Only 24 hours to go!

With less than 24 hours until the festival kicks off, I'm pretty excited about taking part in my first Southside Film Festival! I just came from The Glad Cafe where people are absolutely buzzing the night before it all gets underway. So while quizzers are trying to determine Who played the voice of Jessica Rabbit, I thought I'd essentially steal an idea from the good folk at Top Ten Glasgow Guide and run down some of the things I'm looking forward to over the weekend!

- I love the movie Gosford Park. It's fantastic. But somehow watching it in a swanky shiny Cineworld or shoving the DVD in my sturdy £9.99 Argos Basic DVD Player (Hey, i could either eat for the month or get a blu-ray player, don't judge) just doesn't fit. Now watching it in the picturesque victorian Pollok Park, and being served a two course meal fit for a king afterwards? That sounds right up my street!

- Up until last year, all I knew about Bollywood was the fact Shilpa Shetty from Big Brother used to do some films, until my friend sat me down and made me watch 3 Idiots with Aamir Khan and loved it! So the thought of, this weekend, getting to check out Kuch Kuch Hota Hoi, with some footage shot in the Southside is gonna be a real treat!

- Festivals tend to bring out a great sense of community from people, so I'm looking forward to chatting to new fellow film lovers whether if be over a beer after a film or at a screening before the film starts.

- I'm always a sucker for a good music documentary so I'm excited to see the doc on LCD Sound System from their last gig.

Anyway, What are you looking forward to? What are you going to see? Let us know in the comments! We'll be blogging throughout the festival letting you know what's happening. Enjoy!

Press coverage so far

The Southside Film Festival kicks off this Thursday with the film quiz and then a series of film screenings and events over Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

We've already had some great press coverage and publicity, we'll be updating our website with these details here. Check out the articles below that mention the Southside Film Festival. Including the very kind and supportive motion in the Scottish Parliament by Patrick Harvie

• Scottish Parliament Motion S4M-06494: Patrick Harvie MSP (May 2013)
• Preview of things to come for Film Fest (Glasgow South and Eastwood Extra, May 2013)
• Glasgow Southside Film Festival (Pat's Guide, May 2013)
• Festival to make splash with movie in a swimming pool (Evening Times, May 2013)
• Camera club, scout hut and museum screenings for film festival (STV, May 2013)
• Take your seats for the southside’s own film festival (Glasgow South and Eastwood Extra, April 2013)
• Southside Film Festival Film Club returns (South Glasgow News, March 2013)

If you'd like to help us spread the word then please send on the flyers and programme links below to interested people.

• 2013 programme
• Battleship Potemkin with Live Wurlitzer Organ
• Bollywood at The Glad Cafe - Kuch Kuch Hota Hai
• Cinema Walking Tour

And check out our promotional films on YouTube for the following venues:

• Queen's Park Camera Club
• Pollok House
• Govanhill Baths
• The Glad Cafe
• Scotland St School Museum

Stay South! @southfilmfest

Battleship Potemkin

One of the highlights of the past two festivals have been our screenings at Pollokshaws Burgh Hall in partnership with the Scottish Cinema Organ Trust. These screenings make the most of the fantastic and mighty Wurlitzer organ installed in the halls.

This time next week we will be screening a Soviet Cinema classic, Battleship Potemkin. It is considered to be one of the best films ever made-in 2011 Total Film said “...nearly 90 years on, Eisenstein’s masterpiece is still guaranteed to get the pulse racing.”

Sun 19th May, 8pm, doors 7.30pm
Pollokshaws Burgh Hall.
Price: £6/£5
Cert PG, 66 mins, 1925 

Battleship Potemkin is a dramatised version of the mutiny that occurred in 1905 when the crew of the Russian battleship Potemkin rebelled against their officers of the Tsarist regime. Sergei Eisenstein famously wrote Battleship Potemkin as revolutionist propaganda and to test his idea of montage, his new cinematic language, to produce a strong emotional response in the audience. The most celebrated, and parodied, sequence in the film is of the Odessa steps where a baby’s pram slowly bumps its way down the steps, intercut with harrowing images of the massacre.

This is a unique opportunity to see this classic film with live musical accompaniment that will bring the film to life. A must for students of cinema and/or Russian history or simply those with an interest in the only remaining cinema organ in Scotland. 

Download the flyer here and read the full programme online.

