Edinburgh Festivals

'It’s a comedy colonic!' - David O’Doherty

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

22 Jul 2008

Jay Richardson meets David O’Doherty, the mild-mannered comic whose musical musings and offbeat observations have won him a legion of indie followers. This year he’ll be feeding his insomnia by entertaining kids and adults alike As an award-winning…

After the flood

Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival

22 Jul 2008

Hurricane Katrina not only devastated a whole city, it nearly destroyed a legendary jazz culture. Malcolm Jack hears how Edinburgh has opened its arms to the top New Orleans players.

Early mourning - 4.48 Psychosis

Edinburgh International Festival

22 Jul 2008

Nine years ago, uncompromising playwright Sarah Kane ended her own life. In an old Warsaw variety theatre, Mark Fisher is shaken by a mesmerising staging of her final work.

Event horizon - Edinburgh Mela

22 Jul 2008

While Charlotte Square Gardens, The Hub and Pleasance may think they are at the heart of the August experience, there are other cultural bonanzas going on around them. Anna Millar takes a look at some of the other Festival action Often unfairly…

Golden years - Tracey Emin

Edinburgh International Art Festival

22 Jul 2008

As the leading female light of Britart, Tracey Emin has been revered and rejected in equal measure. Writer and broadcaster Bidisha has a few words of scorn for the detractors and reflects on the already profound legacy she will leave behind It’s been…

Home James - Sean Connery

Edinburgh International Book Festival

22 Jul 2008

As Sean Connery returns to Edinburgh for a date in Charlotte Square Gardens, author Ewan Morrison recalls growing up in the ultimate 007’s shadow and wallowing in those iconic one-liners

Picture this - World Press Photo

Festival of Politics

22 Jul 2008

From soldiers to skiers, featuring death and dresses, the World Press Photo exhibition captures life at its extremes. David Pollock views the cream of this year’s selection and discusses life through a lens.

A show of force - Edinburgh Military Tattoo

22 Jul 2008

A festival spectacle global in design is this year’s The Edinburgh Military Tattoo, which prepares once again to set its stall on the esplanade under the impressive backdrop of Edinburgh Castle, as it showcases the best military musicians from around…

Foe play - Class Enemy

Edinburgh International Festival

22 Jul 2008

In times of both war and peace, Haris Pasovic has created crucial theatre. Malcolm Jack speaks to him about taking a story set in 1970s Brixton and plunging it into contemporary Sarajevo.

Hard times - Gladder to be Gay?

Festival of Politics

22 Jul 2008

Simon Callow is heading our way with both Stonewall and Dickens on his mind. Anna Millar chats to one of theatre’s hardest working men about his love of acting and support for gay rights Mere minutes out of London rehearsals for The Magic Flute and…

No more heroes - graphic novels

Edinburgh International Book Festival

22 Jul 2008

The Book Festival is once again acknowledging the rapid expansion in graphic novels. Henry Northmore chats to a number of comic book guys (and girl) to ask what the future may hold for the superhero While graphic novels may be still be a minority…

Real gone kids - Architecting

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

22 Jul 2008

Fringe favourites The TEAM return to Edinburgh with a reimagining of Margaret Mitchell’s iconic Southern drama. Kirstin Innes caught up with them to discuss everything from Barack Obama to Scarlett O’Hara.

Scavengers - Joshua Sofaer interview

Edinburgh International Art Festival

22 Jul 2008

Anneka Rice may have popularised scavenging but performance artist Joshua Sofaer is taking it to a new level. Claire Sawers asks him why he wants to trash Edinburgh Joshua Sofaer was wandering around a London art gallery recently, minding his own…

Up close and personal - Niki King

Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival

22 Jul 2008

For Niki King, intimacy is something to be embraced rather than feared. Claire Sawers lends an ear as the local singer gently explains why she loves getting confessional on stage.

Bow Selecta - Dizzee Rascal Interview

22 Jul 2008

He’s worked with Arctic Monkeys and Calvin Harris while giving British rap a good name. With his own record label on the rise, urban music star Dizzee Rascal tells Miles Johnson about a life of grime.

