Lots of films on this week – with settings as diverse as Ireland, Korea, Harlem and Oz, plus art, gardening, books, crafts, music – and Genghis Khan… Have fun!
Please check details with all venues before setting off; we don’t want you to have a wasted journey.
MONDAY 17TH AUGUST 2015
Grassmarket Community Cinema: Dark Days (15): when he relocated from London to Manhattan, Marc Singer discovered that some of the city’s homeless people were living in abandoned tunnels. He met and became friends with a group living in The Freedom Tunnel community stretching north from Penn Station past Harlem. Singer had never made a film before; he saw Dark Days’ production as a means of gaining better accommodation for the residents of the tunnel. The film’s crew consisted of the subjects themselves, who rigged up makeshift lighting and steadicam dollies and learned to use a 16mm camera with Kodak film. The post-production took years, as both financial difficulties and Singer’s insistence on creative control to protect the tunnel’s residents caused many delays. The film features music by DJ Shadow and was edited by Melissa Neidich. 7pm, Grassmarket Community Project, 86 Candlemaker Row. All welcome; free – donations to the Project also very welcome. The cafe will be open – please use it!
For Crying Out Loud: exclusive screenings for parents and carers and their babies under 12 months. Baby changing, bottle-warming and buggy parking facilities are available. Today’s film is Thebe (15) (in Arabic with English subtitles): a coming-of-age adventure set in 1916, in the desolate yet beautiful landscapes of the Hijaz region. 11am, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets cost £4.50/£3.50 per adult (maximum 2 adults per baby) and may be obtained from the Box Office in person or by calling 0131 228 6382.
Blackwell’s Edinburgh Adult Book Group: join the group for lively, friendly book chatter about a wide range of books – fiction, non-fiction, classic, contemporary, prizewinners, cult heroes – anything you fancy! Currently reading Ian McEwan’s The Children Act. September’s book will be Nadeem Aslam’s The Wasted Vigil. 6pm, Blackwell’s, South Bridge. If you would like to join the group (it’s free), please email your name and address to events.edinburgh@blackwell.co.uk.
Artist Rooms: Roy Lichtenstein Curator’s Tour. Lucy Askew, Senior Curator at the Gallery of Modern Art, leads a tour of this exhibition. 12.45-1.30pm, First Floor, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art ONE, Belford Road. Free and unticketed.
Escher Drop-in Sessions: visit the Escher exhibition at Modern TWO then cross over the road to the Bothy at Modern ONE and work with artist Campbell Sandilands to make some artwork inspired by what you have seen. 2-4pm, The Bothy, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art ONE, Belford Road. Free and unticketed. Also at same times on 18th, 19th, 20th & 21st August.
Edinburgh Book Fringe: daily events – all of them free (donations appreciated) – for two weeks at Word Power Books, Edinburgh’s independent radical bookshop. Today: Keith Venables, Convenor of the Independent Working Class Education Network, discusses A Manifesto for Independent Working Class Education, which asks what we can learn from the historic struggles of workers who demanded an education that suited their needs. ‘An historic account of the struggles and the spark for a debate about the way forward’. 1pm, Word Power Books, West Nicolson Street. All welcome! No booking required, but arrive promptly as space is limited.
Curated by…. a season of films hand-picked by invited Festival regulars. Each screening will feature an in-person introduction by the curator, revealing their passion for the film and their reasons for choosing it. Today: Camille Sullivan presents The Wizard of Oz (U). 9pm, Cameo, Home Street. Tickets may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0871 902 5723 or online.
Picturehouses Culture Shock: bringing you the best in cult and genre films. Today’s film is Top Gun (12A), which takes a look at the danger and excitement that awaits every pilot at the Navy’s prestigious fighter weapons school. Tom Cruise stars. 9pm, Cameo, Home Street. Tickets may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0871 902 5723 or online; prices vary.
Leith Central Community Council Meeting: 7pm, Shore Room, Leith Community Education Centre, 12a Newkirkgate. All welcome.
