Sir Sean Connery is tickled pink.
Day two of the festival proper proved eclectic, as I travelled three continents from comfort of a cinema seat before being treated to a mixture of bagpipes and b-boys at two very different parties.
First up was Gulabi Talkies - an Indian film centring on a small, rural village at the start of the Noughties. Gulabi is a midwife who loves film and when a tricky delivery puts her in possession of the only colour telly in the community she finds that her neighbours are increasingly willing to overlook the fact she is Muslim not Hindi... but good things seldom last. The film suffers from the fact that a Western audience is unlikely to know much about the political ramifications which form its backdrop, and a secondary story about the incursion of new fishing methods on the life of the community never quite gels with the central theme concerning Gulabi. An interesting snapshot, but not a particularly satisfying cinematic experience.
It was back to Europe for film number two, Scratch (Rysa) - a Polish film concerning the marriage of a middle-aged loving couple, that is rocked by suspicion concerning the husband's possible involvement with the former Communist government's secret police. Melancholy but beautifully acted, this is first and foremost a relationship drama probing the nature of what it means to breach trust and whether their can ever be forgiveness.
Finally, it was time for a trip Down Under courtesy of My Year Without Sex, a comedy drama focussing on a year in the life of an ordinary family from the 'burbs. Read the full review here
I also found time to sneak in an interview with Alistair Simmonds, director of Turn It Loose - read it here.
The evening brought the promise of bagpipes, a ceilidh and stovies (for those not in the know, this is a Scottish staple, involving potato and some form of meat), courtesy of the Homecoming Scotland party. Held in the Assembly Rooms ballroom, it was introduced by Scottish national treasure and EIFF patron Sir Sean Connery. To a round of rapturous and sustained applause, he gave a brief welcome, adding with regards to the ceilidh "If anyone has anything to take off... I'll be watching you."
The great and the good from the film industry had certainly come out for the night - among others, we spotted Moon director Duncan Jones, Outrage helmer Kirby Dick and producer Andrew Macdonald. I had a brief burl round the dancefloor with a bewildered London film critic and one of the lovely folk from the press office - we were useless, but gave it our best shot - then it was time to swap the jig for getting jiggy with it over at the Turn It Loose after party. It took place at Cabaret Voltaire, and the age range was somewhat lower, with lots of folk showing their moves on the dancefloor... after the ceilidh showing, I opted to stick to watching, no doubt a relief for all concerned.
