23 – 26 November 2007

Ticket Deal: See all three films in this season for £12/£7.50 concessions.

Biological Kinship and Identity

Why will Prince William become King? Is my genetic heritage important? Are my family name and my ancestors part of my identity? Why was I created? These are some of the questions which will be asked in this three-day biomedical ethics film festival. The films screening reflect on the subject of biological kinship and identity, and, at the end of each film, a discussion will take place between a panel of invited biomedical and bioethics experts and the audience.

The festival is organised in partnership with the Scottish Council on Human Bioethics, Filmhouse, The Humanist Society of Scotland and the Genomics Forum of Edinburgh University.

 

Frankenstein

Fri 23 Nov 6.00

James Whale | USA 1931 | 1h11m | 35mm | PG
Cast: Boris Karloff, Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, John Boles Dwight Frye.

Scientist Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive) and his hunchbacked assistant, Fritz (Dwight Frye), embark on a mission to create a new being by stealing a body from a graveyard and a human brain from a medical college...

Karloff gives one of the great performances of all time as the monster whose mutation from candour to chill savagery is mirrored only through his limpid eyes. Rather than simply adopting a conventional perspective (man should not play God), director James Whale emphasises the human drama (Frankenstein should not have abandoned his creation), transforming this Universal monster movie into an existentialist tale of our fear of abandonment.

After the screening there will be a discussion on the issues of creation and identity raised by the film with members of the Scottish Council for Human Bioethics, the Genomics Forum and Jane Bechtel of the Humanist Society of Scotland.

All About My Mother
Todo sobre mi madre

Sat 24 Nov 1.30

Pedro Almodóvar | Spain/France 1999 | 1h41m | 35mm | Spanish with English subtitles | 15
Cast: Cecilia Roth, Marisa Paredes, Penélope Cruz, Antonia San Juan, Candela Peña.

Almodóvar's lucky 13th feature was the first to be universally acclaimed a masterpiece at home and abroad, winning him his much deserved first Oscar. The night a car runs over her son Esteban, while waiting in the hospital, Manuela reads the last lines written by her son in a notebook that he always kept by his side. "This morning I looked through my mother's bedroom until I found a stack of photographs. All of them were cut in half. My father, I suppose. I have the impression that my life is missing that same half. I want to meet him, I don't care who he is, or how he treated my mother. No one can take that right away from me." When her son dies, Manuela goes to Barcelona in search of his father, Lola.

After the screening there will be a discussion on the issues of Biological Bonds and Identity raised by the film, Chaired by Dr Tony Weir from the British Association for the Advancement of Science (the BA).

Frozen Angels

Sun 25 Nov 1.30

Eric Black & Frauke Sandig | Germany/USA 2005 | 1h33m | 35mm | 12A | Documentary

Los Angeles is the world's capital of reproductive technology. Here the free market rules and as radio DJ Bill Handel, who also runs the world's largest sperm bank, says, "It's easier to open a sperm-bank than a pizzeria". Frozen Angels follows the personal stories and perspectives of the intelligent blonde college students donating eggs, the surrogate mums and the waiting parents, challenging everyone's moral code along the way. One sperm donor could potentially father hundreds of children in the same city – what if two were to fall in love? With blonde blue-eyed Californian designer babies de rigeur, are we heading towards genetic imperialism?

After the screening there will be a discussion on issues raised by New Reproductive Procedures and Identity with members of the Scottish Council on Human Bioethics, the Genomics Forum and the Humanist Society of Scotland. Tim Maguire of the HSS is the chair for this and Dr Chris James is on the panel.

For further information contact the filmhouse box-office at 0131 228 2688 or consult the filmhouse website at www.filmhousecinema.com