Spirit of the age

Edinburgh Festival of Spirituality and Peace

22 Jul 2008

Another festival growing in popularity, from humble beginnings is the Festival of Spirituality & Peace. Launched just three years ago, through the Edinburgh Inter-Faith Association, the Edinburgh International Centre for World Spiritualities and…

Turning point - Richard Wilson

Edinburgh International Art Festival

22 Jul 2008

Installation artist Richard Wilson is a true pioneer whether he’s experimenting with drawing, film or sculpture. Rosie Lesso hears from the man about how he loves to defy preconceptions British artist Richard Wilson has an uncanny ability to distort…

Video nation - Looking at Tazieh

Edinburgh International Festival

22 Jul 2008

Aiming to debunk some of the cruder myths of Iran and its people, acclaimed director Abbas Kiarostami brings us a filmed account of an ancient drama. Miles Fielder talks to him about universal themes.

You've been mangoed - Mohammed Hanif

Edinburgh International Book Festival

22 Jul 2008

The mysterious death of Pakistan’s dictator General Zia is still the subject of fevered speculation today. Mohammed Hanif tells Claire Sawers about a debut novel he’s based on memories, rumours and jokes Mohammed Hanif has always been a daydreamer.

The Body Politic

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

22 Jul 2008

A story of prostitution, oppression and torture might not sound like fun, but throw in a bit of belly dancing and you have a Fringe hit. Steve Cramer talks to Craig Murray, formerly our man in Uzbekistan, about baring souls on stage.

Wilde boys - Matthew Bourne’s Dorian Gray

Edinburgh International Festival

22 Jul 2008

Matthew Bourne is taking his biggest risk yet by revamping The Picture of Dorian Gray. Kelly Apter talks to him about sensuality, satire and the death of Heath Ledger.

Death becomes them - The Two Widows

Edinburgh International Festival

22 Jul 2008

Jane Irwin and Kate Valentine are at very different stages in their operatic careers. But Carol Main finds them both in exuberant mood ahead of Scottish Opera’s take on Smetana’s 19th century comedy.

Sultans of swing - Pendulum Interview

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

22 Jul 2008

Hardcore drum & bass fans may have objected to the rockier feel of Pendulum’s new sound, but Richie Meldrum finds original member Rob Swire in no mood to apologise

Comedy Shuffle - New Art Club

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

22 Jul 2008

New Art Club are aiming to stretch beyond their usual crowd by injecting some daftness into dance. Kelly Apter finds out how steps and stand-up can go hand in hand.

The IT crowd - Mortal Engine

Edinburgh International Festival

22 Jul 2008

An enormous technological feat and huge physical challenge, Chunky Move’s new show has been universally acclaimed. Kelly Apter hears how choreographer Gideon Obarzanek’s dream came vividly to life. Bumps, bruises and bunions. It’s all in a day’s work…

Swede Dreams - Britt Ekland

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

22 Jul 2008

A true icon of the 60s and 70s, Britt Ekland has lived a life of glamour and glory. She tells Liz Joseph why she’s telling the Fringe her story and how she keeps from feeling her age.

Shopping & trucking - The Great American Trailer Park Musical

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

22 Jul 2008

When a show is dubbed as a cross between Desperate Housewives and South Park, it’s going to get noticed. Emma Lennox hears some trash talk from those behind The Great American Trailer Park Musical

Reach for the sky - Charlie Victor Romeo preview

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

22 Jul 2008

If you have a debilitating fear of flying, Charlie Victor Romeo might not be on top of your must-see Fringe list. But Liz Joseph believes that anyone interested in heart-stopping theatre should check in now

Daddy fool

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

22 Jul 2008

With the spirit of The Monkees and Monty Python coursing through their comedic veins, sketch troupe Pappy’s Fun Club tell Marissa Burgess that cash worries have fuelled their success

Kid loves - Children's books round-up

Edinburgh International Book Festival

22 Jul 2008

Harry Potter may have played his last game of Quidditch and Lemony Snicket’s series of events have unfortunately ceased to be, but there are still plenty of iconic figures hanging around in children’s literature. Brian Donaldson finds ten of them…

