Out of Love (Les Enfants vont biens)

French Film Festival 2025  This latest film from young French director Nathan Ambrosioni opens innocuously enough with shots of two children, nine year old  Gaspard (Manoã Varvat) and six year old Margaux  (Nina Birman), waiting for their Mum, Suzanne (Juliette Armanet), in the back seat of their car at a garage. They are on aContinue reading “Out of Love (Les Enfants vont biens)”

Leading NZ Jazz Musicians Launch New Quintet Album

March of the Octopus – Ben Wilcock & John Rae (Thick Records TH020) Wellington-based Scottish drummer John Rae and New Zealand-born pianist Ben Wilcock follow their internationally acclaimed Splendid Isolation album with March of the Octopus, a suite of original compositions ranging from reflective solo piano pieces to quintet explorations, on Friday 28th November. RecordedContinue reading “Leading NZ Jazz Musicians Launch New Quintet Album”

The Session Man (12A)

Dir Michael Treen Nicky Hopkins could lay claim to being one of the greatest rock musicians of all time. His playing graced over 250 albums, enhancing work by the Rolling Stones, the Who, the Kinks, Joe Cocker and each of the Beatles. He toured with the Stones and Art Garfunkel among others and as wellContinue reading “The Session Man (12A)”

A Magnificent Life (Marcel et Monsieur Pagnol)

French Film Festival 2025 French master of animation, Sylvain Chomet, brings his immense talent to the 2025 film chosen to open of this year’s French Film Festival UK that took place at Edinburgh’s Cameo cinema. Known for the wonderfully dark Belleville Rendezvous (Les Triplettes de Belleville) and the gentler, more benign but equally fabulous tributeContinue reading “A Magnificent Life (Marcel et Monsieur Pagnol)”

Scottish Opera Presents Tchaikovsky: Heroines & Heroes This December

The richly drawn and complex female characters from three of Tchaikovsky’s greatest works take centre stage as Scottish Opera (SO) brings them to a one night only performance of Heroines & Heroes. Featuring highlights from Eugene Onegin, Iolanta and the SO premiere of The Maid of Orleans, this concert offers audiences the chance to explore the composer’s distinctive blend of French and GermanContinue reading “Scottish Opera Presents Tchaikovsky: Heroines & Heroes This December”

Scots Language Theatre Company Braw Clan Starts Fourth Soup and a Story Season

The Lanarkshire village of Roberton may be small but it’s embracing of Hallowe’en tropes outweighs its size with skeletons, pumpkins and scary signs in evidence as soon as you get off the bus for the Village Hall. It is here that one of the first sessions of Biggar based Braw Clan’s popular Soup and aContinue reading “Scots Language Theatre Company Braw Clan Starts Fourth Soup and a Story Season”

33rd French Film Festival UK Starts This Week!

What promises to be one of the best line-ups in the history of the festival kicks off this week featuring a host of new films from acclaimed and debut directors alongside beloved and rarely seen classics. Taking place in over 40 different UK locations, with 62 films – 32 of which are UK premieres, itContinue reading “33rd French Film Festival UK Starts This Week!”