In association with the GFT
Touko Laaksonen was by day a senior art director at an ad agency in his native Finland. Beyond his day-to-day, however, his craft was wildly different. Going by the pseudonym Tom of Finland, Laaksonen produced an extraordinary amount of homoerotic art, drawing men in uniform with wildly exaggerated muscles, moustaches and genitals.
As cringey as a “lesbian vampire erotic film” might sound like, Enactone is more than what its (possibly one of a kind) genre suggests. Film director Sky Deep Dietrich plays main character Marie Scott, former US slave turned into a vampire who now seeks vengeance against mankind through the acquiring of “orgasmic blood” from women (yes, you read it right).
Miss Sloane begins with a prim Jessica Chastain being fussed over by makeup artists and legal counsel, as she repeats her personal mantra: “Lobbying is about anticipating your opponent’s moves and devising counter measures”. Jonathan Perera’s first time script sticks ardently to this, often to a fault. It is a Sorkin-esque romp through the moral vagaries of the lobbying system, littered with cliche, high drama, absurdist moments, and in the end a genuine sense of heart and pathos.
For many of us the premise behind Cate Shortland’s Berlin Syndrome would be our worst nightmare. Teresa Palmer of Hacksaw Ridge plays Clare, a tourist backpacking around Berlin. After a couple of encounters with charming teacher Andi (Max Riemelt) she ends up having a one night stand with him. Things take a dark turn the next morning however when Andi locks Clare in his flat and refuses to let her leave, making her a prisoner in his home.
In association with the GFT
First time writer-director Michael O’Shea’s suburban vampire tale The Transfiguration tells the story of Milo (Eric Ruffin), a young boy living in a rough area of Brooklyn. With no parents, no friends and one brother, he is an outsider by his very nature. However, it quickly becomes clear that it is not just his unfortunate social situation that makes him different to everyone else. We see him sitting in bed at night watching videos of animals being killed, before he promptly goes out into the darkened streets to find his own prey.
In association with Glasgow Film Theatre
Spaceship is a neon-fuelled glimpse into the lives of a group of cyber-gothic misfits who dream of escaping their reality on earth through a fascination with alien abductions, unicorns, and black holes. Alex Taylor’s debut feature focuses primarily on Lucidia (Alexa Davis) who disappears via an apparent alien abduction, and her archaeologist father Gabriel (Antti Reini) who is still traumatised by his wife’s death years earlier.