Messiaen 100

Edinburgh International Festival

22 Jul 2008

Celebrating a centenary with intimate recitals and orchestral drama. As a composer he was the epitome of innovation; as a musician he could move a room to silent awe. That the EIF is choosing to celebrate the centenary of Olivier Messiaen as part of its…

Omar Sosa

Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival

22 Jul 2008

Diverse, dynamic and daring approach inspired by Afro-Cuban folklore. You never know what Omar Sosa will do next. The Cuban-born virtuoso musician has turned his hand to everything from composing and arranging records to producing them, leading bands…

Room with a view - Ingleby Gallery

Edinburgh International Art Festival

22 Jul 2008

From much-missed nightclub space to the biggest commercial gallery outside of London, Kirstin Innes goes behind the scenes at the new Ingleby Gallery

Setting the President

Festival of Politics

22 Jul 2008

The race for a Clinton and Bush-free White House hots up. On his recent British stand-up tour, Hollywood comic Chris Rock unsurprisingly took much delight in delving into the blazing topic that is the US Presidential election. In particular, he analysed…

Andrew Grassie

Edinburgh International Art Festival

22 Jul 2008

There promises to be a lot of visitors doing a double-take in front of Andrew Grassie’s paintings at Edinburgh University’s Talbot Rice Gallery this summer. While a fleeting glance might suggest that the images are photographs, Grassie actually…

Annie Lennox

Festival of Politics

22 Jul 2008

Ex-Eurythmics leader raises the often neglected issue of HIV and AIDS. With a comfortable haul of 80 million album sales to her name so far, Annie Lennox has recently turned her voice from pop music to hollering in support of a far nobler cause: that of…

Burt MacDonald with Lol Coxhill

Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival

22 Jul 2008

A reunion with free jazz, lyrical flourishes and popcorn machines. One of Scotland’s most adventurous jazz groups, the Burt MacDonald Quintet are reuniting with Lol Coxhill. A legend of the soprano saxophone, Coxhill has worked with the band on five…

Salman Rushdie

Edinburgh International Book Festival

22 Jul 2008

Salman Rushdie’s new book The Enchantress Of Florence came close to being stillborn but he believes it represents the rebirth of his talent. The writing of his 11th novel was disrupted by the exit of his fourth wife, Padma Lakshmi. Distraught, Rushdie…

Scouting For Girls

Edge Festival

22 Jul 2008

What a rollercoaster ride it’s been for this London-based indie pop outfit since ‘She’s So Lovely’ crashed into the top ten in 2007. Typical of their instantly catchy, mass-audience appeal, the single had four old school friends finally leaving behind…

The Tell-Tale Heart

Edinburgh International Festival

22 Jul 2008

Tension-filled hour of Edgar Allan Poe’s psychological chiller. Barrie Kosky made his mark last year with the vulgar extravagance of Poppea, a show that blended Monteverdi opera with the songs of Cole Porter. Now he’s back with an altogether more…

Best of the rest - Kids shows

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

22 Jul 2008

The Gruffalo. Mouse can scare hungry animals away with tales of the terrifying Gruffalo, but what happens when he comes face to face with the very creature he imagined? Potted Pirates. From the good people who brought you Potted Potter comes this…

Foto: Modernity in Central Europe 1918-1945

Edinburgh International Art Festival

22 Jul 2008

Between the wars, the world changed. European cities were rebuilt taller and denser than before, with new technology giving rise to an industrial and creative hub. More than half a century on, this major touring show originating from Washington’s…

I Went to the House But Did Not Enter

Edinburgh International Festival

22 Jul 2008

A collage-based approach to theatre from maverick creator. Heiner Goebbels’ latest work may be in the Edinburgh International Festival’s drama programme, but the scope of this maverick composer and theatre maker is far more expansive. In 2001…

Karen Campbell

Edinburgh International Book Festival

22 Jul 2008

As luck would have it, Karen Campbell could draw on her former career in Strathclyde Police for inspiration for her literary debut. Published earlier this year, The Twilight Time is an atmospheric, fast-paced novel which introduced us to Anna Cameron, a…

