5 Picks for Glasgow Film Festival 2015

02.16.2015 by Nicola Balkind // Leave a Comment

My Top Picks

Glasgow Film Festival has rolled around for another year. I live dangerously close-by and will be covering some of the films and events, so as I scoured the programme I decided to pick out a few recommendations for you.

Are you sitting comfortably? Then we’ll begin.

While We’re Young

The opening night gala has already sold out, but there are 2 additional screenings of Noah Baumbach’s While We’re Young on the afternoon of Thursday 19 February. Following up the hit Frances Ha – one of my favourites from GFF 2014 – the film stars Ben Stiller as Josh, an ageing filmmaker whose life is brightened when he meets aspiring filmmaker Jamie (Adam Driver) and his wife Darby (Amanda Seyfried). The programme also promises physical comedy and a great turn from Naomi Watts. What’s not to like? (Also, I’ll watch anything with Adam Driver in it, so.)

Girlhood

Girlhood – or Bande de filles – is a French feature centres around a group of black teens in the suburbs of Paris. It opened to massive acclaim at Sundance, where director Céline Sciamma stated she named the film Girlhood as a tongue-in-cheek response to Richard Linklater’s Boyhood – last year’s critical darling of the indie festival circuit.

Click here for a great review of the film on The Hairpin – it’s packed with reasons to watch it.

The Salt of the Earth

Wim Wenders and Juliano Ribeiro Salgado teamed up to co-direct this documentary that centres around the career of Salgado’s father, photographer Sebastião Salgado. The film, which earned the Un Certain Regard Special Prize at Cannes Film Festival, uses Sebastião Salgado’s photography and testimonials to create a documentary of the artist’s life.

Click through for more about The Salt of the Earth from The Guardian.

Appropriate Behaviour

If you’ve been watching the latest series of Girls you’ll recognise Desiree Akhavan: writer, director and star of Appropriate Behaviour. She plays Shirin in this quasi-autobiographical debut feature film which has invited comparisons to Lena Dunham.

If your capacity for Brooklyn-based Millenial stories is as seemingly endless as mine, this will be worth a look. Either way, Jesse Hassenger of the AV Club calls Akhavan a triple threat, so I’m in.

Buster Keaton Night with Paul Merton and Neil Brand

The Festival wouldn’t be complete without its huge bill of special events, which take place all around the city each year. This year I’m particularly keen to see Paul Merton’s show on the legendary Buster Keaton – my personal favourite silent clown.

Merton has made a tidy side career for himself in holding retrospectives of silent comedians’ works for several years now. He has also written a book on the subject – which is a good primer on the era. Meanwhile Neil Brand is the UK’s premier silent film pianist.

Together they’re presenting an evening of classic comedy and live music to celebrate the ol’ Stone Face. It’s like they knew I was coming.

Honorable mentions:

I’m cheating now. So sue me.

Rosewater

Jon Stewart’s – yes, that Jon Stewart’s – directorial debut is a political drama inspired by events in 2009 which saw the arrest of real-life Iranian-Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari, played here by Gael García Bernal. Now that Stewart is departing The Daily Show to pursue filmmaking, I’m keen to see this one to see what promise his future work holds.

Surprise Film

The Surprise Film can be a bit of a gamble – but that’s all part of the fun. Two years ago was an absolute riot with the grand reveal of Spring Breakers (which, incidentally, I kind of hated – but it was a great experience), and the year before a nice little sneak preview of Jeff Who Lives at Home. I’m not one for predictions, but I’ll be there crossing my fingers regardless.

Are you attending Glasgow Film Festival 2015? Which films or events are you most looking forward to?

February Reads | 52 Books 2014

03.08.2014 by Nicola Balkind // 2 Comments

Aside from being maddeningly short, and my schedule being a bit ridiculous at the moment, February is also time for films.

The final 2 weeks of February is home to the Glasgow Film Festival, so I was whiling my spare hours away in dark rooms instead of reading.

Here are the few books that I managed to squeeze in.

7. The Examined Life: How We Lose and Find Ourselves by Stephen Grosz
★★★★★– This collection of brief insights and anecdotes from a seasoned psychoanalyst was an interesting read. I enjoyed the episodic style and insights Grosz brought together and the ways in which he encourages you to imagine and explore his process. A few stories are resolved far too neatly, but as a casual read this is a great way to understand psychoanalysis beyond the “how does that make you feel?” movie tropes that we see so often. Very accomplished.

8. Manage Your Day-to-Day edited by Jocelyn Glei
★★★★★ – Let’s be honest, if you’re into reading productivity blogs, you’ll have heard most of this advice before. However it’s nicely packaged, well designed, and quick to read. Can’t argue with that.

9. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
★★★★★ – Another book club pick, and one that I had been meaning to read for a long time. It’s hardly a page-turner, but its various character view-points are impressively broad and the story of a disconnected small town within demonstrates a deep understanding of humanity. I wish I’d had a bit more time to appreciate it fully.

I also spent much of the month reading ‘S.‘ by J.J. Abrams and Doug Dorst. More on that next month…

What did you read in February?

World Film Locations: Glasgow – Launch Details

02.11.2013 by Nicola Balkind // Leave a Comment

There will be two launch events taking place as part of Glasgow Film Festival…

1. On Saturday 23 February at 5pm, I’ll be hosting an event GFF Festival Club at CCA:

Cinema City: Glasgow’s Film Locations
Saturday 23 February (17.00), Free

Celebrate the launch of book World Film Locations: Glasgow with this discussion about our Cinema City. Join World Film Locations series editor Gabriel Solomons, Glasgow volume editor Nicola Balkind, and other contributors to find out how Glasgow became a Hollywood film location for the likes of Cloud Atlas and World War Z, and about the city’s heritage as a filmmaking — and a filmgoers’ — city.

2. On Sunday 24 February, Series Editor Gabriel Solomons and I will be introducing Living Apart Together in partnership with Park Circus Films:

Living Apart Together
Sunday 24 February, 13:15

The late Charlie Gormley was one of the adventurous spirits who helped put Scottish filmmaking on the map in the 1980s. Living Apart Together was his first feature as a director and has virtually disappeared from sight in recent years. Now it has been lovingly restored, and re-released, by Park Circus with support from Creative Scotland and Film4 and is back to reclaim its rightful position in our affections. BA Robertson is well cast as a singer/songwriter who returns to Glasgow for a friend’s funeral and struggles to make sense of a broken marriage and a life of regrets. A lovely sense of Glasgow, a fantastic soundtrack and a cast peppered with familiar faces from Jimmy Logan to a young Peter Capaldi.

The Living Apart Together film screening will coincide with the book launch for World Film Locations: Glasgow which explores Scotland’s biggest city and the many locations in which its films are viewed, set, and shot, taking in the important moments and movements in its rich cinematic history. Published by Intellect and edited by Nicola Balkind, the book is the latest addition to the World Film Locations series and will be introduced both by the book’s editor and by series editor Gabriel Solomons.

I’ll be at both events to talk about the book and Glasgow on film in general – so please do come along and say hello! We’ll also be selling copies of the book in person.

If you want to preorder your copy before 15 February, you can do so here.

Press queries? Please email me at nicola@unculturedcritic.com

Thank you for your support!