What’s On in Edinburgh this week – cinema

Grassmarket Community Cinema Special Event: Girl Rising (PG). A girl’s self worth, confidence and power should radiate from within; when her potential is fully realized, the world is transformed. Empowering young girls to become powerful agents of change is a critical global need, as proven by a UN Woman study which stated that ‘50% of the economic growth in OECD countries over the past 50 years’ was due in large proportions to girls’ increased access to higher levels of education. Girl Rising is a global campaign for girls’ education, which uses the power of storytelling to share the truth that educating girls can inform societies. Empowering a girl through education breaks the cycle of generational poverty and Girl Rising ensures that girls’ education is part of the mainstream conversation. Come along tonight for a special screening of this film – a grassroots Indian collaboration that has produced not only a documentary but also a global movement.  A Q&A panel to go with this event will feature women working in the wider field of gender empowerment; it promises to be an inspiring evening with a powerful message. 7pm, Monday 25th April, Grassmarket Community Project, 86 Candlemaker Row. All welcome, free admission: donations very welcome! The Grassmarket Community Project is a charity providing mentoring, training and education to participants, many of whom are amongst the most vulnerable of Edinburgh’s citizens, in a nurturing environment. It operates a community cafe, woodwork and tartan social enterprises, and a range of social integration and educational activities for members, aimed at enhancing life skills and developing confidence. To read about The Edinburgh Reporter’s afternoon at the Project, click here.

For Crying Out Loud: screenings for parents and carers and their babies under the age of 12 months. (Maximum of two adults per baby). Babychanging, bottle-warming and buggy parking facilities are available. Today’s film is Our Little Sister (PG) (in Japanese with English subtitles). Adapted from Akimi Yoshida’s bestselling serialized manga Umimachi Diary, the new film from Japanese master Hirokazu Koreeda unfolds with the gentle rhythm of the waves that lap the shore of the seaside town of Kamakura, in which Our Little Sister is set. The three Koda sisters have been on their own ever since their parents’ divorce, their mother having moved away shortly after her husband left her for another woman. Now in their twenties, the sisters live together in the house that once belonged to their grandmother. When they receive news of their father’s death, they are surprised to discover that they have a stepsister, thirteen-year-old Suzu, whose presence stirs long-dormant memories. 11am, Monday 25th April, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets cost £4.50/£3.50 per adult.

Moving Cinema: Let The Right One In (15) (in Swedish with English subtitles). Moving Cinema is a new initiative to encourage younger audiences to enjoy European Cinema. Filmhouse Young Programmers group has been working with young people in Barcelona; there are other groups in Vilnius and Lisbon; of the films the groups have been watching and discussing they have selected Let the Right One In to share with Filmhouse audiences. Twelve year-old Oskar is a shy boy, regularly bullied by his classmates. When Eli moves in next door, she and Oskar become friends, but this nocturnal neighbour is not what she seems. As their relationship develops, Oskar and Eli are drawn into a strange and seemingly impossible relationship. ‘This brilliant film is a vampire thriller, a revenge fantasy and a tender love story’. 5.55pm, Monday 25th April, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0131 228 2688 or online.

Picturehouses Culture Shock: the best in cult and genre films. Tonight: Alien Day (15) – a double bill of Alien and Aliens, together on the big screen for one day only! In Alien a commercial crew aboard the deep-space towing vessel Nostromo is on its way home when it picks up an SOS warning from the distant planet LV-426. What it doesn’t know is that this SOS is no ordinary call…  Aliens features Sigourney Weaver reprising her iconic role as Ellen Ripley. The sole survivor of the carnage aboard the Nostromo, she is appalled to discover that the planet where she first encountered the aliens has now become a human colony. When colonists start to disappear, Ripley leads a combat patrol
 of space marines to investigate. 7pm, Tuesday 26th April, Cameo, Home Street. Tickets may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0871 902 5723 or online.

Picturehouses Discover Tuesdays: a chance to see something different and brilliant in this weekly slot – from cult classics and art-house gems to riveting documentaries. Today’s film is King Jack (15): Jack (Charlie Plummer) is a fifteen year-old delinquent stuck in a run-down small town. Trapped in a violent feud with a cruel older bully and facing another bout of summer school, Jack’s got all the problems he can handle – so when Jack’s aunt falls ill and his runty younger cousin must stay with him for the weekend, the last thing Jack wants to do is look after him. Unfortunately no one really cares what Jack wants. Set over a hazy summer weekend, King Jack is a tough and tender coming of age story about friendship and finding happiness in bleak surroundings. 6pm, Tuesday 26th April, Cameo, Home Street. Tickets may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0871 902 5723 or online.

