Waiting for Gillian...
Fans of Gillian Anderson were left standing in the Edinburgh rain, after The X-Files star, long rumoured to be making an appearance at today's World Premiere of House of Mirth in which she stars, failed to appear.
Director Terence Davies, as well as the lovely Laura Linney (best known for her uxorial role in The Truman Show) did show (see right), along with Scottish stars Forbes Masson and John Gordon Sinclair, but they all rushed into the cinema quickly to escape the torrential rain.
Those celebrities who attended also went along to a special industry dinner held at the Royal Museum, a wonderful setting with the huge main entrance hall specially lit for the occasion.
Other parties on tonight included a sexy samba party with plenty of Brazilian rhythm to celebrate the screening of festival favourite, Eu Tu Eles and a rather more dance music inspired Mirrorball party marking the launch of this years Mirrorball strand. In particular, the new Lighthouse programme, which showcases work where film and photography meet, had its first screening today. Hopefully, this will become another successful addition to the acclaimed Mirrorball section.
Cinema for All
The BFI presented the results of a new study into "cultural cinema provision" i.e. getting foreign, classic and arthouse films to a wider audience. In a meeting full of promises, hopefully enough will be kept to allow audiences in Britain as wide a choice of film as is available in France and Spain. One note of bad news was the announcement that lottery funding for film exhibition is to be severely cut, from £50 million to just £15 million over the next three years. With over £45 million of cinema projects already in planning I hope this won't cause any of the smaller cinemas to go out of business.
Guess Again...
More stabs in the dark for the Surprise Movie: people have suggested Snatch, the new Guy Ritchie / Brad Pitt film; Prozac Nation, based on the book and starring Christina Ricci; and even Liberty Heights, the latest film from Barry Levinson which finishes his Baltimore trilogy. All will be revealed on Tuesday night.
Alarming Developments
And finally... there was an unexpected disruption to normal service at the Filmhouse today as a fire alarm forced many filmgoers to evacuate the building. Reports that it had been caused by a disgruntled viewer forced to sit through Hotel Splendide have not been confirmed.
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