Mick Sergeant

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

22 Jul 2008

Touted as the next Steve Coogan, this year marks the first solo show for character comic Lee Fenwick who has previously delighted Fringe crowds as one half of spoof German techno band Die Clatterschenkenfietermaus. For his debut, Fenwick is presenting…

New Electric Ballroom

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

22 Jul 2008

If Karl Marx was right that history repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce, no one told Enda Walsh. He’s done it the other way around. After the riotous surrealism of last year’s Fringe First-winning The Walworth Farce, the playwright is back…

Andrew Clover’s Crazy Kids’ Show

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

22 Jul 2008

Andrew Clover’s show for children came about purely by accident. Last year he wrote a novel for teenagers with an agency booking him to appear at schools to discuss it. Only they booked him into the wrong schools. ‘They sent me to primary schools by…

Animal Olympics - Francesca Beard

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

22 Jul 2008

With her daughters’ stuffed toys and an inspired wit, poet Francesca Beard is bringing the Chinese Zodiac to the Fringe. Her first solo Edinburgh show, Animal Olympics, is ostensibly for kids, telling the tale of the animals racing to work out the order…

Best of the rest

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

22 Jul 2008

A short round up of the shows not to miss on this year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe including Stewart Lee, Tricky, Pornography, the Soweto Gospel Choir and Scottish Dance Theatre

Best of the rest - Edinburgh Art Festival

Edinburgh International Art Festival

22 Jul 2008

Richard Hamilton One of the key figures of British Pop Art brings us Protest Pictures, a selection of paintings, installations and collages examining his often damning portrayal of politics, movements and leaders. Inverleith House, Inverleith…

Best of the rest - Edinburgh Book Festival

Edinburgh International Book Festival

22 Jul 2008

Philip Gourevitch. Having reported on the genocide in Rwanda, Gourevitch is back with a journey into the heart of America’s darkness as Standard Operating Procedure analyses the hell of Abu Ghraib. Steven Berkoff In town to direct On the Waterfront…

Best of the rest - Edinburgh International Festival

Edinburgh International Festival

22 Jul 2008

Giselle. Under the artistic direction of Nina Ananiashvili, the State Ballet of Georgia will be performing what many view as the definitive interpretation of this romantic ballet. Gabriela Montero Two performances here from the superb Venezuelan…

Best of the rest - Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival

Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival

22 Jul 2008

The Big Chris Barber Band. Blues standards, New Orleans classics and tunes from Duke Ellington and Miles Davis are all in the Barber repertoire as he and his band do early jazz like few others. Paul Towndrow Quartet ‘Better drowned than duffers…

Best of the rest - Festival of Politics

22 Jul 2008

Banking on Disaster? With the world economy faltering badly, is the credit crunch about to spiral out of control into a global depression? Among those we hope will be easing our fears is presenter of Dragons’ Den and Today, Evan Davis. Unjust…

Bittersweet symphony - Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny

Edinburgh International Festival

22 Jul 2008

Brecht and Weill’s Mahagonny has inspired an artistic generation. Neil Cooper analyses the pair’s enduring appeal.

Bound for glory - James Bond

Edinburgh International Book Festival

22 Jul 2008

With a new Bond movie on the way in the creator’s centenary year, 007 fever is rising. David Pollock flicks through an exhibition celebrating the cover designs of Ian Fleming’s pulp novels With Daniel Craig now installed as an updated, reinvigorated…

Damned Beautiful

Edinburgh International Festival

22 Jul 2008

Kelly Apter finds another Dorian Gray show kicking about in the form of Helix Dance’s Fringe adaptation. Matthew Bourne isn’t alone in finding Oscar Wilde’s 19th century novel inspirational. Cambridge-based company Helix Dance also saw potential for a…

Death in Benes - Carol Leifer

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

22 Jul 2008

Having been convinced that playing a Fringe show in the late afternoon is no bad thing, US comic and Seinfeld muse Carol Leifer is now getting excited about her Edinburgh August. Julian Hall makes sure he doesn’t mention the ‘E’ word You may not know…

