Ross movie buffs can sway film festival result

ROSS-SHIRE film buffs will get their say on which movie picks up a coveted audience award accolade this weekend.

The Inverness Film Festival (IFF) reaches a climax on Sunday night with the Scottish premieire of Shame at Eden Court Cinemas.

Movie fans are being asked to determine which film from almost 40 screenings shown at the venue during a packed five-day event gets the nod.

Previous winners have included the film version of writer Stieg Larsson’s The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest and the remarkable Japanese movie, Departures.

The ninth IFF, launched on Wednesday, boasts two world premieres, around 20 Scottish firsts and several compelling shorts and documentaries.

Early front runners for the award include the films which top and tail the event, The Deep Blue Sea and Shame.

The former, a 1950s’ tale of forbidden love between the beautiful but bored wife of a high court judge and an ex-RAF pilot, stars Rachel Weisz and Tom Hiddlestone, directed by Terrence Davies. Shame, starring Michael Fassbender, focuses on a 30-something man in New York unable to control

his sex life. It has already picked up awards at the Venice Film Festival.

Australian film Red Dog has been hailed one of the finest heart-warmers in years while the third version of The Thing, a chiller about the disastrous consequences of a simple experiment that frees an organism from its icy prison on Antartica, has been acclaimed by critics as the best yet.

A retrospective on the work of filmmaker Timothy Neat and some intriguing looking short films, documentaries and examples of world cinema rounds out an impressive roster.

Full details can be found online at www.invernessfilmfestival.com