Film Quiz @ The Bungo

The 2013 Southside Film Festival kicks off this Thursday with the third Film Quiz. Brought to you by quiz host maestros Barry Young and Noelle Carroll.

Thursday 16th May

7.30pm - 11pm at The Bungo (Basement)

Price: £3 per person, teams limited to 5 people per table, pay cash on door - Over 18s only

Look out for the beautiful posters and flyers designed by Paul being put up around the Southside.

It’s not every night you can sit in the pub and get the answers to some of life’s great questions. Who Framed Roger Rabbit? What’s eating Gilbert Grape? Any developments, Pussycat? O Brother, Where Art Thou? Exactly how green was my valley?

Come down to The Bungo Bar on Thursday May 16th for the third Southside Film Festival Quiz and win yourself some prizes.

Promotional Short Films

Our wonderful volunteers have been working hard for the last couple of weeks on promotional films for some of the great venues we are going to be using during the festival next weekend.

You can view all the films on our YouTube channel.

• Queens Park Camera Club
• Pollok House
• Govanhill Baths
• The Glad Cafe
• Scotland St School Museum

Hello one and all!

Hello one and all, my name’s Kenny and I’m the newest volunteer to the Southside Film Festival for 2013. I deliberated on whether to start off with a bad movie quote or pun, but I’ve opted for the more sensible option (even though I’ve told you what I was planning anyway, DARN!).....

My route into working as a volunteer at the festival has been a unique one. I studied Sociology at university, which by the end felt like I was watching Beverly Hills Cop 3 on repeat, which isn’t a good thing. I then did a postgraduate course in Broadcast Journalism and started a career in television which was a lot of fun. I worked on various TV shows from ‘The Hour’ on STV to quiz shows like BBC’s Eggheads, researching and helping out before coming to the realisation that film was my passion and that’s where I wanted to focus myself. After pleading with the lovely organisers of the Southside Festival to let me be involved, they have opened their arms and accepted me as one of their own. There’s a real community feel to the group of people that are working so hard and passionately to make the festival enjoyable for you guys and gals coming along as well as the staff that will be working throughout the weekend of the festival.

I’ve lived in the southside a few times throughout the years and I feel like this festival is one of a few times during the year where the southside can embrace and celebrate its community spirit. For one weekend, you don’t need to get the First Bus to Cineworld or hop on the Subway to The Grosvenor, instead you can experience great film in your own back garden. Not literally of course, but you get what I mean.

We’ll be updating the blog regularly between now and the festival so you can get all the inside scoops on what’s happening with the festival and maybe a sneak peek into what the volunteers are getting up to in the lead up to the big weekend.

Also, we’re starting to get the programme out into the community so keep an eye out for a copy and see what’s on - or you can just check it out from the comfort of your own sofa, online here.
If you’re a social media lover then make sure and follow us on Twitter (and get involved in all the chat using the #southsidefilm hashtag) & 'Like' us on Facebook to keep up-to-date with all things Southside.

I ♥ SFF'13

Hello folks, Laura here! I’m one of the new volunteers with the Southside Film Festival & I’m here to tell you all how super-excited I am to get involved with all the goings on in 2013. 

Having studied Film many moons ago, worked in events & volunteered with various other film festivals, I’ve now made a complete U-turn and been working in a completely unrelated field . My love for film however, has never waned - I’ve been keen to get back involved with the industry in some respect and the Southside Film Festival has offered a wonderful opportunity to work alongside some of the most amazingly talented & passionate film fans this side of the Clyde. I have been absolutely bowled over by the enthusiasm of the team of volunteers I’ve met so far who are offering up their time & skills to get involved and help bring film back to the Sou’side . 

That very distinct Southside community feel seems to have filtered through into the organisation process so far with everybody mucking in & working hard to help make the 2013 festival  a huge success. 

We’ll be looking to update the blog as often as possible over the next few weeks with all the goings on from behind the scenes in the lead up to the festival, so keep checking back to see what kind of fun we’re all getting up to. 

In the meantime, keep yer peepers peeled for a copy of this years programme which we started distributing in & around the southside yesterday - you can also check it out online here.

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter (and get involved in all the chat using the #southsidefilm hashtag) & 'Like' us on Facebook to keep upto date with all things Southside.

2013 Film Festival Programme

We picked up our programme from Forward Graphics yesterday and have started to distribute them around the festival venues as well as other cafes and shops in the Southside.