Eyes on the prize - Roy Walker

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

22 Jul 2008

Thanks to a fellow game show king, Roy Walker is finally making his Edinburgh debut. Marissa Burgess talks to the man who is hoping to woo the city’s youth

How the Giraffe Got its Neck - Tall Stories

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

22 Jul 2008

Choosing a Fringe show can be a pot luck affair. So it’s nice to know that year after year, Tall Stories can be relied upon to come up with the goods. The team behind The Gruffalo and The Snow Dragon are back with a new show that fuses physical…

Inside the box

Edinburgh International Television Festival

22 Jul 2008

Nestled at the end of August is the Edinburgh International Television Festival which, frustratingly, is still an industry shindig but it’s good to know the calibre of celebrities you may be bumping into around town. This year’s line-up includes Doctor…

Isoceles

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

22 Jul 2008

This Glasgow-based foursome jump to the sound of the raging bull. Or so say their Japanese fans, according to glowing reviews reworked by one of the internet’s more established language translators.

Janet Cardiff & George Bures Miller

Edinburgh International Art Festival

22 Jul 2008

Husband and wife duo Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller are quite possibly the most vibrant artistic force to have emerged from Canada in recent years. Certainly, this show will be one of the least missable exhibitions of the Festival period, as…

Little Feat

Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival

22 Jul 2008

Formed in 1969 by Lowell George, one of Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention, Little Feat were always going to be different from the blues bands of the period. Small in stature, guitarist and lead singer George was a talented firebrand of R&B, country…

Night terrors

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

22 Jul 2008

A traumatic childhood accident inspired Adam Rapp’s latest play, Nocturne. Mark Fisher chats to the US writer about death, drama and decapitation

Omid Djalili

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

22 Jul 2008

There are several downsides to modern fame. Being hassled in the street by ordinary people and getting hunted down by paparazzi when hanging out the washing are just two celebrity negatives. Having chirpy researchers from celebrity TV shows ringing up…

Peter Oborne

22 Jul 2008

Is the strife in Iraq a conflict that can ever end? At the start of 2006, Peter Oborne was unequivocal. ‘The invasion of Iraq is the greatest foreign policy disaster since Munich,’ he said at the start of his damning Dispatches documentary Iraq: the…

Regal king size - Król Roger

Edinburgh International Festival

22 Jul 2008

Fitting neatly into the EIF’s theme of Artists Without Borders, the majestic Król Roger opens up audiences to an innovative collaboration. Carol Main chats to Festival director Jonathan Mills about the opera’s arrival in the city. Listening to a…

Richard Mason

Edinburgh International Book Festival

22 Jul 2008

In some forms of entertainment fame can often come extraordinarily early (music and film perhaps), but with mechanisms in place to help the ‘victims’ deal with the onset of celebrity. In the literary world, support systems are less common, especially…

The generation game

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

22 Jul 2008

Age is no barrier to performing at the Fringe. Allan Radcliffe talks to veteran stand-up Joan Rivers and 12-year-old debutant Eros Vlahos as they head to Edinburgh, armed with their own distinctive brands of innocence and experience

The Judgment of Paris

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

22 Jul 2008

Brigitte Bardot, Marlene Dietrich, Helen of Troy, Marilyn Monroe: icons each and every one of them, all famed for their beauty. For the Fringe debut of Brooklyn dance team Company XIV, artistic director Austin McCormick plans to lay on a paean to the…

When worlds collide

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

22 Jul 2008

A collaboration between artists and comedians suggests that aliens want to know about supermarkets, science and the Welsh. Mark Fisher hears the spin on The Golden record We were banking on the aliens having hi-tech record players. That way, they’d be…

Festival focus

17 Jul 2008

All festivals announce last minute additions to programmes

Edinburgh Art Festival announces programme

Where the art is

3 Jul 2008

Another week, another festival launches. Hot on the heels of the Fringe, the EIF and the Edinburgh International Book Festival, relative newbie the Edinburgh Art Festival last week laid out its stall, boasting a roster of art glitterati from a 20-year…