Sofi’s Cult Movie Mondays: popular classics on the silver screen in Sofi’s cosy darkened back room. Free popcorn! Tonight’s film is Inside Llewyn Davis (15). Struggling New York City folk singer Llewyn Davis embarks on an odyssey that takes him from the streets of 1961 Greenwich Village to a Chicago Club, where awaits the music mogul who could give him the big break he needs. 8pm, Sofi’s, Henderson Street.
TUESDAY 18TH AUGUST 2015
St Mary’s Cathedral Tours: free tours of Scotland’s largest cathedral, a renowned masterpiece of Victorian Gothic architecture, designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott. 10am today and every Tuesday in August, St Mary’s Cathedral (meet inside West Door), Palmerston Place. Free. Also at 2.15pm each Friday in August.
Wester Hailes Edible Estates: Food Group. A new group open to anyone living in Wester Hailes, where you can learn about healthy eating, find out how to use the vegetables being grown in the community garden, share your own recipes and cooking tips, and improve your cooking and budgeting skills. 5-6.45pm today and every Tuesday, Clovenstone Community Centre, 54 Clovenstone Park. For more information or to register, please contact Stephanie at Edinburgh Community Food on 0131 467 7326 or email sscott@edinburghcommunityfood.org.uk.
Cutting Up Picasso: Cubism and Lee Miller’s Collage. Dr Patricia Allmer, Chancellor’s Fellow, Edinburgh College of Art, will explore Lee Miller’s collage, made in response to Picasso’s portraits of her, of other women surrealists, and of wider historical and art networks in which both artists were involved. 12.45-1.30pm, Hawthornden Lecture Theatre, Scottish National Gallery, The Mound. Free and unticketed. Lee Miller and Picasso continues at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery until 6th September 2015.
Edinburgh Art Festival: Luke Collins Presents Film Club: an evening of screenings curated by the Project Manager for the artists’ moving image agency LUX Scotland, shown in conjunction with Platform: 2015. 7-9.30am, Festival Hub, 9 Blair Street. Free but booking is required and may be made via eventbrite here.
Craigentinny and Meadowbank Community Council AGM: come and talk about local issues with others from the area. Craigentinny Community Centre, Loaning Road. Please contact Giacomo Modica at modicag@hotmail.co.uk for time and details. All local residents very welcome!
Edinburgh Book Fringe: daily events – all of them free (donations appreciated) – for two weeks at Word Power Books, Edinburgh’s independent radical bookshop. Today: Unscripted – actor and Eggheads star CJ de Mooi discusses his shocking early life and his new autobiography CJ: My Journey from the Streets to the Screens. 1pm, Word Power Books, West Nicolson Street. All welcome! No booking required, but arrive promptly as space is limited.
Edinburgh Book Fringe: daily events – all of them free (donations appreciated) – for two weeks at Word Power Books, Edinburgh’s independent radical bookshop. Tonight: award-winning poet, critic, editor, writer and translator Bashabi Fraser launches her latest collection of poems Letters to My Mother: And Other Mothers. 6.30pm, Word Power Books, West Nicolson Street. All welcome! No booking required, but arrive promptly as space is limited.
Bernat Klein: A Life in Colour – Curator’s Tour. The Gallery’s Exhibitions Curator Kate Grenyer tours the current exhibition and gives an insight into the works and life of the colour theorist, artist and textile designer Bernat Klein. 5-6pm, Dovecot Studios, Infirmary Street. Free but booking is required and may be made via eventbrite here.
Curated by…. a season of films hand-picked by invited Festival regulars. Each screening will feature an in-person introduction by the curator, revealing their passion for the film and their reasons for choosing it. Today: Ian Rankin presents Rear Window (PG), Hitchock’s simple but brilliant classic, in which James Stewart bears witness to everyone’s dirty laundry across the courtyard. 9pm, Cameo, Home Street. Tickets may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0871 902 5723 or online.
Edinburgh Art Festival – Spotlight Tours of Scottish Art: People, Places, Ideas. Guided tours of the City Art Centre’s Scottish Art collection, focusing on people, places and ideas. 11am or 3pm, (meet at reception) City Art Centre, 2 Market Street. No booking required, free – suggested donation £2. Also at same times on Thursday 20th August and Saturday 22nd August 2015.