Screening Irish History: 1916 and its Legacy. The 1916 Rising was one of the most significant and transformative events in modern Irish history and this year marks the centenary of the week-long rebellion in Dublin. Screening Irish History, now in its third year, explores the conflicts and consequences of 1916 in imaginative and provocative ways. Today’s closing film is Michael Collins (15): with Liam Neeson in the title role, Aidan Quinn as Harry Boland and Alan Rickman as Éamon de Valera, director Neil Jordan presents the key figures of the Irish War of Independence in a prestige historical biopic – the winner of the Golden Lion award at Venice Film Festival 1996. Tracking historical events from the Easter Rising through to the formation of the Irish Free State, it focuses on the shifting and fractious relationships between these passionate and determined men in their struggle for independence from British rule and their differing attitudes towards compromise and negotiation in the name of progress. 5.45pm, Wednesday 27th April, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0131 228 2688 or online. The series has been jointly organized with the University of Edinburgh’s School of History, Classics and Archaeology and the Irish Consulate, Scotland. 

Glasgow Short Film Festival Presents Lost Treasure (PG): a new live cinema commission by Glasgow Short Film Festival for the 60th anniversary of a lost archive film that never was. In 1956 a Glasgow-based socialist filmmaking collective embarked on an ambitious project documenting rural depopulation in the Highlands. Lost Treasure is a beautifully atmospheric audio-visual performance responding to the unfinished film, assembled by filmmaker Minttu Mäntynen and accompanied live by renowned musicians Drew Wright (Wounded Knee) and Hamish Brown (Swimmer One). 6.30pm, Thursday 28th April, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0131 228 2688 or online. Screening as part of Folk Film Gathering 2016 (see below).

Folk Film Gathering: in partnership with Transgressive North and TradFest, Filmhouse presents the second edition of the world’s first festival of Folk Cinema. This year the Gathering’s programme focuses on a central theme of animals: sheep, goats, horses, cows, lions, whales and herring, and the stories that bind them to communities. Tonight’s opening film is Shepherds of Berneray (U), featuring shepherds Allan Moore and Jack Shea: a rare opportunity to see this newly restored poetic documentary (first made in 1981) about the lives of a community of shepherds in the outer Hebrides. With a painterly sense of light, and an ear for Hebridean song and story traditions, Shepherds paints a sincere portrait of a community on the verge of change. The screening will be introduced with tales from a traditional Scottish storyteller and followed by a Q&A hosted by social geographer Fraser MacDonald, with Allen Moore, Jack Shea’s widow, Yvonne Bayinsky and the celebrated singer Vashti Bunyan who herself travelled to Berneray in the early ’70s. 6.05pm, Friday 29th April, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0131 228 2688 or online.

St Bride’s Family Cinema: see your favourite films for free! Adventure, excitement, fun and laughs – everyone welcome. Juice and choc ices are available to purchase in the interval at 50p each. This week’s film is Bambi (U). Please note that all children under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult. 10.30am-12.30pm (includes interval) Saturday 30th April, St Bride’s Centre, Orwell Terrace, Dalry. Next week’s film is Home (U).

Folk Film Gathering:  Tonight’s film is The Selfish Giant (15). This contemporary masterpiece of British cinema is one of two films at this year’s Gathering exploring close community ties to horses and harness racing. Developed from documentary work exploring Bradford’s scrap metal trade, Clio Barnard’s film portrays the mixed fortunes of Arbor and Swifty, two energetic young boys who become involved in the scrap business. Where Swifty is quiet, gentle and loves horses, Arbor is charismatic, hyperactive and has a keen eye for profit. Will the boys survive their encounter with menacing local scrap dealer Kitten unscathed? The screening will be introduced with tales from a traditional Scottish storyteller. 6.05pm, Saturday 30th April, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0131 228 2688 or online.

Filmhouse Junior: films for a younger audience. This week: Oddball and the Penguins (U): a true story about an eccentric chicken farmer (Shane Jacobson) who, with the help of his granddaughter, trains his mischievous dog Oddball to protect a wild penguin sanctuary from fox attacks, and in the process tries to reunite his family and save their seaside town. 11am, Sunday 1st May, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets cost £4 per person, big or small.

Picturehouses Vintage Sundays: classic films back on the big screen. Today’s film is The Big Lebowski (18) starring Jeff Bridges, John Goodman and Julianne Moore in the Coen Brothers’ characteristically stylish, energetic, crowd-pleasing comedy of mistaken identity and bowling. ‘…crammed with supremely off-the-wall characters, hilarious dialogue, wonderful performances and stunning unforgettable images’. 1pm, Sunday 1st May,  Cameo, Home Street. Tickets may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0871 902 5723 or online.

Folk Film Gathering: tonight’s film is Eden Valley (15): Hoggy’s life is turned upside down when his estranged son Billy arrives needing a place to stay. As Billy once again becomes part of Hoggy’s life, their shared fortunes amidst the County Durham trotting community are gradually put to the test. The second of the festival’s films about community ties to horses and harness racing, Eden Valley provides an opportunity to see the essential work of Tyneside’s Amber Collective with the filmmakers themselves. The screening will be introduced with tales from a traditional Scottish storyteller and followed by a Q&A session with Amber members Ellin Hare and Peter Roberts. 5.45pm, Sunday 1st May, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0131 228 2688 or online.