Festival frenzy as Edinburgh gears up for August

3 Jul 2008

With just three weeks until Edinburgh officially takes its place in the spotlight as one of the world's greatest cultural playgrounds, festival news and views have been coming in thick and fast. Perhaps most contentious is the news that after capturing…

Best of the Fest programme at Edinburgh International Film Festival

Sponsored by The List

25 Jun 2008

The List sponsors the Best of the Fest, as this Sunday provides you with a second chance to catch the best films screening at the EIFF

On the offensive: if.comedy awards 2007

edfest.tv - video

25 Jun 2008

With a 2007 show entitled So I Suppose This is Offensive Now emboldened by a poster which features our comic host Brendon Burns as, variously, a Zulu warrior, disabled, a guy in a fairy costume and Jesus on the cross, you should know you’re in for a…

Underwater overwater - Fuerzabruta

edfest.tv - video

25 Jun 2008

Fuerzabruta brought a unique spactacle to the Edinburgh Fringe in 2007. It had no narrative, no dialogue, occupied a grey area somewhere between a performance art piece and a club night and cost £25 a ticket. But it managed to pack the punters in and…

Out and about: Stephen K Amos

edfest.tv - video

25 Jun 2008

Amos came out on stage last year and it’s marvellous to see him increasingly weaving tender and masterful material about growing up gay in a British-African household. You’re guaranteed a good time with this talented pro as he imbeds important stuff…

The meaning of life: Mark Watson

edfest.tv - video

25 Jun 2008

Worrying whether a life choice would help with his comedy career was the least of his worries in Mark Watson’s previous existence. ‘I worked in a warehouse just outside Bristol, filing death certificates into boxes. It was unbelievably chilly in there…

Wonderland absurdia: Phil Jupitus & Andre Vincent

edfest.tv - video

25 Jun 2008

Vincent and Jupitus' peculiar mix of Beckett and Lewis Carroll makes a link between two different eras of absurdism and surrealism.

Physical graffiti as The Wackness comes to Edinburgh International Film Festival

23 Jun 2008

Friday 20th June 2008 saw Festival Square, Edinburgh transformed into an enormous technicolor homage to graffiti, breakdancing and hip hop culture to mark the UK premiere of film The Wackness at the Edinburgh International Film Festival.

Metro Ecosse film competition winners screening

20 Jun 2008

Metro Ecosse and The List will be screening the winning films of 2007 'One Minute Wonders' competition on Thursday 26th June 2008 at 1.30pm at Cineworld, Fountain Park, Edinburgh. The screening will last approximately 15 minutes. Free tickets are…

Edge Festival adds Santogold, Laura Marling and Angus & Julia Stone to line-up

20 Jun 2008

The critically acclaimed Santogold, Aussie siblings Angus and Julia Stone, Reading’s rising star Laura Marling and Scots indie band The Twilight Sad have been added to bill of the inaugural Edge Festival, taking placed across Edinburgh from 1st to 27th…

WALL-E - Angus MacLane interview

Edinburgh International Film Festival

19 Jun 2008

Could you fall in love with a robot? Animation studio Pixar is betting that you will. The little metal critter with designs on your heart is called WALL-E, and this summer, he’ll be giving Indiana Jones and Carrie Bradshaw a run for their money at the…

Man on Wire - James Marsh interview

Edinburgh International Film Festival

19 Jun 2008

Philippe Petit was the man who dared to walk a tightrope between the Twin Towers. Director James Marsh tells Kaleem Aftab how he made a film of this incredible feat

14 Kilometres (14 Kilometros)

Edinburgh International Film Festival

19 Jun 2008

This issue-driven Spanish drama isn’t afraid to draw on several stock clichés of the well-trodden road movie genre. Three Africans undertake the arduous journey from Niger to Spain, crossing deserts, trying to get through corrupt border controls and…

Before The Rains

Edinburgh International Film Festival

19 Jun 2008

(Santosh Sivan, US/India) 98min Set against the backdrop of the decline of the British empire and growth of the nationalist movement in southern India in 1937, this tale of forbidden love between an English spice merchant (Linus Roache) and a local…