Ragged University: Genghis Khan/Independent Working Class Education. The first of this evening’s talks is Singing the Law and Riding the City: The Rule of Genghis Khan, by Donald Carrick, who will examine Khan’s reforms and conquests to engage with notions of good and evil in a historical context. How can we apply modern morality to the past? And if we can, do we apply the same standards to the present and the future? After a break for food and conversation, the second talk will be A World to Win: Learning from the Past, Making the Future, by Kenneth Venables, who will look at the rich history of working class people deciding for themselves what kind of education – and what kind of life – they want. Going back before the Plebs League (1909), people have always learned from the struggle, but not often won. Why is this? Were the obstacles insurmountable? The talk will also consider the Match Women’s Strike (1888), the Grunwick Strike (1978), and things happening today. 7.30-10pm, Leith Beer Company, 58 The Shore. Free, no need to book – just turn up; please bring an item of food to share if you can.
Francophone African Literature with Alain Mabanckou and Gustave Akakpo. Internationally acclaimed Congo-Brazzaville novelist Mabanckou and award-winning Togolese author Akakpo will discuss francophone African literature and theatre. The talk (in English) will be chaired by Lucie Campos, head of the book department at the Institut francais du Royaume-uni. 3-4.30pm, Institut francais d’Ecosse, Randolph Crescent. Free but booking is essential and may be made by calling 0131 225 5366 or via eventbrite here. Alain Mabanckou will appear at the Edinburgh International Book Festival with Etgar Keret on 18th August 2015. Gustave Akakpo’s play Skins and Hoods/Cie du Veilleur will be performed in English at 2pm at the Institut francais d’Ecosse every day 7th-31st August (except 17th & 24th) as part of Edinburgh Fringe Festival: for more information and to book, click here.
LGBT Language Cafe: a groundbreaking new project offering four facilitated sessions for LGBT people whose first language is not English. Each session will offer games and activities to help you improve your spoken English and the opportunity to meet other people in a safe and supportive environment. 6.30-8pm, LGBT Health & Wellbeing, 9 Howe Street. For more information and to book your free place please contact Jules on 0131 523 1104 or jules@lgbthealth.org.uk – or just turn up on the night.
Edinburgh Art Festival: Fine Lines. A talk and tour with Christina Jansen, Director and Curator of The Scottish Gallery; Christina will give a short talk and a guided tour around the gallery’s festival exhibition Fine Lines, an international showcase of artists reflecting innovation and design in the applied arts. 4pm, The Scottish Gallery, 16 Dundas Street. Free but booking is essential and may be made by calling the gallery on 0131 558 1200.
WEDNESDAY 19TH AUGUST 2015
Celebrity Organ Recital: celebrated international recitalist Adriano Falcioni (Perugia Cathedral) will play Howells Rhapsody No 3 in C Sharp Minor, Guilmant Marcia funebre et chant seraphique, GF Handel Organ Concerto in F HWV 295, JS Bach Prelude and Fugue in E Minor BWV 548, Mendelssohn Sonata V in D Op 65 and Jongen Sonata Heroica Op 94. 8pm, St Giles’ Cathedral, High Street. Tickets cost £8/£5 (students)/accompanied children free, and are available from the Cathedral shop (0131 226 0673), from the Fringe Festival Box Office by calling 0131 226 0000, online here or on the door (sta).
Edinburgh Book Fringe: daily events – all of them free (donations appreciated) – for two weeks at Word Power Books, Edinburgh’s independent radical bookshop. Today: North Uist poet Pauline Prior-Pitt, Chrys Salt MBE and the poetry of Tessa Ransford (founder of the Scottish Poetry Library), chosen by her friends. 1pm, Word Power Books, West Nicolson Street. All welcome! No booking required, but arrive promptly as space is limited.
Chatterbooks: if you are aged 8-12 and enjoy books and reading, come along to Chatterbooks to meet new friends, chat about books and join in games and competitions. 3.45-4.45pm, Fountainbridge Library, 137 Dundee Street. All welcome! For more information please ask at the counter, call 0131 529 5617 or contact Mohammed.boussabou@edinburgh.gov.uk. The next meeting will be on 16th September 2015.
