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WAords To The Wise
lison Forsyth, Director BAFTA Scotland interviews Shane Danielsen, the new Artistic Director of the Edinburgh International Film festival.
AF: Is this your dream job?
SD: My dream job actually involves being a dresser back- stage at the Givenchy printemps/ été runway shows, but, in this life- time, this is probably as good as I can reasonably hope for.
AF: What have been the best aspects of the job so far...
SD: The near constant travel, the bracing lack of routine, the opportunity to watch hundreds of new films from all over the world.
AF: And the worst...
SD: The near-constant travel, the bracing lack of routine the opportunity to watch hundreds of new films from all over the world...
AF: The future will be digital, of that there is no doubt. Does it worry you that ‘films’ may no longer be shot on film?
SD: It saddens me somewhat, because I love the art of photog- raphy and cinematography and as such I’m concerned that the pictorial beauty of cinema is being subordinated. I’d be hap- pier if digital had evolved an actual aesthetic of its own, some- thing that took into account the particular texture and limits of the medium, but it hasn’t... yet. It’s just used as a cost-effective sub- stitute for celluloid, with often-dis- astrous results. And it makes everything altogether too easy for the filmmaker. Part of me
inclines to the belief that the more difficult something is the better the end result.
AF: Who are your heroes, on and off screen?
SD: On-screen: Robert Ryan, Gregory Peck, Kryzstof Kieslowski. Off-screen: Noam Chomsky, Rosa Parks, Muhammad Ali, my dad.
AF: And your favourite film of all time is...? (Sorry but I just have to ask this)
SD: My favourite film is proba- bly Fellini’s I Vitelloni from 1953 – the story of a bunch of guys laz- ing around, sponging money off their mothers and girlfriends, trying to delay the onset of age and responsibility. Needless to say, they fail, each one confront- ed by a crisis that jerks them roughly into the adult world. Or Godard’s Masculin Feminin, which I saw as a callow 16-year-old and which truly altered the trajectory of my life. I just remember thinking I’d never seen anything like it before. It sounds cliched, I know – very ‘arthouse’ with a capital A – but these two still do it for me. Maybe Blade Runner, too... or Three Colours Blue.
AF: As an Australian living in Edinburgh, what do you miss the most?
SD: Sunshine. Lying on a beach baked by the pitiless mid- day sun, swimming in the ocean, Arthuro’s Pizzeria of Oxford Street, Darlinghurst, my mum.
AF: What do you rate about Australian films?
SD: Not too much, actually. We make a few good films, but we need, as a culture, to learn
how to write and tell a story prop- erly and to make films because we have something we urgently want to say, not because we think it would fit a particular space in the market.
AF: Who would you tip for a possible BAFTA Film Award in 2003?
SD: Don’t Know. I’m never good at awards. That said I do think that Morvern Callar is the best British film of the year and Lynne Ramsay the most talented director of her generation; a true visionary. In a world filled with idiocy, cowardice and compro- mise, that should be rewarded.
AF: And who or what must we look out for at this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival?
SD:The Kon Ichikawa retro- spective. A lovely little film from South Korea called Take Care Of My Cat. A mind-blowing experi- mental piece called Decasia, the Koyaanisqatsi of our time. Our Bollywood Sidebar, attended by one of the biggest stars in the known universe, Shah Rukh Khan, and, of course, the incredible British Section – to name just a few. In the words of LL Cool J,
‘It’s ALL good...’
Promoting Scotland’s Screen IBndustry in 2002
AFTA Scotland has already held a major event earlier this year in the shape of a
special Tribute dinner to the won- derful Scottish actor, Ian Bannen. Ian’s long and brilliant career ended in a tragic car accident in November of 1999 and many of
his friends and fellow actors paid warm tributes to the man whom many regard as Scotland’s finest character actor.
While we continue with our regular programme of events and preview screenings, we now look forward to our unique New Talent Awards 2002, which will be held in Glasgow on November 24. This biennial ceremony has become the major Scottish film, television and new media occa- sion and Scotland’s screen com- munity is expected to attend in full force.
Previous BAFTA Scotland NTA stars and winners in all categories continue to achieve national and international acclaim and it is anticipated that this year’s event will continue that tradition.
Membership of BAFTA Scotland looks set to top the 500 mark this year, with an unprece- dented number of new young members. We continue to pro- mote and reward our indigenous industry at every opportunity and look forward to another exciting and productive season.
For further information on BAFTA Scotland, contact Alison Forsyth Director, 249 West George Street Glasgow G2 4QE. Tel: 0141 302 1771 Fax: 0141 302 1771 email: info@baftascotland.co.uk or visit our website at www.baf- tascotland.co.uk
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