An excerpt from the introduction by festival director, Karen O'Hare: "We continue to create ‘pop up’ cinemas around the Southside so you can watch films in a pub, cafe, museum, garden, community hall... and site specific screenings add to the viewing experience - watch a documentary about a photojournalist in a photography club, a film about caravanning in a scout hall and music documentary in a gig venue . The mighty Wurlitzer Cinema Organ is back with live accompaniment to Soviet classic, Battleship Potemkin. And alongside the films there is a filmmaking workshop for teenagers, an animation workshop for kids and the film quiz is back!"

You can view our programme online here.

We've also created this at-a-glance guide for the 2013 Southside Film Festival:

at a glance guide

New volunteers

We had a great meeting this afternoon with new volunteers for the May festival. They were full of good ideas about the festival and plans for using the blog more.

So in the next couple of weeks you'll be hearing from more voices on the blog. They'll be posting about why they've decided to volunteer with the Southside Film Festival, news from behind the scenes information about the planning and preparations for a festival and then over the festival weekend itself.

February Film Club SOLD OUT

Our first Spring Film Club screening is now SOLD OUT!

On Tuesday 19 February we are screening In Search of Blind Joe Death: The Saga of John Fahey as part of the Glasgow Film Festival and the first of our Spring Film Club in partnership with The Glad Cafe.

In Search of Blind Joe Death: The Saga of John Fahey (N/C 15)
Synopsis: The unique, guitar finger-picking sound of John Fahey influenced a range of musicians – from Pete Townshend (who calls him the folk equivalent of William Burroughs or Charles Bukowski) to Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore and Chris Funk of The Decemberists. This documentary recounts the dynamic life of the eccentric guitarist, who transcended blues traditions, melding them with both world and classical forms. Featuring talking heads along with archive footage of performances and interviews, this film creates a vivid portrait of a true guitar pioneer.

**Following the screening will be a short solo set from folk guitarist Alasdair Roberts and the director of the film James Cullingham will take part in a Q&A.**

In Search of Blind Joe Death: The Saga of John Fahey
Cert N/C 15+, 2012 (58 mins)
The Glad Cafe
Tuesday 19 February, 8pm (doors at 7:30pm)

All Film Club screenings are held at The Glad Cafe, 1006a Pollokshaws Road, Shawlands (opposite the five-a-side football pitches) and are usually Tuesday evenings, apart from Saturday matinees for kids. 

We have 3 other Spring Film Club screenings planned:

• March 19 -Beasts of the Southern Wild (12A)
• April 13 Sat matinee kids screening: Arrietty (U)
• April 23-The Reader (15) 

Plus on Friday 15 March there is a rescheduled Green Screen: Irish Documentary Double Bill screening of A Million Bricks (N/C 15) & Bernadette: Notes on a Political Journey (N/C 15

Southside Film Festival Award 2013

Submissions are now open for the 2013 Southside Film Festival's Annual Filmmaker Award!

• Are you a filmmaker based in the Southside?
• Have you made a film about the Southside?
• Have you shot a film in the Southside?

If so, Southside Film Festival wants to see your films! Past winners have been Antonia Bain and Gordon Ballanytine with their short documentary Echoes of Cinema City in 2011 and Mark Mcluskey with his film Fur and Loathing in 2012.

Previous prizes have been kindly donated by BAFTA Scotland, Screen Academy Scotland, Glasgow Film Theatre, GMAC and local businesses.

To submit your film please download the form, fill it out and email it to southsidefilmfest@gmail.com with the subject heading 2013 submissions.

The Deadline for submissions is Friday 1st March 2013.

Those films which are selected will be screened during the 2013 Festival which takes place from 17th to 19th May 2013.

Film Club is Back for Spring! Feb screening with Glasgow FIlm Festival

We're pleased to announce that Southside Film Festival Film club is back for Spring 2013! 

On Tuesday 19 February we will be screening In Search of Blind Joe Death: The Saga of John Fahey as part of the Glasgow Film Festival and the first of our Spring Film Club in partnership with The Glad Cafe.