Four Hands, One Piano – A Lunchtime Concert: Les Shankland and Morley Whitehead perform works by Mozart, Bach, Walton, Haydn, Rachmaninoff and Handel. 1.10pm, Morningside Parish Church, Braid Road/Cluny Gardens. Free: a retiring collection will be taken for the church’s music scholarship fund.
Made in Prague: the New Czech Cinema UK Tour 2015. The biennial UK showcase of contemporary Czech cinema is back for the fifth time, with five titles capturing the country’s dramatic past and its influence on contemporary life and culture. Today’s film is Fair Play (15) (In Czech with English subtitles), Andrea Sedlackova’s intimate study of a young female athlete caught in a web of state-sponsored doping. 6.10pm, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets may be obtained from the Box Office in person, by calling 0131 228 6382 or online: prices vary.
Guided Tour of the National Library: a tour of the building and an introduction to the Library’s collections and history. 10.30m, National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge. Booking is essential and may be made by calling 0131 623 3734 or online here.
Stockbridge and Inverleith Community Council Meeting: 7pm, Stockbridge Church, Saxe Coburg Street. All members of the community welcome!
The Green Screen Presents The Vanishing of the Bees (U): filmed across the US, in Australia, Europe and Asia, this documentary examines the alarming disappearance of honey bees and the greater meaning this holds for the relationship of mankind and Mother Earth. As scientists puzzle over the cause of Colony Collapse Disorder, organic beekeepers indicate alternative reasons for this tragic loss; conflicting opinions abound, yet after years of research a definitive answer to this harrowing mystery still has not been found. The film will be followed by a discussion. 8.30pm, The Skylark, 241 Portobello High Street. The Green Screen is organised by Porty and Craigmillar Greens.
‘Lifting the Lid’ Exhibition Tours: Manuscripts Curator Olive Geddes leads a tour of Lifting the Lid: 400 Years of food and drink in Scotland, an exhibition that uses the Library’s rich collections to explore Scotland’s changing relationship with food and drink, the diversity of Scotland’s larder and some of the myths and traditions of the Scottish diet. 11am-12 noon, National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge. Booking is essential and may be made by calling 0131 623 3734 or online here. Also at same time on 26th August 2015.
Curated by…. a season of films hand-picked by invited Festival regulars. Each screening will feature an in-person introduction by the curator, revealing their passion for the film and their reasons for choosing it. Today: Phill Jupitus presents Brazil (15), Terry Gilliam’s dystopian masterpiece, in which Jonathan Pryce plays the small man up against a gargantuan, faceless bureaucracy. 9pm, Cameo, Home Street. Tickets may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0871 902 5723 or online.
Edinburgh Festival Voluntary Guides Association: Morbid Curiosities. A look inside the Surgeons’ Hall Museum, with Iain McIntyre. Since its foundation in 1697, visitors to Surgeons’ Hall Museum have ranged from those wishing to learn about the human body or the history of surgery to those simply curious to see the morbid displays. The museum will reopen after a multi-million pound upgrade in September 2015. 7pm for 7.30pm, City Chambers, 253 High Street. Free; all welcome.
Bi & Beyond Edinburgh: a fortnightly social gathering for people who identify as bisexual or non-monosexual. With organised social activities and refreshments provided, whatever your label or lack of label, we welcome you. 7-9pm, LGBT Health & Wellbeing, 9 Howe Street. For more information please contact biandbeyondedinburgh@gmail.com.
THURSDAY 20TH AUGUST 2015
Blackwell’s Edinburgh Presents Writers at the Fringe: every Thursday throughout the Fringe, Blackwell’s invites a selection of Scottish performers to give a taste of their work. New and unpublished works of literary art stand alongside established novelists, with any and all genres free to be expressed, from poetry to cutting-edge drama, folk music, contemporary fiction and all that is found between. Tonight’s line-up is Peter Ranscombe, Michael F Russel, Jim Crumley, Vicki Jarrett and Chris Dolan. 5.45pm for 6pm, Blackwell’s, South Bridge. Free tickets may be obtained from the shop’s front desk, by calling 0131 622 8229, emailing events.edinburgh@blackwell.co.uk, via eventbrite here or from the Fringe Box Office here.
