Listings: Film

Monsters University

• 2013
• US
• 110 min
• U

• Directed by: Dan Scanlon
• Cast: Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Jennifer Tilly
• UK release: 12 July 2013

This prequel to Monsters, Inc. explores the tumultuous relationship between Mike and Sulley when they met at the University of Fear.

Struck by Lightning

• 2012
• US
• 90 min

• Directed by: Brian Dannelly
• Cast: Rebel Wilson, Chris Colfer, Dermot Mulroney

An all-star cast tell a tale of teenage life in a smart high-school comedy written by and starring Glee's Chris Colfer. Carson Phillips has a dream that exceeds the constraints of his small town. When he discovers his efforts as head of writer’s club won’t be enough to impress his dream university, he blackmails his…

Shooting Bigfoot

• 
• 2013
• UK
• 90 min

• Directed by: Morgan Matthews

Bizarre documentary about a filmmaker who hooks up with various Bigfoot trackers in the US.

Paris Countdown (Le jour attendra)

• 2013
• France

• Directed by: Edgar Marie
• Cast: Olivier Marchal, Jacques Gamblin, Carlo Brandt

High-octane Parisian thriller.

Dummy Jim

• 
• 2013
• UK
• 90 min

• Directed by: Matt Hulse
• Written by: Matt Hulse
• Cast: Marie Denarnaud, Samuel Dore, Nille Hannes

He cycled to the Arctic Circle. In May 1951, deaf James Duthie cycled alone from his Scottish fishing village to the Arctic Circle. He published his account of his three-month journey in the book I Cycled into the Arctic Circle, which became the inspiration for this totally unique mixture of documentary, fiction, and…

The Bling Ring

• 2013
• US
• 90 min
• 15

• Directed by: Sofia Coppola
• Cast: Katie Chang, Israel Broussard, Emma Watson
• UK release: 5 July 2013

Coppola's caper, based on a true story, follows a group of high school friends who burgle the homes of the rich and famous, spurred by their obsession with celebrity.

We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks

• 2013
• US
• 130 min
• 15

• Directed by: Alex Gibney
• UK release: 12 July 2013

Gibney (Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room) examines the phenomenon of Wikileaks and its elusive figurehead Julian Assange.

I Am Breathing

• 
• 2012
• Denmark/UK
• 72 min

• Directed by: Emma Davie/Morag McKinnon
• UK release: 21 June 2013

Documentary about a man facing the onset of Motor Neurone Disease.

7 Boxes

• 2012
• Paraguay
• 100 min

• Directed by: Juan Carlos Maneglia/Tana Schembori
• Written by: Tito Chamorro, Juan Carlos Maneglia
• Cast: Celso Franco, Lali Gonzalez, Nico García

A thrilling chase through the markets of Paraguay. Víctor is a teenage boy who finds himself in a man’s game. What begins as a normal day at the market where he works, soon transforms into a Hollywood style chase scene through the maze of bustling markets in Asunción. In return for a $100 bill, Víctor agrees to…

Days of Grace (Días de gracia)

• 2011
• Mexico
• 133 min

• Directed by: Everardo Valerio Gout
• Written by: Everardo Valerio Gout, David Rutsala
• Cast: Paulina Gaitan, Carlos Bardem, Miguel Rodarte
• UK release: 26 July 2013

A Mexican thriller set over three World Cup games in 2002, 2006, 2010 following three different stories in a film about survival.

Pluto (Myungwangsung)

• 2012
• South Korea
• 114 min

• Directed by: Su-won Shin
• Cast: Da-wit Lee, Jun Sung, Sung-ha Cho

When academic competition goes too far. At an elite boarding school, the murder of a top student adds fuel to the rivalry and suspicion among his class. One of the suspects, a boy who has so far failed to break into the coveted ranks of the top-ten students, uncovers a frightening conspiracy among his classmates. The…

The Last Station (La Última Estación)

• 2012
• 90 min

• Directed by: Cristian Soto/Catalina Vergara
• Cast: Juan Serrano, Luis Martinez, Dorian Calvert

‘Do they leave us here, or do they throw us away?’ A film about the elderly patients in a Chilean nursing home could make for depressing viewing, but this contemplative, painterly work has far more to say about life than it does death. As we observe the residents struggling with simple tasks, we also observe their…

The Battle of the Sexes

• 2013
• US/UK
• 83 min
• PG

• Directed by: James Erskine/Victoria Gregory
• UK release: 26 June 2013

Documentary on the lead-up to Billie Jean King's 1973 tennis match against former men's champion Bobby Riggs, who, aged 55, declared he could beat any woman in the world.

