Political, cultural and lifestyle links celebrated in Glasgow/Havana film festival.

Many people over the years have commented on the parallels between the cities of Glasgow and Havana. The enthusiasm for dance, music and film that envelopes both cities has been often referred to, and no doubt led in part to the historic twinning of the two cities 13 years ago this month. Tangible evidence of the benefits of that twinning are on screen in Glasgow this week, as the first Glasgow/Havana Film Festival opens.

The festival, brainchild of the Cubaphile screenwriter and director, Eirene Houston, features at least three (count ‘em) UK premieres of Cuban films, Q&As with well-known Cuban directors – including Fernando Perez whose La Pared de las Palabras premieres at the GFT on 7 Nov, and Alejandro Valera who recently moved to live in Glasgow. His Boccaccerias Habaneras premieres on 8 Nov at Gilmorehill. It also features Houston’s own 2012 film Day of the Flowers.

Eirene Houston. Pic-Martin Shields

 Houston said at last night’s opening, that she had been ‘in love with Cuba, since 1997. The people are so similar.’ She herself worked at the film school in Havana and has built up many film and TV contacts which became key to the creation of the festival.

The political links between the two cities are also covered by a film and discussion night on Saturday 7, at Gilmorehill, Glasgow University. Glasgow TUC Chair and UNISON official, Jennifer McCarey chairs a discussion on Socialism Reinvented, and two seminal Glasgow-based TV productions are given a welcome airing – Barbara Orton’s 1993 feature on Rolls Royce shop steward, Labour councillor and dance enthusiast, Agnes McLean – In Cuba they’re still Dancing is followed by Red Skirts on Clydeside, the 1984 programme that started the reassessment of the role of Glasgow’s women in red Clydeside.

Me Dicen Cuba - Alexander Abreu

Other films that promise much include, Me Dicen Cuba (6 Nov, Gilmorehill) – the story of Cuba’s greatest musicians coming together to record the title song of a documentary in support of the Cuban 5; Conducta – the UK premiere of the most universally successful Cuban film since Strawberry and Chocolate (5 Nov, GFT); and La Pericula de Ana (3 Nov, GFT) a film about a native Cuban actress and exploitative foreign filmmakers!

Couple all this with a celebration of Cuban food (in Stravaigin on 4 Nov), the launch of Rebecca Gordon Nesbitt’s book on the central role of Cuban Culture – To Defend the Revolution is to Defend Culture - (in the CCA on the 7 Nov) and to make the cities’ links complete – a revival of the Club Cubana nights, Glasgow used to see! (In Mango, Sauchiehall Street, 6 Nov). Full Programme is available from the festival website, here. You’ll find something you want to see, hear or eat/drink!

Rent strikers' centenary marks MayDay celebrations

100 years after the success of the Glasgow Rent strikers' in changing the law, their struggles are taking centre stage amongst the range of events announced around this year's MayDay celebrations. 

The First World War women's fight against the exploitative attempts by private landlords to hike up rents came to an end after court cases against 18 rent strikers were abandoned in 1915 and the law was changed by the enactment of the Rent Restriction Act. Glasgow Film Theatre is marking the centenary by showing the 1984 film on the struggle - Red Skirts on Clydeside - on Saturday 2 May. The film will be introduced by Maria Fyfe, former MP for Maryhill and chair of the Remember Mary Barbour Association. Maria said. "As we look forward to a tangible memorial for the rent strikers with a statue of Mary Barbour, it is good to be able to say how much we have managed to move the recognition fight on since the film was made."

In addition, a walk organised by Glasgow Friends of MayDay (GFoMD), will

Rent Strike demo

visit the old court were the case was due to be heard, the prison in which many women were held and sites of many of the demonstrations and rallies. 'Women, the War and the Rent strikes' will take place on Saturday 25 April. Chris Bartter, Chair of GFoMD said "The women involved in the rent strikes were often also involved in the peace campaigns and before that in the struggles for women's suffrage. Their lives are an example to today's activists, and it makes a good walk!"

The two events are just part of the programme launched to mark the International Workers' Festival in Glasgow and around. Other events include a Clarion Cycle Club ride out and a Love Music, Hate Racism Gig - both on May 1 - afternoon and evening respectively. The now-famous Great MayDay Cabaret will again be in Oran Mor on the 4 May - this year it stars Tommy Sands - and a short tour of John and Willy Maley's play - From The Calton to Catalonia - starts on the 1 May in the Calton starring, well-known Scottish actor, Gary Lewis. The full programme is available from the Friends of MayDay website - may1st.org.uk.

Tickets for the GFT film go on sale on 23 April at £5 from http://www.glasgowfilm.org/ Signing up for the walk costs £7.50, contact Chris Bartter on 07715 583 729.