Aquillos Ensemble: the Ensemble returns to present a selection of movements from Picasso Pictures by Raymond Warren, plus Danzi’s Wind Quintet in B Major and Zemlinksy’s Humoreske. 6-6.30pm, Scottish National Gallery, The Mound. Free and unticketed.
LGBT Disability Social Circle: a social group for people with learning difficulties or disabilities to meet other people, have fun and discuss sexuality and gender identity. Today: afternoon tea and games. 2-4pm, Lifecare Centre, 2 Cheyne Street, Stockbridge. For more information please contact George Burrows on 0131 652 3281 or george@lgbthealth.org.uk.
Phill Jupitus Sketch Comic in Conversation: each Thursday evening during the festivals, Phill Jupitus will be in conversation with a special guest – a passionate, personal and irreverent look at art, a chat about what Phill has seen in the galleries this week, and possibly some sketching! The guests’ identities will be announced nearer the time. 7-8pm, Hawthornden Lecture Theatre, Scottish National Gallery, The Mound. Free and unticketed.
Edinburgh Art Festival – Spotlight Tours of Scottish Art: People, Places, Ideas. Guided tours of the City Art Centre’s Scottish Art collection, focusing on people, places and ideas. 11am or 3pm, (meet at reception) City Art Centre, 2 Market Street. No booking required, free – suggested donation £2. Also at same times on Saturday 22nd August 2015.
Edinburgh Book Fringe: daily events – all of them free (donations appreciated) – for two weeks at Word Power Books, Edinburgh’s independent radical bookshop. Today: MacGillvray (Kirsten Norrie) and Carly Brown read their poetry. 1pm, Word Power Books, West Nicolson Street. All welcome! No booking required, but arrive promptly as space is limited.
POUT Fest Tour: POUT started life four years ago as an LGBT film festival from independent film distributor Peccadillo Pictures, created as a response to audience demands for more queer-oriented cinema on the big screen. After the overwhelming success of the London POUT Fests, Peccadillo have decided to take POUT on the road via an ongoing touring festival of selected films. Today’s film is A Girl at My Door (Dohee-ya) (In Korean with English subtitles): Young-nam was a top graduate of the Korean police academy, but has been transferred to a post at a small seaside village owing to ‘misconduct’. On her first patrol she encounters the mysterious Dohee, a morose young girl excluded by the community. Compelled to protect her from her family, Young-nam lets Dohee move in with her; all is well with this unconventional arrangement, until their fairytale existence takes an unexpected turn. 6.10pm, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets may be obtained from the Box Office in person, by calling 0131 228 6382 or online: prices vary. The next POUT film will be 52 Tuesdays, showing on 21st and 22nd August.
FRIDAY 21ST AUGUST 2015
Run for Me – Dance for Me – Think of Me: a fun, action-packed weekend to celebrate the life of the late Louise Duncan, Minister of Balerno Church, and to raise funds for the charity that did so much for her in her last months, Marie Curie Cancer Care. As part of the weekend, Balerno Village Screen will tonight show Young @ Heart (PG), the true story of the final weeks of rehearsal for the Young At Heart Chorus in Northampton, MA, whose average age is 81. The Chorus’s repertoire is unexpected – it includes songs by James Brown and Sonic Youth – and they have toured Europe and sung for royalty, but this account focuses on learning new songs for a concert in their home town, a concert which succeeds despite several heart-breaking events. 6.15pm, St Joseph’s Hall, (next to) Balerno Church, Balerno. Free tickets may be reserved via eventbrite here or collected from The Mill Cafe or Balerno Post Office. Balerno Village Screen is a community cinema offering free admission and funded by donations.
In Basho’s Footsteps: Streams and Mountains. Poet Pablo F Velcarce and artist Anya Gleizer hiked 2,000 km across Japan’s wilderness in the footsteps of Matsuo Basho, the ancient haiku poet. Through contact with local artists, Zen monks and nature itself, the two artists came closer to the state of mind and awareness that Basho deemed necessary to make art. This exhibition shows the art inspired by the adventure: painting, poetry, installations, video and performance that echo the spirit of the journey. 11am-5pm, Coburg House Studios, 15 Coburg Street. Ends 25th August 2015.