In Search of Blind Joe Death: The Saga of John Fahey (N/C 15)

Synopsis: The unique, guitar finger-picking sound of John Fahey influenced a range of musicians – from Pete Townshend (who calls him the folk equivalent of William Burroughs or Charles Bukowski) to Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore and Chris Funk of The Decemberists. This documentary recounts the dynamic life of the eccentric guitarist, who transcended blues traditions, melding them with both world and classical forms. Featuring talking heads along with archive footage of performances and interviews, this film creates a vivid portrait of a true guitar pioneer.

**Following the screening will be a short solo set from folk guitarist Alasdair Roberts and the director of the film James Cullingham will take part in a Q&A.**

In Search of Blind Joe Death: The Saga of John Fahey
Cert N/C 15+, 2012 (58 mins)
The Glad Cafe
Tuesday 19 February, 8pm

The film will start at 8pm, doors at 7:30pm.
Tickets are £8.50 (£6.50 for concessions) and are available from the Glasgow Film Festival.
UPDATE: GFF HAVE SOLD OUT OF ONLINE TICKETS SO TICKETS NOW ONLY AVAILABLE IN ADVANCE IN PERSON FROM THE GLAD CAFE (or on the door on the night if we don't sell out)

All Film Club screenings are held at The Glad Cafe, 1006a Pollokshaws Road, Shawlands (opposite the five-a-side football pitches) and are usually Tuesday evenings, apart from Saturday matinees for kids. 

Check out Spring Film Club screenings:
March 19 -Beasts of the Southern Wild (12A)
April 13 Sat matinee kids screening: Arrietty (U)
April 23-The Reader (15)

We have also added an additional screening for March -a rescheduled screening of the Irish documentary double bill for St Patrick's Day weekend - at 7pm on Friday 15 March in The Glad Cafe http://www.southsidefilmfest.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/rescheduled-green-screen-double-bill.html

Flicker Magazine's review of Southside Film Festival

Tom Fergus Arnott at Flicker Magazine has published a review of what he saw at Southside Film Festival in May: 
http://www.flickermagazine.co.uk/events/southsidefilmfestival.html

We do tell Southsiders about the film festival and do distribute the festival programmes around Shawlands and all over the Southside Tom so it's a shame to hear that you met some folk still haven't heard about us-maybe next year!

Short Films @ The Chalet RESCHEDULED

The Short Films @ The Chalet which had to be cancelled are going to be shown on Saturday 2nd June at the Chalet.

This is a FREE screening and the programme of Short Films includes:

1. Waste Art (9')
What is waste art? A look into the world of this new and exotic artform, expounded by its practitioners. Directed by Andy Dow.

2. The Land Between Tick and Tock (13')
Nick Padalino, an eccentric New Yorker, owns a fluorescent art museum incentral Amsterdam. ‘A land between Tick and Tock’ is a documentary portraitof Nick and his Parisian girlfriend Michele as they guide the viewer aroundtheir quirky hand made museum of fluorescent wonders. Directed by KateBurton.

3. The Tannery (5'30”)
A recently deceased Fox has a life after death experience. Animated anddirected by Iain Gardener. The Tannery was nominated for Best Animation,BAFTA in Scotland Awards, 2011 and won Best Animation at CFC WorldWideShort Film Festival, Toronto and the Celtic Media Festival 2011. The music wascomposed by Southsider Mick Cooke who appeared at Southside Film Festival'scomposing music for film discussion last year.

4.An Artifical Light (19'40)
A tale of romance and heartache, filmed in Aberdeen last year.Written and directed by Tim Courtney. Starring: Pamela Donald, Davy King,Adam Morrice and Matthew Duncan.

5. Pentecost (11mins)
A young Irish boy faces a difficult choice that may leave him at odds with hissmall community. Written and directed by Peter McDonald, produced byEimear O'Kane. Nominated for Best Live Action Film Oscar, 2012.

[Tumult]

6. Tumult (13 mins)A tribe of Norse warriors traipse across a barren land after battle. Bloodied andwounded, their chief is near death. He is about to hand over power to his sonwhen an army of a completely different kind…descends upon them.Written and directed by Johnny Barrington, produced by Rhianna Andrews.

7. Whether the weather (5mins)
Commissioned by Screen Academy Scotland in 2011 to screen at EdinburghInternational Festival and be viewed by Philip Glass, this film was a response toGlass and Regio's collaboration on the Qatsi trilogy. Director Lorna Simpsonand composer Jordan Gilmour worked together to produce a response to theGlass and Regio's work.

