teens and, since graduating from NYU Film School, has directed music videos for Fatboy Slim, Daft Punk
and Green Day.
The full EIFF programme will be launched in mid-July.
(Alan Morrison)
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Mirrorball Competition
Through The List, EIFF is offering two would-be filmmakers a free place on the four-day Mirrorball Education Project with Roman Coppola. Applicants aged sixteen and upwards should send a short treatment for a low-budget DVC/Hi-8 music video (max. 100 words), naming track title and artist, plus contact details and a brief explanation of why you want to take part in the course (max. 50 words) to Mirrorball Education Project, do 88 Lothian Road. Edinburgh, EH3 982. The winners must be available in Edinburgh from 17—20 Aug and the deadline for applications is Fri 9 Jul.
An additional ten paying applicants will be selected for the course. Requirements are as above, but a minimal fee of £80 must be paid after notification from EIFF that the application has been successful. In all cases, no previous filmmaking experience is
You're booked: Jay Mclnerney
Grand themes, big names and very special events are the order of the day at this year’s Edinburgh International Book Festival. Between 14—30 Aug, over 300 authors will be welcomed into a variety of venues such as the Post Office Theatre and Studio Theatre
in Charlotte Square Gardens, The Spiegeltent at the Scott Monument, the Queen's Hall and Princes Street Gardens.
'I think it's a chance for us Scots to look outwardly rather than staring at our own tartan navels,’ states Faith Liddell, the festival’s Director. ‘I'm obviously very excited about some of the big names coming, but it’s also a chance for us to meet some lesser- known international authors and talk about themes such as globalisation, cultural identity and get away from talking about ourselves.'
Among the many highlights of this year’s festival are Ken Russell, with his intergalactic take on the Bible with Mike And Gaby's Space Gospel; Sean Hughes, who will be reading from his second novel It '5 What He Would Have Wanted; Pulitzer Prize winner Annie
Bok Festial writes new chapter
Proulx; US Brat-Packer Jay Mclnerney; top British crime writer Ruth Rendell; and the PythoneSQUe Terry Gilliam.
New innovations come in the form of a Cuban Cigar Night (poetry, politics and puffing), The Ian Rankin Crime Quiz Challenge and a club night with Annie Nightingale. Cross-festival collaboration comes in the form of Flux-linked events with John Cale, Ken Kesey and Ivor Cutler.
One of the staples of the Book Festival is its commitment to children, and this year's line-up in the Children's and Schools Programme is as strong as ever. Those appearing include J.K. Rowling and her creation Harry Potter, poet Benjamin Zephaniah and big sellers such as Joan Lingard and Anne Fine. To get your copy of the line-up, call the programme hotline on 09065 500 010. (Brian Donaldson)
AGENDA
The Scottish Inquisition
Questions you don’t expect. This issue: Roger Howison, Venue Manager; Wilkie House in Edinburgh.
Broadsheet or tabloid?
Tabloid — The Sun. It's got loads of pictures and my arms are too short for the broadsheets.
First arts/medialmusic related job? Dancer for a pop band. We played all over the UK and I got to shake my touche and thrust my hips.
What is your career highlight? Cloakroom attendant in Wilkie House - loved every moment of it.
The Award for a lifetime contribution to Scottish culture goes to?
My mother. She traced my father's family tree back to Robert the Bruce, she works in the St Andrew's Museum and I'm dead proud of her.
Name a work of art that you cannot live without . . .
My girlfriend Helen — I love her.
. . . and a law that you are proud to have broken?
Gathering in a field with more than ten people and listening to repetitive beats. You're about to be exiled - where and how would you spend your last night? -
At Barry Cabanas in Wilkie House with Helen, as long as I got to take my kit off.
Glasgow: City of Architecture and Design. But which Scottish building would you like to see destroyed? The statue of Mel Gibson at the bottom of the Wallace Monument in Stirling - tacky or what?
What motion would you make as an MSP?
Invade England on friendly terms.
Top Scot of the new Millennium? Can I submit myself?
What should be in the Millennium Dome?
A huge nightclub with a free bar — all sponsored by the Scottish Parliament. How do you see Scotland's future? Brightly lit and mad for it. (Compiled by Simone Baird)
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24 Jun-8 Jul 1999 THE U8T19