Buxton Film's Famous Five

Waltz With Bashir

By all accounts it took the planning committee a while to come up with a final decision but this week Buxton Film announced the titles of the five feature films that will be at heart of the weekend of film for this year's Fringe. Jess Savage, speaking on behalf of Buxton Film, told us that, "We're happy that we have a varied, challenging but accessible programme for adults. There are films that many people will know about and some that we hope people will be glad of the chance to see."


The weekend kicks off on Friday July 17th with Slumdog Millionaire (cert 15). "Anyone that takes even the slightest interest in cinema will know about this," said Jess, "and for that reason we weren't going to show it. But many people said that wanted to see it included and it's a tougher, more challenging film than you might suppose from some of the publicity. It's rare for a popular, successful film to appeal to young and old audiences, men and women and black and white audiences without patronising anyone."

Later, on the same evening, there will be a chance to seeHunger (cert 15). "This the 30th Fringe and it is also the 30th anniversary of Mrs Thatcher's election and we wanted to recognise the coincidence," said Jess. "Hunger is about the last few weeks of Irish Republican Bobby Sands' 1981 hunger strike and Mrs Thatcher's voice is heard briefly. It is a brilliantly made film with a stunning central performance, as Sands, by Michael Fassbender."

On Saturday the first film to be shown is The Secret Life of Bees (cert 12). "We had a lot of requests for this one", said Jess. "It's a warm story about solidarity between women. It's set in South Carolina in 1964 and is about a 14-year-old girl who runs away and is cared for by a family of beekeepers. You'd have to be pretty cold-hearted not to be carried along by it."
Saturday evening's film is Waltz with Bashir (cert 18). "A cartoon in Hebrew about war in the Middle East - well it's not the most obvious choice for summer in Buxton", said Jess, "but it is a riveting piece of film-making and represents exactly the sort of thing that we think Buxton Film wants to bring to audiences. Waltz with Bashir has received huge critical acclaim and has been nominated for a host of awards."

The last feature will be shown on Sunday July 19th. "Two Days In Paris (cert 15) is a romantic comedy with attitude - it has been described as 'the least romantic comedy filmed in the city of love'," said Jess. "It was written and directed by, and stars, Julie Delpy. She plays Marion and is in Paris - no surprise there! - with her American boyfriend Jack (played by Adam Goldberg). As they meet her old friends, family and ex-lovers their relationship is strained. It's sharp and witty - it touches on the sort of themes that 'Friends' and 'Sex and the City' does - but with a cross-national dimension."

For full details of the Buxton Film weekend - with the short film competition and original documentaries - go towww.buxtonfilm.org.uk


by Keith Savage - Published 27/05/2009