SECRET OF KELLS in London

Irish animated movie THE SECRET OF KELLS will be getting two screenings at the NFT/BFI in London in March. Saturday 13th at 14:10 sees it appearing in NFT3, before moving to NFT2 for a screening on Sunday 14th at 16:20.

Richard Jobson films in focus

The Fifer Festival is running in Dunfermline for a few days in early March, and is a celebration of the work of local man Richard Jobson. In addition to a Skids reunion concert on the Saturday night, other events will include screenings of his films, exhibitions, workshops and an interview with Richard conducted by Ian Rankin. All events from Tuesday 2nd to Thursday 4th are free, or in other words the concert's the only thing that's going to cost you anything.

It all takes place at the newly refurbished Alhambra theatre. See full details on the website.

New at the IFI

Usually I trawl through the programme to see what new Irish film is on offer at the IFI but this month I'll simply direct you to the website where you can read a summary of the new plans for 2010 thanks to their new redevelopment. Sounds great.

Scottish festivals

The Glasgow Film Festival kicks off soon and is usually a great place to see Scottish filmmaking new and old. The programme is now online and features a couple of Irish films (HIS & HERS and SAVAGE) and a whole load of Scottish stuff that I'm not going to list again here. See the website to keep up to date.

Also, I thought I'd mention that there is a small film festival running as part of the Perth 800 City festival. It'll be at Perth Concert Hall from the 23rd-25th April so keep an eye on their website for further updates.

SUGAR STICK online

The excellent Irish short film SUGAR STICK is now viewable online for the duration of the Slamdance competition. Go here to watch it and if you like it you can register and vote for it.

Awards season

Awards season is here and there are a couple of interest to Scottish and Irish film, and they've just announced their nominations. First of all there's the Irish Film & Television Awards, which you can read more about here.

Then there's the Celtic Media Festival, who have announced their shortlist. There are some great films and TV programmes in here but if I had to pick any out I'd be hoping for wins for JONATHAN MEADES: OFF KILTER (even if he did slag off my home city), AN IOLAIRE, THE SECRET OF KELLS and SHETLAND LONE STAR. The feature length drama category is a very difficult one to pick too. See the list here.

Filmhouse in Feb

Thursday 25th February sees the Filmhouse's Made in Edinburgh strand continue with REICHENBACH FALLS, the recent BBC drama about a crime writer who takes his inspiration from Edinburgh. It was based on an idea by Ian Rankin (sounds very familiar, doesn't it?) who should be in attendance according to the programme, and it's quite good indeed.

There's also another chance to see David Allison's excellent live accompanied version of NOSFERATU, which is brought to life with a Scottish flavour.

THE DEAD OUTSIDE on DVD

The Scottish horror-thriller THE DEAD OUTSIDE, which has had plenty of recognition but little in the way of cinema screenings in its home country, will be hitting DVD on 22nd February 2010 (or the 8th if you just want to rent it). Shop around if you're pre-ordering it, as prices seem to vary a bit. Amazon quotes £11.19, Play is only asking £6.99 (although they do quote a release date of July which I assume is wrong).

The St Kilda Tapes in Glasgow

If you've not yet seen David Allison's excellent combination of live music and multimedia material based on the island of St Kilda, it's on at Celtic Connections this month. See the website for details.

(And if you're here because you're interested in Irish film, I'll mention that Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova of ONCE fame will also be playing at the festival).