St Mary’s Cathedral Tours: free tours of Scotland’s largest cathedral, a renowned masterpiece of Victorian Gothic architecture, designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott. 2.15pm today and every Friday in August, St Mary’s Cathedral (meet inside West Door), Palmerston Place. Free. Also at 10am each Tuesday in August.
Phill Jupitus: Sketch Comic at the Scottish National Gallery. The legendary stand-up, poet and sketchman returns for another three weeks of digital drawing, chat and mirth. Each morning Phill will select and sketch (on an iPad) a favourite of his from the gallery collection. Come and watch, chat with Phill and join in on your own iPad or sketchbook – make and share your own sketches. Phill’s work will be posted on Facebook and Twitter each day and you are encouraged to post yours too. Phill will be at a different gallery each week; for the final week he moves to the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. Wednesday will be a special Sketch Comic for Kids sessions, but grown-ups are still welcome to come along. On Thursday evenings Phill will host a special in-conversation event with a different special guest each time – see listing. 10am-12 noon today and every day until 27th August, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Belford Road. Free and unticketed.
Edinburgh Book Fringe: daily events – all of them free (donations appreciated) – for two weeks at Word Power Books, Edinburgh’s independent radical bookshop. Today: author and former Scotsman journalist Peter Ranscombe discusses his novel Hare, in which he imagines what might have happened to the mass murderer after he turned King’s evidence against William Burke and was set free. In Peter Ranscombe’s story, Hare flees to Boston, only to become caught up in a murderous plot, set against the backdrop of the American Civil War. 1pm, Word Power Books, West Nicolson Street. All welcome! No booking required, but arrive promptly as space is limited.
POUT Fest Tour: POUT started life four years ago as an LGBT film festival from independent film distributor Peccadillo Pictures, created as a response to audience demands for more queer-oriented cinema on the big screen. After the overwhelming success of the London POUT Fests, Peccadillo have decided to take POUT on the road via an ongoing touring festival of selected films. Today’s film is 52 Tuesdays (15): teenager Billie thinks she knows everything about her mother Jane, but she is surprised when she learns of Jane’s plans to transition, and further upset when she learns that her parents have decided that she will live with her father for a year. All she has left to cling to is her chance to see her mother every Tuesday afternoon. ‘An emotionally charged story of desire, responsibility and trasnformation’. 8.15pm, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets may be obtained from the Box Office in person, by calling 0131 228 6382 or online: prices vary. Also showing at 1.10pm and 8.30pm on Saturday 22nd August. The final film in this series will be Soft Lad, showing on 2nd September 2015.
Edinburgh Art Festival: GARAGE Presents Skatgobs, The Y Bend and special guests. Skatgobs is the visceral vocal improv trio of Phil Minton, Dylan Nyoukis and Luke Poot; ‘channelling and contorting the voice into enveloping textures and contours that can be subtly crepuscular one moment and howlingly nightmarish the next, all three are peerless vocal performers’. 7-9pm, GARAGE, Northumberland Street North West Lane. GARAGE is a DIY not-for-profit art space hosting live events throughout August.
SATURDAY 22ND AUGUST 2015
Greengage Arts: a hands-on craft workshop, inspired by nature. 1-4pm, Real Life Science Studio, John Hope Gateway, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Inverleith Row. £3 per person, payable on the door – no booking required. Also at same times on Sunday 23rd August 2015.
Run for Me – Dance for Me – Think of Me: a fun, action-packed weekend to celebrate the life of the late Louise Duncan, Minister of Balerno Church, and to raise funds for the charity that did so much for her in her last months, Marie Curie Cancer Care. Today there will be a coffee morning with delicious home baking to enjoy with your coffee or tea, or to buy to take home. 10am-1pm, St Joseph’s Hall, (next to) Balerno Church, Balerno. All welcome, no tickets required, just come along. All proceeds will go to Marie Curie Cancer Care.
Tiger Tales: stories and craft for children aged 4-8 years. 3-4pm, Fountainbridge Library, 137 Dundee Street. All welcome! The next session will be on 12th September 2015.
