EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2017 Not sure where to start with the EIFF 2017 programme? Here are some of our top picks, chosen by our editor Yasmin Sulaiman. Read more about the festival on page 17, and go to list.co.uk/film for full listings
DONKEYOTE Odeon, Thu 22 Jun, 6pm; Cineworld, Sat 24 Jun, 8.40pm. Spanish-born Chico Pereira constructs a contemplative documentary study of his uncle whose wonderful spirit of adventure belies all of his 73 years.
MODERN LIFE IS RUBBISH Cineworld, Thu 22 Jun, 8.40pm; Odeon, Sun 25 Jun, 6.10pm. With this witty and thoroughly engaging romcom, director Daniel Jerome Gill’s debut film charts the relationship between Liam (Josh Whitehouse) and Natalie (Freya Mavor). Initially drawn together by their shared love for music, ten years later they are struggling to see what they saw in each other.
SEXY DURGA Odeon, Thu 22 Jun, 8.40pm; Vue Omni, Fri 23 Jun, 8.55pm. Sanal Kumar Sasidharan’s improvised nighttime road movie – which won the prestigious Tiger Award at the Rotterdam International Film Festival – is driven by a punk sensibility and a great sense of energy.
THE LAST PHOTOGRAPH Cineworld, Thu 22 Jun, 8.50pm; Filmhouse, Sat 24 Jun, 3.25pm. Danny Huston directs and stars in this powerful and moving drama. The life of Tom Hammond, a well-to-do Londoner who runs a book shop, is thrown into a tailspin when his bag is stolen at the shop and he loses his most treasured possession, a photograph of him and his son Luke.
RETROSPECTIVE LIVE! STOP MAKING SENSE
Summerhall, Fri 23 Jun, 6pm. An evening of live music and late-night outdoor screening of Talking Heads’ legendary Stop Making Sense.
JUST CHARLIE Cineworld, Fri 23 Jun, 6.10pm; Sat 24 Jun, 1.05pm. Charlie, a young football prodigy, has a bright future
in front of them. But when they come out as transgender suddenly life for everyone is turned upside down. Featuring a marvellous screen debut from young Harry Gilby.
IT’S NOT YET DARK Vue Omni, Sat 24 Jun, 3.45pm; Odeon, Sun 25 Jun, 1.20pm. Simon Fitzmaurice came to EIFF in 2016 with his feature debut, My Name is Emily. This new documentary tells his story of his brave fight against the life changing effects of the degenerative disease ALS. Sobering in its honesty, and bereft of all nods to sentimentality, this is a deeply enlightening, and absolutely inspirational watch.
GOODBYE BERLIN Cineworld, Sat 24 Jun, 6.15pm; Mon 26 Jun, 8.35pm. Acclaimed German director Fatih Akin delivers a charming and enthralling film adaptation of Wolfgang Herrndorf’s best-selling young adult novel Tschick.
KALEIDOSCOPE Cineworld, Sat 24 Jun, 8.35pm; Sun 25 Jun, 3.45pm. Toby Jones is at his very best in this complex and dark psychological thriller. Middle- aged Carl, recently released from prison, is trying to adjust to life on the outside. Written and directed by Toby’s brother, Rupert Jones.
SONG TO SONG Filmhouse, Sun 25 Jun, 8pm; Wed 28 Jun, 8.50pm. A Terrence Malick film is always a visual treat, especially with his use of imagery and unique style. With Song to Song, the languid sense of wonder is still there, but he has also added romance and even humour to this modern love story, set against the backdrop of the music scene in Austin, Texas.
has taken a brief moment in the life of artist Alberto Giacometti and distilled it into an amusing, sophisticated and insightful film about art, life and love, with Geoffrey Rush in superb form as the wonderfully contrary artist.
EDIE Cineworld, Mon 26 Jun, 6.15pm; Wed 28 Jun, 8.55pm. An elderly woman aims to climb a Scottish mountain. Sheila Hancock is at her sublime best as Edie, an elderly woman who, in the aftermath of the death of her controlling husband, decides to fulfil a long-held dream of climbing a Scottish mountain.
IN DUBIOUS BATTLE Cineworld, Mon 26 Jun, 6pm; Wed 28 Jun, 8.45pm. James Franco directs (and takes a key role in) this impressively mounted adaptation of the 1936 John Steinbeck novel, delivering a film that feels like an authentic slice of rural Americana, driven by social anger.
HALAL DADDY Cineworld, Mon 26 Jun, 8.50pm; Wed 28 Jun, 6.15pm. Young Muslim Raghdan Aziz (Nikesh Patel) struggles to deal with cultural and generational chaos after his domineering father (Art Malik), in a bid to get his son back into his life, takes over a rundown abattoir in the West of Ireland, making it Halal.
VAMPIRE CLEANUP DEPARTMENT
Filmhouse, Mon 26 Jun, 11.25pm; Cineworld, Fri 30 Jun, 8.35pm. This delightful horror comedy harks back to the great days of 1980s-‘90s Hong Kong romps, and it’s nice blend of comedy, chills and romance makes it a real late night treat.
A WEDDING
FINAL PORTRAIT Festival Theatre, Sun 25 Jun, 8.30pm. With this enthralling and beautifully mannered labour-of-love of a film, writer/director Stanley Tucci
Cineworld, Wed 28 Jun, 6.10pm; Filmhouse, Sun 2 Jul, 8.30pm. A Pakistani teenager in Belgium faces deep rooted traditions with heartbreakingly poignant results in this
intimate family drama about parental love versus religious duty.
LAST MEN IN ALEPPO Cineworld, Thu 29 Jun, 6.05pm; Sat 1 Jul, 6.05pm. The shocking story of Khalid, Subhi, and Mahmoud: founding members of the Syrian Civil Defence (The White Helmets), battling to save lives amid the devastating effects of the 2016 siege of Aleppo.
THE LITTLE HOURS Cineworld, Thu 29 Jun, 8.50pm; Sat 1 Jul, 1.05pm. Jeff Baena’s (Life After Beth) latest comedy, set in the Middle Ages, is loosely based on The Decameron. Hilariously funny, with a great cast including Aubrey Plaza, Alison Brie, John C Reilly, Molly Shannon and Dave Franco.
WAKEFIELD Cineworld, Fri 30 Jun, 6.05pm; Sat 1 Jul, 3.20pm. Bryan Cranston is superb as successful lawyer and family man Howard Wakefield who, one evening, follows his odd but overwhelming impulse to walk away from his life. Based on a short story by EL Doctorow, the film is driven by Cranston’s amazing performance.
IAN RANKIN PRESENTS: REICHENBACH FALLS
Filmhouse, Sat 1 Jul, 1.15pm. Written by James Mavor and based on an original idea by Ian Rankin, Reichenbach Falls is a captivating crime drama. EIFF is delighted to welcome Mr. Rankin to the cinema for a post-screening discussion. This screening is part of RebusFest.
A QUIET HEART Cineworld, Sat 1 Jul, 6.15pm; Filmhouse, Sun 2 Jul, 6.20pm. This gently powerful and elegantly performed film tackles the tensions between Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community and those of the secular persuasion. Eitan Anner’s award- winning third film is an engrossing glimpse into a subject rarely tackled.
80 THE LIST 1 Jun–31 Aug 2017