What’s On
The Queer Art of Film - Funeral Parade of Roses (15) with introduction
Part of The Queer Art of Film season at the Robert Burns Centre. With an introduction by Dr Connor McMorran and a chance to discuss the film afterwards in an informal setting. Free tea and coffee will be supplied by the RBC. The People's Joker is screening on Sunday 4 May.
A celebration of youth and subcultures, a condemnation of intolerance, and a one-of-kind cinematic experience, Funeral Parade of Roses is a kaleidoscopic masterpiece and one of the most intoxicating films of the 60s. Transgender actor Pîtâ gives an astonishing performance as Eddie, hostess at Bar Genet – where she’s ignited a violent love-triangle with reigning drag queen Leda for the attentions of club owner Gonda.
Featuring an introduction by Dr Connor McMorran. Connor McMorran holds a PhD in film theory from the University of St Andrews, and has written or spoken on horror films, East Asian cinema, and various critical and philosophical frameworks and histories. They currently focus on queer film history and theory, and work as part of the team behind the St Andrews Film Festival (SAFF).
The Queer Art of Film - The People’s Joker (15) with introduction
Part of The Queer Art of Film season at the Robert Burns Centre. With an introduction by Dr Connor McMorran and a chance to discuss the film afterwards in an informal setting. Free tea and coffee will be supplied by the RBC. Funeral Parade of Roses is screening on Sunday 20 April.
In the absurdist autobiographically-inspired dark comedy that boldly reimagines the Joker’s origin, a painfully unfunny aspiring clown (Vera Drew as Joker the Harlequin) grapples with her gender identity while unsuccessfully attempting to join the ranks of Gotham City’s sole comedy program in a world where comedy has been outlawed.
Featuring an introduction by Dr Connor McMorran. Connor McMorran holds a PhD in film theory from the University of St Andrews, and has written or spoken on horror films, East Asian cinema, and various critical and philosophical frameworks and histories. They currently focus on queer film history and theory, and work as part of the team behind the St Andrews Film Festival (SAFF).
Writer Stephen Rutt takes Flight 12+
We are delighted to welcome writer and amateur naturalist, as well as RBC staff member, to talk about his first book, The Seafarers as part of this year’s Book Week Scotland. The Seafarers is a portrait of lives lived largely on the wing and at sea, or else seasonally tied to some of the most remote and stony outposts of the British archipelago.
Stephen will intersperse readings from his awarding winning debut book with screenings of two films he has selected. The Private Life of the Gannets (1934, 15 mins) is one of the first nature documentaries, produced by Alexander Korda about a colony of Northern Gannets on a small rocky island off the coast of Pembrokeshire. The Guga Hunters Of Ness (2011, 60 mins) is a more recent, even-handed BBC documentary about a controversial annual seabird hunt for guga, the meat of the young gannets on Sula Sgeir, a desolate island 40 miles off the Isle of Lewis in the North Atlantic.