Shetland Arts has announced that local hero Steven Robertson will be the star attraction at the opening weekend of this year’s Screenplay Film Festival, running from 29 August to 7 September.
The Vidlin born star of film, theatre and television will be taking part in a Q&A session after the screening of one of his most well-known films, Inside I’m Dancing, where he plays a young man with cerebral palsy who is seeking an independent life. The film also stars James McAvoy.
Steven, who has become an increasingly popular face since the Shetland crime drama appeared on the television, will also offer an education screening of Joyeux Noel during the following week. This film recalls the moment in the first Christmas of World War 1 when the British and German troops came together briefly to play a game of football.
Also appearing during the first week of the festival will be film-maker Susan Kemp and Shetland poet Robert Alan Jamieson, who will be in conversation with Mary Blance before the screening of Susan’s film about Sandness and Robert Alan, Nort Atlantik Drift.
And, as has already been announced, on Thursday 4th September there will be an evening with Gruff Rhys, formerly of the Super Furry Animals and Neon Neon, who will be talking about his latest documentary, American Interior, followed by a solo gig.
Screenplay is seeking to strengthen its relationship with Scandinavian cinema, and this year will also see some of the best and most unusual of films from Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark shown at the festival. And for children and young people, there will also be films and activities galore, including the by-now famous Screenplay Film Quiz, which will have a junior event this year, as well as the usual adult one.
The second half of the festival will concentrate on British women in 21st century screen culture, and award-winning directors Clio Barnard and Joanna Hogg will be talking about their work and introducing their films.
The final Sunday of the festival is still a mystery, said Festival Director Kathy Hubbard: “We’re still waiting for confirmation from one more person, and keeping our fingers crossed, as we know that they will be a big draw. We are also hoping for a preview of a major family film, and we’ll be posting more news as we get it.”
