Film HITLIST THE BEST FILM & DVD RELEASES

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The Kid with a Bike The Dardenne brothers at their very best in this moving story of a young boy abandoned by his father, with excellent performances by Cécile de France and young newcomer Thomas Doret (pictured). See review, page 69. Selected release from Fri 23 Mar.

In Darkness Agnieszka Holland’s Oscar-nominated film about a group of Jews hiding in the sewers beneath Lvov during World War II. See review, page 68. Selected release from Fri 16 Mar.

The Hippodrome Festival of Silent Cinema A weekend of silent classics and live music in the beautiful Hippodrome cinema, Bo’ness. See preview, page 72. The Hippodrome, Bo’ness, Fri 16–Sun 18 Mar. Fashion in Film Festival Highlights from the Fashion in Film Festival, including a screening of a restored version of La Danseuse Orchidée (pictured). See preview page 75. GFT, Glasgow, Fri 16–Sun 18 Mar.

Once Upon A Time in Anatolia Atmospheric drama from Turkish filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan, winner of the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes. See review, page 69. Selected release from Fri 16 Mar. Carancho Argentinian neo- noir set in the shady insurance and legal industry that profits from the country’s staggeringly high traffic accident rate. See review, page 67. Selected release from Fri 2 Mar.

Bill Cunningham New York Lively and intimate documentary by Richard Press about fashion street photographer and New York character Bill Cunningham. See review, page 70. Selected release from Fri 16 Mar.

Teuvo Tulio Rare chance to see the influential melodramas of Finnish director Tulio, celebrated in his home country but almost unheard of in the UK. See Index for films. Filmhouse, Edinburgh, Sun 11 Mar–Mon 2 April.

KINOTEKA UK Highlights from the 10th annual KINOTEKA Polish Film Festival including Jerzy Kawalerowicz’s 1959 homage to Hitchcock, Night Train. Filmhouse, Edinburgh, Tue 13–Fri 16 Mar.

All Night Horror Madness The all-nighter event returns with four classic horror films including I Drink Your Blood and The Return of the Living Dead, starting at 11pm and running until dawn. Grosvenor, Glasgow, Sat 17 Mar.

Profile

MARKUS SCHLEINZER

Born 8 November, 1971, Vienna

Background Schleinzer has spent 17 years in the Austrian film industry as a casting director, working for filmmakers such as Michael Haneke (The Piano Teacher, The White Ribbon), Jessica Hausner (Lovely Rita, Lourdes) and Ulrich Seidl (Dog Days). His debut feature, Michael, which he wrote and directed, was the only German-language film in competition at Cannes in 2011. Inspired by the Natascha Kampusch and Josef Fritzl cases, and the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, it observes the last five months in the relationship between a 35-year-old paedophile (Michael Fuith) and a 10-year-old boy (David Rauchenberger) whom he keeps in his locked basement. On high-profile paedophile cases: ‘When I began writing the script for Michael in late 2008, you couldn’t pick up a paper or switch on the TV, without noticing the Madeleine McCann or the Josef Fritzl cases. I was disgusted by the way the tabloid press used these stories to make money. I wanted to make a film about paedophila which wasn’t easy to consume.’

On the resurgence of Austrian cinema: ‘As well as auteur films by the likes of Haneke and Hausner and Seidl, we also make some mainstream comedies. We’re a very small country there are only eight million of us, compared to 80 million in Germany. It’s very hard to make money out of films in Austria, but the good thing is you are not expected to offer up gifts to your audience.’ Interesting fact: Schleinzer has been cast as an actor in the forthcoming film The Boundary Man, in which Klaus Maria Brandauer plays the pioneering Austrian psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich. Michael is on selected release from Fri 2 Mar.

1–29 Mar 2012 THE LIST 65