As well as our programming in Edinburgh, Filmhouse also presents UK-wide tours, seasons and partnerships, from crime thrillers and children's classics to live soundtracks and collaborations with legendary directors.
The Adventures of Prince Achmed
In summer 2016, as part of Cinescore Live, Filmhouse presented a nationwide tour of The Adventures of Prince Achmed with a specially commissioned musical score performed live by acoustic trio Sink. Widely considered to be the first full-length animated feature in the history of cinema, The Adventures of Prince Achmed is a superlative piece of storytelling silhouette animation. Based loosely on the Arabian Nights, the film is an exciting and fast-paced tale of sword fights, chases, genies and adventure. The Tour reached nine venues across the country, including Portree, Stonaway, Inverness and Bo'ness, offering audiences a glimpse of the pioneering craft of early moving pictures and the magic of a live cinema experience.
Adapting Miss Highsmith
Described by Graham Greene as the ‘poet of apprehension’, Patricia Highsmith specialised in tightly plotted thrillers exploring the fear, jealousy, guilt and violence bubbling under the surface of outwardly civilised characters. Neurotic men dominate her fiction, antiheroes with a plethora of dark secrets and obsessions, though she was equally capable of studies of great sensitivity and tenderness, as evidenced by one of her few forays outside the thriller genre, Carol. The artistry and intelligence of her work is widely considered to have transcended the thriller genre and rival that of mainstream literature, and has made for much compelling cinema. Adapting Miss Highsmith, which toured 20 UK cinemas between June and October 2016, showcased the very best of them, from The Talented Mr Ripley and Plein Soleil to Carol and Strangers on a Train.
Marin Scorsese Presents: Masterpieces of Polish Cinema
In 2015, Filmhouse partnered with KINOTEKA Polish Film Festival and BFI Southbank for a national UK tour of Martin Scorsese Presents: Masterpieces of Polish Cinema. This unique series represented the first ever celebration of Polish cinema classics in the UK on such a large scale, bringing together 24 masterpieces chosen by Scorsese himself, including many undiscovered gems and four previous Oscar®-nominated pictures, as well as providing a series of contextual workshops, talks, exhibitions and an array of special guests to explore Polish film culture. A national tour took place at venues throughout the UK, in cities including Aberdeen, Belfast, Bristol, Cardiff, Derby, Dublin, Dundee, Glasgow, Leeds, Leicester, Nottingham,Sheffield and more.
The Cinema of Childhood
The Cinema of Childhood was a touring film season which introduces British audiences to 17 brilliant movies about children from all around the world, which have rarely or never before been screened in the UK. The season was curated by Filmhouse and filmmaker Mark Cousins, and inspired by his feature documentary A Story of Children and Film, the first film about children in global cinema. Inviting filmgoers to go on a global adventure to see the world anew through young eyes, the season was managed by Filmhouse, and new digital materials were created where necessary to make the films available to the widest possible range of venues. The Cinema of Childhood was launched at Filmhouse and BFI Southbank, and the season went on to screen at 46 key venues throughout the UK between April 2014 and March 2015.
Häxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages
Since its premiere in 1922, Benjamin Christensen’s exploration of the role of superstition in medieval minds has caused outrage and protest from both the general public and religious groups. Dramatising satanic activities and rituals, including the ways in which suspected witches were tortured and killed, Häxan is a deliriously imaginative masterpiece. In November 2013, Filmhouse commissioned a special soundtrack for the film, written and performed by composer and musician Verity Susman of Electrelane, which screened at both Dundee's DCA and Glasgow Film Theatre.