Manchester Kurdish Film Festival, Manchester
Being a stateless region in the most volatile part of the Middle East, it's no surprise that the cinema of Kurdistan is full of conflicts and borders. The Quarter Of Scarecrows is an allegorical take on the Iran-Iraq war, while Son Of Babylon and Mando both use quests for missing family members to survey the current, devastated landscape. Kick Off, meanwhile, is based on real events at a refugee camp in a Kirkuk stadium where a man attempts to settle Kurdish-Iraqi differences through the international medium of football.
Cornerhouse, Sat to Tue, kurdishcreativefilm.com
The Avengers 50th Anniversary Celebration, Chichester
Facing cold war danger with a very English combination of wit, judo, kinky boots and superior umbrella manufacture, The Avengers led where many spy thrillers still follow ? not least James Bond, which first came to the screen a year later, and poached a few Avengers stars in its time. Guest of honour Honor Blackman might have a few things to say about that. She's joined by Linda "Tara King" Thorson and other veterans of the series, many of whom went on to figure in the British film and TV industries in general, such as producer Brian Clemens, Monty Python's Carole Cleveland and director Robert "Dr Phibes" Fuest. As well as interviews, there are live panel commentaries on vintage episodes and video contributions from Steed himself, Patrick Macnee. Just don't mention Uma Thurman.
Chichester University, Sat & Sun, visit blogs.chi.ac.uk/theavengers
Kosmos: A Soviet Space Odyssey (Part One), London
On film, as it was in life, the Russians got there first. But long before even Yuri Gagarin went off-world, Russian cinema was imagining what he might find there ? even if the likes of 1924's Aelita: Queen Of Mars were slightly off the mark. The BFI brings us a two-month history of Soviet sci-fi, some of which has never been seen by the rest of the world. It's like discovering a new planet. It's also the flipside of a cinematic space race with Hollywood. The rocket ship Josef Stalin goes to the moon in 1936's Cosmic Voyage, cosmonauts rescue Americans on the way to Mars in Call Of The Heavens, and the modernist space design of Icarus XB-1 must surely have influenced Stanley Kubrick. All this plus events with real cosmonauts and a rocket school for kids.
BFI Southbank, SE1, Fri to 31 Jul, bfi.org.uk
London Indian Film Festival, London
Judging by this off-the-Bollywood-radar festival, Indian cinema is confronting the taboos of its society like never before. Gay and bisexual themes are tackled in Just Another Love Story and the grief-stricken Memories Of March. There's paint-smeared passion in racy artist biopic Rang Rasiya, and opener Delhi Belly could be India's answer to The Hangover. Also on show are new works by forward-looking indie directors including Anurag Kashyap, offering That Girl In Yellow Boots, and Murali Nair, whose latest concerns a farmer's efforts to mate his goat (with another goat).
Various venues, Thu to 12 Jul, visit londonindianfilmfestival.co.uk
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/jun/25/avengers-50th-kurdish-film-festival
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