FILM
Edinburgh International Film Festival, various venues, until Wednesday
Let’s be honest. We’re lucky to have any kind of film festival in Edinburgh this month after the collapse of the Centre for the Moving Image last year. So, kudos to the Edinburgh International Festival for stepping up and filling the breach.
Kicking off last night with the world premiere of Silent Roar (which you can catch again this morning at the Vue if you hurry), the festival closes on Wednesday with Babak Jalali’s comedy drama Fremont.
In between, there’s a small but potent selection of new films and classics, including Jeanie Finlay’s Your Fat Friend (Vue, Monday & Tuesday), Hope Dickson Leach’s The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (Everyman, Monday; Vue, Tuesday) and Sam H Freeman’s neo-noir Femme, above, starring Nathan Stewart-Jarrett and George MacKay (Everyman, tomorrow; Vue, Monday).
MUSIC
Etran de L’Air, Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh, Monday, Hug & Pint, Glasgow, Tuesday
Hailing from the mountainous region of northern Niger and the town of Agadez, this family collective play a form of African desert blues that is both dynamic and mesmerising.
This is music as a form of hypnotism. The perfect soundtrack for a sultry summer evening (here’s hoping).
EXHIBITION
Scottish Women Artists: 250 Years of Challenging Perception, Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh, until January 6
There are a few things going on in Edinburgh this month. You might have heard. And if you need a break from the Fringe can we recommend a trip to the Dovecot Studios?
And not just for its fab cafe. It’s currently home to an exhibition which includes more than 70 paintings, tapestries, textiles sculptures and photographs from 45 women artists ranging from Phoebe Anna Traquair and Joan Eardley to Rachel Maclean and Alison Watt.
Part of the Edinburgh Art Festival, it also includes a specially commissioned tapestry from Sekai Machache.
As a survey of Scottish women artists, the appeal of this exhibition should last long beyond August. And as it’s on until January you’ll have plenty of time for multiple visits.
BOOKS
The Last Action Heroes, Nick De Semlyen, Picador, £14.99, published Thursday
Now this is fun. Nick De Semlyen’s new book tells the story of the big screen heroes of the 1980s – Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Chuck Norris, Jackie Chan, Bruce Willis et al. It’s a book full of outsize egos, outdated machismo and big, dumb, sometimes fun movies.
The result is hugely entertaining and insightful. We’re #teamArnie here at Herald Towers, by the way.
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