News / Sheffield singer & top directors for Screenplay’s 10th birthday
SHEFFIELD’S “poet laureate”, the esteemed singer-songwriter and guitarist Richard Hawley, will perform a one-off intimate acoustic gig as part of the tenth birthday celebrations for Shetland Arts’ film festival Screenplay.
Hawley is one of the top attractions on a diverse bill featuring celebrated directors such as Kim Longinotto (Dreamcatcher, Love Is All), Iain Softley (K-PAX), Amma Asante (Belle) and producer Sarah Curtis (Hysteria).
Amnesty International UK director Kate Allen will also be present, taking part in a Q&A event with Longinotto following a screening of Dreamcatcher.
The festival, curated by Mark Kermode, Linda Ruth Williams and Kathy Hubbard, is celebrating its tenth year with an impressive line-up of guests, screenings and special events.
Festival director Kathy Hubbard said: “There is so much happening at Screenplay this year that we have had a real challenge fitting it all in! However, we know our audience to be a determined and dedicated lot, and they will find a way of seeing plenty. And, as it’s our birthday, there may also be occasional cake…”
Hawley, who played guitar with Pulp and was also a member of the Longpigs, has collaborated with acts including Jarvis Cocker, Arctic Monkeys, Lisa Marie Presley and Paul Weller. He has been nominated for the Mercury Music Prize twice and for a Brit Award once.
He will take part in a Q&A session with Longinotto following a screening of her 2014 film Love Is All, which Hawley produced the soundtrack to, prior to playing in the Mareel auditorium on Tuesday 30 August along with his guitarist Shez Sheridan.
There will be a range of fun and unique events including an improvised live beatbox soundtrack by voice artist Jason Singh, along with the Screenplay Film Quiz.
Other events include a programme of seven events around the isles – at community halls in Scalloway, Baltasound and Vidlin, and at care homes in Unst, Yell and Levenwick. There is also an education programme for children of all ages, aimed at introducing them to the wonders of world cinema.
Shetland Arts promises some “spectacular examples” of local filmmaking in the “home made” section of the festival.
It will including Hirda: A New Opera for Shetland and Havera: The Story of an Island, both by JJ Jamieson. Also included is the first film by the newly-formed Shetland Film Collective, Ragnar, and some stunning work by local film-poet Roseanne Watt.
There will be an annual screening of short films by people of all ages with a submission deadline of 1 August. This year will include a special award presented by Shetland ForWirds for the most effective use of dialect in a homemade film.
Screenplay will also be raffling off a special, limited edition Burra Bear called Peerie Mark o’ Brockenhurst – a collaboration between Wedy Inkster of Burra Bears, her sister Rachel Robinson (the hairstyling), and Mike and Gill Finnie (spectacles, collar and tie), and the bear “‘bears’ an uncanny resemblance to a certain internationally renowned film critic and Screenplay curator”.
- The 2016 Screenplay film festival takes place between Saturday 27 August and Sunday 4 September. A full programme will be announced in early August, while membership Screencards and tickets for the Richard Hawley concert are on sale from Shetland Box Office now.
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