Juniper Green Farmers’ Market: stalls with an extensive range of products, including breads, cakes, cheeses, fish, meat, pies, preserves, coffee, Fair Trade goods, hot snacks and drinks. The market also offers local residents the chance to meet with their local councillors, community councillors, MP and MSP. 9am-1pm today and every fourth Saturday of the month, Juniper Green Village Hall, 1A Juniper Park Road. Organised by Juniper Green Community Council.
Summer Storytime: Blown Away. Come on an unexpected journey with the fearless Penguin Blue in ‘the most captivating picture book debut of the year’ by Rob Biddulph – then join in arts and activities related to the story. 3pm, Waterstones, 83 George Street.
Summer Storytime: Roald Dahl. Listen to stories by one of the greatest children’s authors, then join in related arts and activities. 12 noon, Waterstones West End, 128 Princes Street.
Summer Storytime: Come and listen to David McKee’s Elmer, then join in related arts and activities. Waterstones, Ocean Terminal, Ocean Drive. Please contact shop on 0131 554 7732 for times.
Edinburgh Art Festival – Spotlight Tours of Scottish Art: People, Places, Ideas. Guided tours of the City Art Centre’s Scottish Art collection, focusing on people, places and ideas. 11am or 3pm, (meet at reception) City Art Centre, 2 Market Street. No booking required, free – suggested donation £2.
Edinburgh Book Fringe: daily events – all of them free (donations appreciated) – for two weeks at Word Power Books, Edinburgh’s independent radical bookshop. Today: Harry Giles, Marion McCready and Jennifer Williams, three poets whose work moves between life, war and death, read from their new anthology Our Real Red Selves. 1pm, Word Power Books, West Nicolson Street. All welcome! No booking required, but arrive promptly as space is limited.
Curated by…. a season of films hand-picked by invited Festival regulars. Each screening will feature an in-person introduction by the curator, revealing their passion for the film and their reasons for choosing it. Today: David Forsyth, Senior Curator of Scottish History and Archaeology at the National Museum of Scotland, presents Braveheart (15) and challenges the notion that this is one of the most historically accurate depictions of events surrounding a Scottish hero ever committed to celluloid. 9pm, Cameo, Home Street. Tickets may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0871 902 5723 or online.
The Fed Peasants: folky jazz originals from the Edinburgh-based band. 9pm, The Skylark, 241-243 Portobello High Street.
SUNDAY 23RD AUGUST 2015
Storytelling: Scottish Superheroes. The Portrait Gallery is home to heroes and heroines – the original Scottish Superheroes. Come and enjoy some superhuman adventures with the Ancient Avengers in this participative family storytelling event with Ron and Fergus of Macastory. 2pm or 3pm (45 minute sessions), Scottish National Portrait Gallery, 1 Queen Street. Free and unticketed.
Fanfare: a city-wide event harnessing the enormous forces of Scotland’s community of brass bands by working with the Scottish Brass Band Association to present a day of free performances for everyone to enjoy. The brass band – the first of which was formed in Scotland in the early 1800s – was, and still is, an art form that is from, of and for local communities. Throughout the day audiences across the city will be able to share the joy and passion of a live brass band – everyone will be listening to the same piece of music at the same time in at least twelve different locations. 12 noon, 3pm and 5pm, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art ONE, Belford Road; Graham’s Garden, Bridge Road; Balerno, Currie Kirk, Kirkgate; Spylaw Public Park, Bridge Road; Union Canal – by Re-Union Barge (note: no access to barge); Saughton Park Rose Garden, Balgreen Road; Water of Leith Visitor Centre, Lanark Road; Roseburn Park, Riversdale Crescent, St Bernard’s Well, (between Deanhaugh St and the Dean Bridge) Stockbridge, Royal Botanic Garden (outside Inverleith House, Arboretum Road), The Shore, Leith (outside Malmaison) and St Mark’s Park, Warriston Road. Free and unticketed.
Celebrity Organ Recitals: Donald Hunt, Assistant Director of Music, St Mary’s Cathedral. 4.45pm, St Mary’s Cathedral, Palmerston Place. Free: retiring collection.