The Berlin File

• 2013
• South Korea
• 120 min

• Directed by: Seung-wan Ryoo
• Cast: Jung-woo Ha, Suk-kyu Han, Seung-beom Ryu

State-of-the-art thrills from a master action director. Ryoo Seung-wan, one of Asia’s top directors, spins a fast-paced and twisty yarn of international intrigue. After an arms deal in a Berlin hotel ends in chaotic violence, a North Korean spy who narrowly escapes comes to suspect that he’s been set up by a double…

The Conjuring

• 2013
• US
• 112 min
• 15

• Directed by: James Wan
• Cast: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Lili Taylor

Horror from the director of Saw and Insidious about a family terrified by a malevolent force in their new home. Real life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Wilson (from the original Amityville case) are played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga.

The East

• 
• 2013
• US/UK
• 116 min
• 15

• Directed by: Zal Batmanglij
• Cast: Brit Marling, Alexander Skarsgård, Ellen Page
• UK release: 28 June 2013

A spy is sent in to infiltrate a group of eco-terrorists. However, when she falls for the group's charismatic leader she finds her loyalties tested.

Upstream Color

• 2013
• US
• 96 min

• Directed by: Shane Carruth
• Cast: Amy Seimetz, Shane Carruth, Andrew Sensenig
• UK release: 25 April 2013

A woman is kidnapped, operated on and then released, whereupon she meets a man who may have been subject to the same treatment. Writer/director/actor Shane Carruth's follow-up to Primer is a baffling slice of sci-fi.

A Long Way from Home

• 2013
• UK

• Directed by: Virginia Gilbert
• Written by: Virginia Gilbert
• Cast: James Fox, Natalie Dormer, Paul Nicholls

A thoughtful and confident drama featuring an impressive cast of established and emerging British talent. Joseph and Brenda (James Fox and Brenda Fricker) have been married for fifty years and are living out their retirement in Nimes. Their daily routine of letter writing and dinner at the same restaurant, has somewhat…

Call Girl

• 2012
• Sweden/Norway/Finland/Ireland
• 140 min

• Directed by: Mikael Marcimain
• Written by: Marietta von Hausswolff von Baumgarten
• Cast: Ruth Vega Fernandez, Pernilla August, David Dencik
• UK release: 16 August 2013

The true story of how a prostitution scandal threatened to bring down Sweden's Social Democratic government in the 1970s. A timely story of a political class convinced of its own power and self-interest.

Edinburgh Game Symposium

This symposium examines the phenomenon and music of video games, and looks at developments in current independent video game productions. Game developers are in open house, including Yann Seznec of Lucky Frame, Alexander Mathew of USC Interactive Media, and others. Grammy nominated composer Austin Wintory (Journey) is in…

Emperor Visits the Hell (Tang huang you di fu)

• 2012
• China/Canada
• 67 min

• Directed by: Luo Li
• Written by: Luo Li
• Cast: Li Wen, Dian Mai, Jie Zi

A unique experiment in mixing fantasy with real life. The Ming Dynasty literary classic Journey to the West provides the source for this outrageous political satire. An emperor offends a heavenly messenger and is doomed to a premature death, but is given the chance to return to earth if he can placate the ghosts of…

Fire in the Night

• 2013
• UK
• 93 min

• Directed by: Anthony Wonke
• Written by: Stephen McGinty
• UK release: 21 June 2013

Documentary about the Piper Alpha oil rig disaster, combining archive footage and interviews.

Frances Ha

• 2012
• US
• 86 min

• Directed by: Noah Baumbach
• Written by: Noah Baumbach, Greta Gerwig
• Cast: Greta Gerwig, Mickey Sumner, Adam Driver
• UK release: 26 July 2013

Baumbach's comedy drama focuses on a New Yorker (Gerwig) eagerly throwing herself at life.

Infiltrators (Mutasalilun)

• 2012
• Palestine/UAE/Lebanon
• 70 min

• Directed by: Khaled Jarrar
• Cast: Khaled Jarrar

A gripping and exciting film on the ongoing struggle of people against a wall. This documentary follows the efforts by various Palestinians to cross the seven-metre-high wall that separates the Palestinian Territories from Israel. Using a raw, observational style that makes no comment on the action, the film generates…