Saturday June 3rd will be our last night at the 2017 Hidden Door festival and no doubt we’ll be feeling quite sad to close the cinema door behind us again, but at least we will be going out with a bang (literally so, in the case of one of our films!)
So, as always, it gives us a lot of pleasure to bring our final programme to Hidden Door 2017. We are also hoping to welcome one or two guest film-makers over to the night and so all going well you’ll get a chance to hear more about some of the films on show and quiz the directors in person!
We always like to include some Scottish-made films in the programme and so we’re pleased to screen Martin Lennon’s charming Scottish doc THE FRYING GAME which follows the frying adventures of the Carron Fish Bar in Stonehaven, home of the notorious Deep Fried Mars Bar as well as some larger-than-life characters!
VEGAS by Saj Pothiawala is a quirky romantic-comedy with an indie feel, that charts the developing the friendship between an unlikely couple over one night in New York. It’s funny and touching and has a deft flair for drawing convincing (though undoubtedly eccentric) characters as they deal with both their lives and everything New York has to throw at them!
Matty Groves’ JEWELS combines post-Brexit political topicality with the Schadenfreude-esque enjoyment which always accompanies a character’s misfortune in any black comedy. The heist at the heart of the film and it’s somewhat unsympathetic protagonist are played as straight as a poker but the direction is carried out with warmth and an eye for comedy!
Set amid the isolating vastness of the Pacific North-West, the award-winning short film THE CHILD & THE DEAD by Marc & Karina Ripper is a desolate thriller that skilfully builds suspense, while cosmic wonder and fates collide when a father, his son and lover are left stranded after a car accident. This is an occurence, a crime, and the account through the eyes of a child.
We end our night with another award-winning short film, THE SESSION by Morgane Becerril, a romantic comedy in the unlikely setting of a brother, the film was (fascinatingly) shot entirely inside a working S & M dungeon! Beautifully played and genuinely funny, the award-winning short combines elements of psycho-drama and romantic comedy to unusual effect in this thoroughly engrossing ESFF favourite.
THE SESSION will bring the curtain down on our 2017 Hidden Door run and sad as we will be to lock the cinema door behind us, we hope that we’ll have played some part in bringing this fantastic and little-known space back into life again!
Heres to the Leith Theatre Trust, hope they achieve their aim in restoring this unique building and let’s hope that one day, we will once again see art and entertainment grace this undoubtedly graceful stage!