Edinburgh Book Fringe: daily events – all of them free (donations appreciated) – for two weeks at Word Power Books, Edinburgh’s independent radical bookshop. Today: Richard Gunn, Penny Cole and others discuss How Assemblies Can Inspire Real Democracy. Assemblies for Democracy are taking shape across the UK; Richard Gunn, RC Smith and Adrian Wilding have recently published Assemblies for Democracy: A Theoretical Framework, whilst Penny Cole is involved in facilitating the development of Assemblies. Discussion will be about the theory and practice of moving democracy on. 1pm, Word Power Books, West Nicolson Street. All welcome! No booking required, but arrive promptly as space is limited.
Picturehouse Vintage Sundays: classic films back on the big screen. Today: Casablanca (U), in which Humphrey Bogart plays Rick Blaine, a cynical but good-hearted American whose cafe is the gathering place for everyone from the French police to black marketeers and the Nazis. When his long lost love Isla (Ingrid Bergman) appears with her Resistance leader husband, Rick is pulled into a love triangle and a web of political intrigue. 1pm, Cameo, Home Street. Tickets may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0871 902 5723 or online.
Filmhouse Junior: screenings for a younger audience. Today’s film is The Secret of Kells (PG): in a remote medieval outpost of Ireland, young Brendan embarks on a new life of adventure when a celebrated master illuminator arrives from foreign lands carrying a book brimming with secret wisdom and powers…. Directed by Tomm Moore, whose new film is Song of the Sea. 11am, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets cost £4 per person, big or small, and may be obtained from the Box Office in person, by calling 0131 228 6382 or online.
Garden Sculpture Tours: join Alexander ‘Twig’ Champion for a meditative tour around the Garden’s outdoor sculptures, including the works of John Chamberlain. The tour explores both Chamberlain’s outdoor works, installed as part of the summer exhibition in Inverleith House, and the Garden’s collection of outdoor sculptures, including major works by Ian Hamilton Finlay, Andy Goldsworthy, Barbara Hepworth and Alan Johnston. 2-3pm, meet at Inverleith House reception, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Inverleith Row. Free, all welcome, no booking required. Also at same time on 6th & 20th September.
The Greg Proops Film Club: a new podcast covering old and new movies. Comedian Greg Proops invites listeners to sit down and watch some of his favourite films with him. At these screenings, Greg will give 30 minute live introductions, which will be recorded for the podcast; after the film join him in the foyer, where he will be signing copies of his new publication, Smartest Book in the World. Today’s film is Bullitt (15) starring Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn and Jacqueline Bissett. 8pm, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets may be obtained from the Box Office in person, by calling 0131 228 6382 or online: prices vary. The other film in this series will be Young Frankenstein, showing on 28th August 2015.
Edinburgh College of Art Masters Show Closing Concert: a concert of freshly made audiovisual performances by Masters students in Sound Design and Digital Composition and Performance. Daniel McGurty, Dara Etefaghi, Juan Jose Ripalda, Gaby Yanez, Simon Young, Jack Walker and Anne-Sophie Mongeau will perform their work. 7pm, Wee Red Bar, Edinburgh College of Art, Lauriston Place. Free and open to all.
St John’s Festival Pulpits: Scottish political leaders come to St John’s to explain what motivates them. The five main parties in Scotland will be represented, each one speaking after St John’s Festival Evensong on Sundays throughout August. Tonight’s speaker is Sarah Boyack MSP, Shadow Cabinet Minister for Rural Affairs, Food and Environment, Scottish Labour Party. 7pm (approx – after evensong service, which begins at 6pm), St John’s Episcopal Church, Princes Street. All welcome, free. Next Sunday’s speaker will be Alison Johnstone MSP, Scottish Green Party.
Andrea Carlson: a night of romantic, witty, speakeasy jazz. 9pm, The Old Chain Pier, Trinity Crescent.
St Giles’ At Six: The Scottish Vocal Ensemble: Ego sum: I am. Music by Arvo Part, Phillipe Rogier and Ivo Antognini. 6pm, St Giles’ Cathedral, High Street. Free; retiring collection.
