We’re back! CinemaAttic returns with a hybrid screening that will see us back to Lauriston Hall with a safe physical event with limited capacity or the option to attend online from your living room.

We missed you so much! We understand everyone’s approach to the ‘new normal’ might not be the same, so we offer you two options to enjoy our first programme of the 2020/21 season: The much-anticipated “back to cinemas” in person experience, and the option to watch the programme online from your couch.

Tickets

As independent cinemas and theaters start to reopen in late August with caution, CinemaAttic returns to Lauriston Hall on Thursday 27th August with new safety measures implemented and two options to “attend”.

Cinema Experience: We’ve worked with Edinburgh City Council and Lauriston Hall to offer a safe cinema experience with safety measures implemented that range from distanced seating to avoiding queues (more below). We look forward to a “new normal” way of watching films, with caution but still allowing us to come together in a safe manner to enjoy independent films with you.

When? Thursday 27th August . Doors open 7.30pm, Films start 8pm. Where? Lauriston Hall, 28 Lauriston St, Edinburgh, EH3 9DJ

Online Experience: For those feeling unsafe or not ready to go to Lauriston Hall yet, we will also give you the chance to enjoy the programme online from your couch (still enjoying Rafa and Alberto stand-up comedy presentation + same programme of films)

SAFETY MEASURES FOR THE RETURN TO LAURISTON HALL

• To ensure social distancing is possible, we will be limiting our in-person event at Lauriston Hall to a maximum of 65 people
• You must stay at least 2 m apart from people from other households at all times. The seating layout will be organised accordingly.
• To ensure safe distancing is observed, we will have members of staff managing any queues as well as provide floor markings and one-way flow signage wherever possible.
• To ensure the safety of our audience and staff, we strongly recommend that you wear a face covering at the busiest points of contact (box office, bar, corridors and foyers when queueing) and whenever else social distancing is difficult to observe.
• As you enter the venue, we encourage you to use hand sanitiser. Throughout the event, avoid touching surfaces and use the hand gel provided and/or wash your hands regularly.
• For the time being, we will only be accepting contactless card payments. If possible, we encourage you to preorder and buy tickets online to avoid queueing at the venue.
• If you have any further questions, feel free to ask now or during the event – all members of staff will have been briefed about the safety measures in place and will be able to advise you.

THE FILM PROGRAMME

Basque shorts to restart. One of the most anticipated programmes every year that couldn’t be shown due to Covid-19 – the brilliant selection with the finest films from Basque Country: Kimuak is back!

It is a particularly exciting programme with films selected in Berlinale, Annecy, Ann Arbor Film Festivals as well as Goya-nominated shorts. You’ll find Spanish Cult masters including the last works of Izibene Oñederra, Chema García Ibarra and Ion de Sosa as well as established directors returning to make short films like Raul de la Fuente, Jon Garaño and Jose Mari Goenaga (La Trinchera Infinita, Handia).

What’s so special about short films that maestros like Pedro Almodóvar, Yorgos Lanthimos or Apichatpong Weerasethakul are returning to shoot shorts? Basque directors have been doing this transition in a natural way for years, shifting from Oscar-nominated features to return to short storytelling stories in short film format.

Kimuak (the Basque word for “sprout, spring, germinate”) came into being two decades ago when they first pioneered the annual selection of short-films made in Basque Country, supporting the best films from the region. Following the example of France and New Zealand, the Basques became pioneers in championing short-films. CinemaAttic focus on shorts from Basque Country with their programme #KimuakEdinburgh: Best of the Basques.

This year’s selection brings together works of fiction, science fiction, animation and documentary. On a linguistic level, two of the short films were shot entirely in Basque, two in Spanish, one in English, and one with no dialogue.

Lockdown forced us to stay still in our homes, dreaming of future trips – so let us take you on a journey across the globe. These films will take you to the North Pole, Sierra Leone, the Pyrenees or to a lazy summer’s day in the Spanish village of Montánchez (Extremadura).

THE FILMS

Artiko, Josu Venero and Jesus Mari Lazkano, Euskadi, 2019, 16’ / The map of my last trip to the Svalbard archipelago at the North Pole rests on the table. That map, wrinkled, broken, has become mental mapping, territory of painting and drawing, a new and exciting space for the imagination.

Hell, Raúl de la Fuente, Euskadi, 2019, 22’ / Chennu committed his first crime when he was 15 years old: being a street child. And entered hell: Pademba Road. Freetown Adult Jail. In hell Mr. Sillah commands, and there is no hope. Chennu managed to get out after four years. Now he wants to go back.

Labo, Jesús María Palacios, Euskadi, 2019, 14’ / «Labo» is a walk through the memory of the old Francisco Franco de Tarragona Labor University, not only through its buildings but also through the memory of those who inhabited them. A trip to our past that will make us better understand our present and future times

Golden Legend, Ion de Sosa and Chema García Ibarra, Euskadi, 2019, 11’ / It is a summer day in the municipal swimming pool of Montánchez (Cáceres). In the heights, the Virgen de la Consolación del Castillo keeps its watchful eye.

Lursaguak, Izibene Oñederra, Euskadi, 2019, 12’ / As Hélène Cixous said, we live in a time when millions of voles of an unknown species are undermining the conceptual basis of an ancient culture.

Mateoren Ama, Aitor Arregi and Jose Mari Goenaga, Euskadi, 2019, 14’ / After a season without seeing her mother, Angel Mari decides to gut her heart and go visit her at the nursing home where she is hospitalized. He does not like to see how his mother has disappeared under the skin of a senile old woman who does not recognize her own children.

Medvedek, Ainhoa ​​Gutiérrez del Pozo, Euskadi, 2019, 14’ / The arrival of two Slovenian bears in the Navarrese Pyrenees upsets their balance. The bear has been a natural inhabitant of the Pyrenees for millions of years; however, his disappearance transformed that environment. The presence of these new inhabitants comes to put old conflicts on the table.

Thanks to CinemaAttic’s collaboration in recent years with both KIMUAK, Filmoteca Vasca and Etxepare Basque Institute, we gathered the new buds that have germinated in Basque Country since 2011 to present them in Scotland every year. This year we couldn’t celebrate the Basque Spring in a normal fashion, yet we chose this focus on Basque short films to start our 20/21 season and celebrate our return to cinemas. Don’t miss it!

CinemaAttic is back in town!

Choose your preferred option (physical or online) but choose CinemaAttic.

We look forward to seeing you again!

• If you prefer to attend in person, visit http://ctzn.tk/VolvemosPerson
• If you are more interested in attending online, then visit http://ctzn.tk/VolvemosOnline