 

Tickets for both The (Third) Great Mayday Cabaret and the May 3 performance of From the Calton to Catalonia are available from Oran Mor (over the bar) or via their website - http://oran-mor.co.uk/whats-on/ (booking fee). Tickets for other performances of From the Calton to Catalonia see the FairPley website at http://www.fairpley.com/

The Happy Lands opens at Glasgow’s Film Festival

Following the success of the ‘Red thread’ running through the Celtic connections festival this year (see my article in the Morning Star here) , producers of a number of films and other events are hoping that this interest and involvement in things cultural, is no one-off!

Film Poster for The Happy Lands

First out of the blocks is an important film getting its public premiere as part of Glasgow’s Film Festival. The Happy Lands, is a production by theatre workshop, an edinburgh-based theatre company, and tells the story of the General Strike and the subsequent lock-out of the miners, and how that affected a community in Fife.

Theatre workshop spent four years working with 1,000 volunteers from the Fife community, many of whom had family connections with the miners on strike. Many of the volunteers ended up starring in the film. 

Although it deals with three families in a specific mining village in Fife in 1926, the film has both universal appeal, and lessons for today. The film deals with questions of loyalty, honour, love and trust as these are put under huge strain by the strike. Set at a time when a Conservative-Liberal pact meant slashing of wages and rights for the worst off in our society, the film clearly has messages that resonate in similar circumstances today.

The first public showing of the film is at the GFT on Sunday 17 February at 13.40. If you can’t make that, in an interesting development, the film will be screened again at the Clydebank Empire on Monday 18 February at 11.00. See a trailer here, and get tickets for the film festival showings here. The tickets for the Clydebank Empire showing are a flat £4.50.

The film will then go on a UK roadshow tour to (among other places) Blantyre (1 March), Inverness (10 March) and down South to Durham, Sheffield and Wakefield. Check the website for more details. We hope to welcome it back to Glasgow for the MayDay celebrations!

An Drochaid- The Bridge Rising

The Skye Bridge

Another recently made film shown on BBC Alba in early January, is the Media Co-Op’s documentary of the campaign against the tolls on an early Tory PFI project in Scotland - the Skye Bridge. An Drochaid - the bridge rising, deals with the history of the non-payment campaign.  “An untold, bittersweet story of passion, ego, and financial skullduggery, through the testimony of those who took part. - as the Media Co-op website says! 

It is currently being edited for general release. Hopefully it won’t be too long until another important fight by people against the financial exploitation of governments and big business is properly documented. See a trailer here!

MayDay plans

Events are beginning to emerge for Glasgow’s MayDay celebrations too! Watch this space for more news soon! Or check the Friends of MayDay site. If you have some event around MayDay and want to see it in the programme, why not let me know? chrisbartter@btinternet.com or @chrisbartter on twitter will find me!

MayDay Festival broadens coverage

This year's festive activity around MayDay is showing a increasing coverage and has been gathered/organised by Glasgow Friends of MayDay (GFoMD) into the programme shown here. It is particularly welcome to see that a number of organisations are beginning to target MayDay (and surrounding dates), for their activity. Everything looks interesting and entertaining, but at the risk of offending some, I'd like to draw your attention to four specific events.

Firstly, the MayDay Concert organised by GFoMD, on Friday 4 May 7.30pm in the Community Central Hall, in Maryhill Road. Comedy, Music and Poetry as Bruce Morton, Eleanor Morton, Arthur Johnstone, Dave Anderson, Marc Livingstone and Tom Leonard, help us celebrate the International Workers' Festival. Tickets £8/£6 from here.

Secondly, the first showing in Scotland of a film made by Ken Loach in 1969! This was a film commissioned by Save the Children, but when the charity saw what Ken had produced they refused to release it! Time mellows even injured charitable feelings and the film was shown in London last year to mark Loach's 75 Birthday. By all accounts it is a remarkable film! It is on at the GFT on Saturday 5 May at 4.40pm. Tickets from the GFT.

Thirdly, the Northern Soul night on the evening (8.00pm) of Saturday 5 May at the STUC Centre. Being organised by the Glasgow Trades Union Council, this is a repeat of the hugely successful night of last year.  The DJs are ready, the venue is primed, get your butts along to dance into Mayday! Tickets on the door (£5).

And, of course, the pinnacle of the celebrations is the Glasgow MayDay March and Rally itself. It starts from George Square at 11.00am, but that is the last thing that is similar to previous years! This year the Rally will take place at the prestigious Royal Concert Hall, and the main speaker is author Owen Jones, whose book Chavs, about the way traditional working class communities have been denigrated, abused and 'demonized' by the UK's ruling elites, has made a significant impact.

Many other events also feature in this year's programme. Everyone should be able to find something to mark the festival in an entertaining way!

Copies of the programme, illustrated here, are available digitally from me. If anyone wants artwork for printing from, I can also supply that. Unfortunately we don't have the resources to print multiple copies ourselves.