Bigga Than Ben: A Russian's Guide to Ripping Off London

Edinburgh International Film Festival

19 Jun 2008

(SA Halewood, UK) 85min Allegedly based on the diary of a young Moscovite who came to London in the late 1990s, Bigga than Ben is, for the majority of its running time, a distracting black comedy. Cobakka (Ben Barnes) and Spiker (Andrei Chadov) are a…

Death Defying Acts

Edinburgh International Film Festival

19 Jun 2008

(Gillian Armstrong, UK, Australia) 97min It’s 1926, and the world tour of escape artist Harry Houdini (Guy Pearce) brings him to Edinburgh. There he’s charmed by local con-artist Mary McGarvie (Catherine Zeta-Jones), who poses as a psychic to put…

Donkey Punch

Edinburgh International Film Festival

19 Jun 2008

(Oliver Blackburn, UK) 99min New British director Oliver Blackburn marks himself out as a name to watch in this misogynistic horror set in Marbella. When three lasses from Leeds (Sian Breckin, Jaime Winstone and Nichola Burley) decide to board a yacht…

Eat, For This is My Body

Edinburgh International Film Festival

19 Jun 2008

(Michelange Quay, Haiti/France) 105min Quay’s semi-abstract look at colonial elements in Haiti is comparable to two 1980s touchstones, Marion Hänsel’s Dust and Claire Denis’ Chocolat. While there is an impressive opening shot that glides over the…

Elite Squad (Tropa D'Elite)

Edinburgh International Film Festival

19 Jun 2008

(José Padilha, Brazil) 118min Based on Luiz Eduardo Soares’ bestseller, Elite Squad is a favela thriller from the director of 2002 documentary Bus 174. It’s 1997 in Rio de Janeiro, months before a visit from Pope John Paul II. The rundown housing…

Fears of the Dark

Edinburgh International Film Festival

19 Jun 2008

(Various, France) 85min This episodic animation is destined for cult status. Five respected graphic novelists have each penned a story detailing what made them scared at night. Dogs, mad girls and silence all feature strongly. Each story has then been…

Jesus Christ Saviour

Edinburgh International Film Festival

19 Jun 2008

(Peter Geyer, Germany) 84min At the beginning of Werner Herzog’s engrossing documentary homage to his favourite actor and nemesis Klaus Kinski, My Best Fiend, there is a tantalising glimpse of Kinski performing his infamous 1971 Jesus concert. Finally…

Matter of fact - Documentaries at the EIFF

Edinburgh International Film Festival

19 Jun 2008

When the Edinburgh International Film Festival opened its doors for the first time in 1947, documentary films were the only things on the menu. Much has changed since then, but the EIFF has continued its commitment to the feature documentary form. Every…

Patti Smith: Dream of Life

Edinburgh International Film Festival

19 Jun 2008

(Steven Sebring, USA) 109min Patti Smith, the singer-poet and one-time ‘godmother of punk’, bares her soul in this intimate self-portrait, culled from over 11 years of filming with her friend, the photographer Steve Sebring. Beginning in 1995, the film…

Shiver (Eskalofrio)

Edinburgh International Film Festival

19 Jun 2008

(Isidro Ortiz, Spain) 91min Once again Spain is proving to be a breeding ground for newly discovered horror talent. Isidro Ortiz puts in his most satisfying feature yet as paranoia and the old staple of something lurking in the woods are brought into…

Somers Town

Edinburgh International Film Festival

19 Jun 2008

(Shane Meadows, UK) 75min While Shane Meadows’ last outing, This is England, showed the racist side of British nationalism, his follow-up, the black-and-white Somers Town, demonstrates just how nice the Brits can be to immigrants. Starting life as a…

Standard Operating Procedure

Edinburgh International Film Festival

19 Jun 2008

(Errol Morris, USA) 116min The great documentary filmmaker Errol Morris (The Thin Blue Line and The Fog of War) turns his investigative eye towards the atrocities at Abu Ghraib. The coup of the film is that Morris interviews some of the soldiers who…