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Edinburgh International Film Festival · 2009

Edinburgh International Film Festival 2009

British Gala

All the homemade best. The films in this strand compete for the Michael Powell award.




Programme

11 films · 10 reviews

Jump to a film

Boogie Woogie

Review preview for Boogie Woogie

Less the free-form, jazzy ensemble satire on the art world it aspires to be than an over-elaborate and under-funny undertaking by high quality actors who should know better.

Amber Wilkinson · 2 out of 5
Art world satire.

(Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: Duncan Ward; Writer: Danny Moynihan; Stars: Gillian Anderson, Christopher Lee, Joanna Lumley, Stellan Skarsgård, Jaime Winstone, Amanda Seyfried, Gemma Atkinson, Charlotte Rampling, Sidney Cole, Michael Culkin, Alan Cumming, Josephine de la Baume, Rosie Fellner, Heather Graham, Stephen Greif, Danny Huston, Jack Huston, Gaetano Jouen, Alfie Allen) , Trailer

Full review

World Premiere

A Boy Called Dad

Review preview for A Boy Called Dad

Sentimentality is rough hewn and barely sophisticated, given the storyline, but the performances are first rate.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 3 out of 5
Kid on the run with baby son.

(Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: Brian Percival; Writer: Julie Rutterford; Stars: Kyle Ward, Ian Hart, Charlene McKenna, Louise Delamere, Steve Evetts)

Full review

World Premiere

The Calling

A woman enters a convent to escape her trials and tribulations but finds life is no more tranquil on the inside.

(Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: Jan Dunn; Writer: Jan Dunn; Stars: Brenda Blethyn, Emily Beecham, Susannah York, Rita Tushingham, Amanda Donohoe, Chloe Sirene, David Bark-Jones, Nick Bartlett, Susannah Harker, Pauline McLynn, Corin Redgrave, Justin Salinger, Joanna Scanlan, Nicola Stewart, Tom Stuart)

World Premiere

Crying With Laughter

Review preview for Crying With Laughter

Much of the plot reads as a barely tempered collection of cliches, but in the hands of writer/director Justin Molotnikov, and McCole's runaway success, becomes a highly effective character study and a well-constructed psychological thriller.

Scott Macdonald · 4 out of 5
Black comedy about a comedian whose past is unearthed.

(Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: Justin Molotnikov; Writer: Justin Molotnikov; Stars: Stephen McCole, Malcolm Shields, Andrew Neil, Jo Hartley, Niall Greig Fulton) , Official site

Full review

World Premiere

Fish Tank

Review preview for Fish Tank

Its momentum is overpowering.

Chris · 4.5 out of 5
A bored 15-year-old girl collides with her mother's frustrating but charismatic boyfriend.

(Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: Andrea Arnold; Writer: Andrea Arnold; Stars: Michael Fassbender, Harry Treadaway, Kierston Wareing, Jason Maza, Katie Jarvis, Jack Gordon, Charlotte Collins, Brooke Hobby, Chelsea Chase) , Official site , Trailer

Full review

UK Premiere

Kicks

Review preview for Kicks

As a study of the mirage of celebrity and the emptiness of fanaticism, Kicks is frank, insightful and hard-hitting.

Anton Bitel · 3.5 out of 5
When a footy star announces a transfer abroad two female fans aim to change his mind... no matter what.

(Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: Lindy Heymann; Writer: Leigh Campbell, from a story by Laurence Coriat; Stars: Kerrie Hayes, Nichola Burley, Jamie Doyle, Laura Wallace, Sarah Jane Buckley, Nick Moss, Derek Hicks, Gary Cargill, Chris Lindon) , Official site , Trailer

Full review

World Premiere

Mad, Sad And Bad (Mad Sad and Bad, Mad Sad & Bad)

Review preview for Mad, Sad And Bad

I can't understand why anyone put this film into production.

Scott Macdonald · 1 out of 5
Comic portrait of a family in meltdown.

(Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: Avie Luthra; Writer: Avie Luthra; Stars: Meera Syal, Nitin Ganatra, Zubin Varla, Andrea Riseborough, Lenna Dhingra) , Official site

Full review

World Premiere

Moon

Review preview for Moon

Moon represents a return to a more sedate and thoughtful science fiction of the Seventies and Eighties.

Tony Sullivan · 4.5 out of 5
An astronaut starts to lose the plot at the end of a mission to the moon - but is there something else going on? Plus read our exclusive interview with

(Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: Duncan Jones; Writer: Duncan Jones, Nathan Parker; Stars: Sam Rockwell, Kevin Spacey, Matt Berry, Kaya Scodelario, Benedict Wong, Malcolm Stewart, Dominique McElligott, Robin Chalk) , Official site , Trailer

Full review See: Duncan Jones interview on Moon , Sundance Diary: Opening night and day one... the sequel , Sundance Diary: Opening Night and Day One

International Premiere

My Last Five Girlfriends

Review preview for My Last Five Girlfriends

Kemp makes a virtue of his ‘going for a ride’ framework, so that the viewer has a short-hand indication of where each of the five segments into which the film is split will take them.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
A suicidal man considers the five women he has loved and lost.

(Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: Julian Kemp; Writer: Alain de Botton, Julian Kemp; Stars: Brendan Patricks, Naomie Harris, Kelly Adams, Cécile Cassel, Jane March, Edith Bukovics, Michael Sheen, Mark Benton, Chris Gascoyne, Johnny Ball)

Full review See: Tribeca Film Festival film/movie reviews and diary: Outrage, Garapa, Newsmakers , Tribeca Film Festival Movie Reviews/Diary 2009

European Premiere

Running In Traffic

Review preview for Running In Traffic

Gets lost not profound.

Amber Wilkinson · 1.5 out of 5
Parallel lives spiral out of control.

(Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: Dale Corlett; Writer: Dale Corlett, Bryan Larkin; Stars: Bryan Larkin, Anna Kerth, Kenneth Cranham, Ross Maxwell, Atta Yaqub, Anne Downie, Douglas Russell, Mark Prendergast, Marnie Baxter, Elaine Blair, Tony Greengrass, Ian Morrison, Marc Twynholm, Natasha Robertson, Carolyn Calder)

Full review

World Premiere

Unmade Beds

Review preview for Unmade Beds

Strives for profundity but instead grates irritatingly.

George Williamson · 3 out of 5
Two young foreigners find romance in the vibrant, artistic underground of London's East End.

(Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: Alexis Dos Santos; Writer: Alexis Dos Santos; Stars: Fernando Tielve, Déborah François, Michiel Huisman, Iddo Goldberg, Richard Lintern, Katia Winter, Leonardo Brzezicki, Alexis Dos Santos, Lucy Tillet, Al Weaver) , Official site

Full review

UK Premiere