8. Out on the Tiles (3'11”)
An inebriated woman pays a visit to the ladies' loo for a cigarette, but noteverything goes to plan....Animated and directed by Anna Pearson. Winner ofBAFTA in Scotland Best Animation Award 2011.

Short Films @ The Chalet
Saturday 2nd June | 7:30pm
FREE

Animation workshop films online

On Saturday 19th May as part of the Southside Film Festival, Red Kite Animation held a workshop at the Scout Hall.

They have put the great animations made up on their website here or you can view them on Vimeo.

Winner of the 2012 Best Southside Film Award

We are delighted to announce that the winner of the 2012 Best Southside Film Award is Mark Mcluskey with his film 'Fur and Loathing'.

Fur and Loathing (13') takes us inside the lives and minds of the people who for a few hours a week lives their lives as the mascots of the teams they support. We literally get under the skin of mascot life and are taken on a journey inside the hot, sweaty suit ourselves to see life through the eyes of someone looking through the eye holes of a furry bear head.

The film is available to view on vimeo here.

The prizes for the 2012 Award are:

• 2 tickets for the comedy show at The Shed on Sat 26 May at 8pm 
• Entrance to a gig at Glasshouse of their choice during Southside Festival 
• 2 tickets for the Glasgow Film Theatre 
• 1 year's membership to GMAC, worth £45 
• A £40 voucher for the Tearooms or Butterfly and The Pig, plus entry to the buff club. 
• 20% off a short course of their choice at Screen Academy Scotland (valid for a year) 

A big thank you to all the filmmakers who submitted their work, it was a close competition and the six films screened were all great.  Thanks also to the organisations who have donated prizes.

Congrats to Mark!

N.B. Changes to programme!

Announcing some last minute changes to the published programme:

Change of venue for Crowd Funding films discussion-now in The Bungo -same time and date-6.30pm Fri 18 May and all other details remain the same http://southsidefilmfest.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/southside-film-festival-2012-programme_28.html

Change of date, time and venue for Come Closer screening -now in The Shed on Sunday 20 May at 2.15pm, £6/£5, tickets available on the door only http://southsidefilmfest.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/southside-film-festival-2012-programme_8368.html

Finally, the screening at Govanhill Baths will now NOT take place in the swimming pool as advertised. The screening will now be in the well being centre at the front of the building. http://southsidefilmfest.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/southside-film-festival-2012-programme_4847.html

Please help spread the word about these changes so nobody goes to the wrong place at the wrong time and misses out on these great events and screenings!

Thanks, Southside Film Festival team

Southside Film Festival Promo

At the first Southside Film Festival last year Gary Lewis introduced Peter Mullan's short films 'Close' and 'Fridge' and 'Crying with Laughter' starring Stephen McCole and 'American Cousins', written by Sergio Casci, also screened. Gary, Stephen and Sergio are all back this year to help promote the festival.

Check out the new film festival promo on YouTube.

Southside Film Festival - bringing film back to Glasgow's Southside! 17-20 May, 2012 Tickets on sale now at Youngs Interesting Books, Skirving St, Shawlands or online at Tickets Scotland.

Volunteer with us in May

We are now looking for new volunteers for the 2012 Festival. We need enthusiastic and reliable individuals for the following roles:

• General front of house and box office team. No experience necessary. 
•  2 x Technical support for screening set ups. Experience in film or sound projection. 
•  1 x Publicity and press assistant. Knowledge of social media desirable. 
•  2 x Assistants for Animation workshops. Film making experience desirable. 

The Southside Film Festival relies on the generosity of volunteers to help with the running of the festival and we strive to provide a good volunteering experience. Volunteering with the festival is a great opportunity meet new people or gain work experience within the film and events sector. You can expect to gain experience as part of a friendly team working on many different tasks from box office, web design, publicity to front of house.

If you would like to volunteer please send an email to southsidefilmfest@gmail.com with Volunteering in the subject line.

Please provide information about what role you would be interested in, your contact details (email and mobile) and what dates/times you are available for over the festival weekend (17-20 May). If you are interested in a technical support or workshop role then please also provide a cv.

Festival programme

We have been out distributing film festival programmes in Pollokshields, Pollokshaws, Strathbungo & Shawlands today and will be getting more out around the Southside very soon. 

You can also see the programme here and all of the listings with links to payment are below. 

Happy reading and hope you can make it along to some of the screenings!