After a hugely successful inaugural year in 2017 which saw the likes of Ian Rankin and Young Fathers take the reins as cinematic curators, House Guests returns to Edinburgh for its second year. This time around, the Filmhouse will be screening inspired selections from the founder of the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra Tommy Smith, award-winning author A L Kennedy and the man behind the Trainspotting series, Irvine Welsh.
Tommy Smith gets the ball rolling this Wednesday (30th May) with Eat Drink Man Woman by Ang Lee, before La Femme Nikita on Tuesday 5th and Wednesday 6th June. Then it’s The World’s Fastest Indian on Thursday 7th, Alien on Tuesday 12th and The Colour Purple on Thursday 14th. Tommy Smith takes his leave of the curator’s chair on Wednesday 20th June with Departures.
Next up is A L Kennedy, three-time winner of the Granta Best Young British Novelist award, who has chosen an eclectic line-up that’s heavy on the humour. Among other choices, there’s the 1938 classic Bringing Up Baby, screwball comedy musical Duck Soup by the Marx Brothers and Paul Thomas Anderson’s uncharacteristic foray into funnies (and Adam Sandler’s uncharacteristic foray into good cinema) Punch-Drunk Love.
In September, legend of Scottish literature Irvine Welsh has his say, picking a couple of classics in Midnight Cowboy and Quadrophenia, as well as a rather surprising choice in the form of a Danny Boyle film that isn’t Trainspotting. Instead of the adaptation of his own work, Welsh has plumped for Sunshine, which in his words “is up there with 2001 or the original Solaris in the pantheon of great sci-fi movies.”
There are more guests in the pipeline, as well; former artistic director of the EIFF Mark Cousins and BBC Radio Scotland art figurehead Janice Forsyth are both expected to pick their top films later in 2018. Watch this space!
Irvine Welsh photo courtesy of the photographer, Chris Boland