Cinetopia Recommends: 13-19 October 2025
Film screenings, events, opportunities and film news for the week / month ahead, covering Edinburgh, Glasgow and beyond! Helping you stay connected to the film community... 🎉
Hello from London Film Festival!
Roll up, roll up! Cinetopia are in the Big Smoke for BFI #LFF this week, so please excuse our tardiness with our regular newsletter!
We have been watching some incredible movies and will be bringing you all the gossip when we return. Stay tuned for our London Film Fest radio show special on EHFM and Cinetopia podcast soon…. For now, grab your diaries (or your favourite tote bag), and let’s dive into what’s happening this week. ⬇️
REMINDER: To feature your screening, event, opportunity or news, simply go to Cinetopia Connect, create a profile if you haven’t already (in just a few minutes!) and upload your event, screening, job opportunity, festival - you can register as a person, or an organisation (or both!) and your listings will be browsable by the general public!
PLEASE NOTE THIS IS NOW THE PRIMARY WAY TO GET FEATURED in Cinetopia Recommends (we do our best to trawl all the sites every week, but submitting to the platform ensures we see it!)
AROUND TOWN
Film screenings & events in Edinburgh and Glasgow 🍿
LONDON FILM FESTIVAL ON TOUR - EDINBURGH & GLASGOW
Discover the world’s best new films as the 69th BFI London Film Festival comes to Filmhouse in Edinburgh and Glasgow Film Theatre in Glasgow. Taking place from 8-19 October, see a selection of some of the most exciting new films around, all being shown in the UK for the first time. Tickets are selling fast!
Frankenstein - Jacob Elordi, Oscar Isaac, Mia Goth and Christoph Waltz shine in Guillermo del Toro’s imaginative and elemental retelling of Mary Shelley’s groundbreaking novel. 13 Oct I Filmhouse 8.10 pm
The Choral - Ralph Fiennes leads an excellent ensemble of new and established talent in this funny and moving First World War drama by beloved writer Alan Bennett. 14 Oct I Filmhouse 5.45 pm
The Mastermind - Josh O’Connor is superb as a rudderless everyman out of step with his immediate environs and the country at large, in Kelly Reichardt’s funny, shaggy heist film. 15 Oct I Filmhouse 8.45 pm
Rental Family - After his Oscar success with The Whale, Brendan Fraser returns to LFF, starring in HIKARI’s rich and heartwarming tale of a struggling American actor searching for a connection in Tokyo. 16 Oct Filmhouse 8.30 pm
EDINBURGH
FILM SCREENINGS:
OUR OTHER PICKS FROM THE FILMHOUSE:
Manyatta Mengi Mashariki: Shorts - Curated by Hawa Essuman and Fibby Kioria of Manyatta Screenings, and Wanjeri Gakuru of Mengi Mengi Film Club from Kenya, this short film programme spotlights exciting new voices from Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia and Reunion Island. 14 Oct 4 pm
Cinetopia: DOC presents LIFE AFTER + Q&A - In 1983, disabled Californian Elizabeth Bouvia sought the “right to die,” sparking national controversy about autonomy and disabled lives’ worth. After lengthy court battles, Bouvia disappeared from public attention. In Life After, Sundance-winner Davenport launches a personal quest to discover Bouvia’s fate and why her story remains disturbingly relevant. Davenport will be present for a Q&A I 15th Oct 6 pm
The Portuguese House (ESFF) - Quiet geography teacher Fernando is utterly devastated by the disappearance of his wife. Trying to find purpose, he takes on another man’s identity as a gardener on a Portuguese estate. There, he unexpectedly becomes friends with the owner of the house, as he continues on in a life that isn’t his own. Oct 17 6.10 pm
Marco, The Invented Truth (ESFF) follows the life of CNT secretary general and imposter Enric Marco, who climbed the fame ladder using a fake identity of a Nazi concentration camp survivor. Reaching positions of power such as the president of a Holocaust survivors’ group, Marco’s web of lies remained undetected for over twenty years. This film undertakes the disentanglement of a narrative, in all its complexity, which deceived so many, for so long, and appalled the masses when exposed. 18 Oct 3.15 pm
OUR PICKS FROM THE CAMEO:
BFI Flipside Presents - Full Circle: The Haunting of Julia Bereaved mother Julia (Mia Farrow) flees controlling husband Magnus (Keir Dullea), re-establishing herself in an old house in leafy West London. Yet she finds herself haunted by apparitions of a ghostly blonde-haired child, sending her on a strange journey of self-discovery - with dreadful consequences. | 15 Oct 6 pm
Free Student Screening: Saltburn - Get your mid-2000s fashion on and practice your Murder on the Dancefloor moves, because you’re cordially invited to a very special free screening of Saltburn for students only at Cameo Picturehouse. This screening is for students only, so please bring your student I.D. with you I 15 Oct 8 pm
Hitchcock | reDiscover - Picturehouse’s Hitchcock season boasts seven stone-cold classics from the director’s American period at all our cinemas, plus three of his best British bangers. Highlights this week at Cameo …
Birds I 19 Oct 11 am
Halloween Movie Month at Moonwake: We welcome you to a month of horror at Moonwake! We will be screening a range of horror films in the taproom’s cinema room in October. - 16th OCT: What We Do In The Shadows (2014)
Family Film Screenings: Dynamic Earth - Book our Family Planetarium Films! Celebrate spooky session with these classic adventures, showing at 10am on selected dates in October. 4-26 Oct
Magnetic Beats / Les Magnétiques - A bunch of friends broadcast a free radio station from their home in 1980s rural France. After one of them is called away to Berlin for his military service, he desperately wants to keep broadcasting with his friends. I French Institute I 15 Oct 2 pm & 6 pm
LOCAL RESISTANCE CINEMA Evening | Join us for food, and the feature documentary film Tish, followed by Q & A with the director Paul Sng and local photographer Craig Maclean. | North Edinburgh Arts | 16 October, 5pm
Voices and Visions of Sudan | Voices and Visions of Sudan invites viewers to engage with Sudan as a living cultural landscape shaped by memory, struggle and imagination. | The Space, Dalry | 17 & 18 October, 7pm
GLASGOW
FILM SCREENINGS:
OUR PICKS FROM GFT:
Ocean with David Attenborough: Community Screening & Q&A I 9 Oct 7.45 pm - Join us for a free screening of Ocean with David Attenborough, hosted by the Marine Conservation Society and followed by a Q&A. i 13 Oct 10 a.m.
Imitation of Life - Widow Bea Pullman (Claudette Colbert) and her daughter, Jessie, take in a Black housekeeper Delilah Johnson (Louise Beavers) and her fair-skinned daughter. Struggling to make ends meet, Delilah shares her family pancake recipe with Bea, and the two decide to start a business on the Atlantic City boardwalk. I 13 Oct 3 pm
EDINBURGH, GLASGOW, SHEFFIELD, & BRADFORD: Invisible Women Presents Stronger Than Love: ¡Too Much Mexican Melodrama! celebrates the lavish, emotionally charged world of 1930s–50s Mexican cinema with four restored classics that put women’s stories front and centre. From tempestuous romances to daring acts of defiance, these films showcase melodrama as a space where female desire, ambition, and artistry take the spotlight. I
GFT screening - 16 October, 15.40pm
Other venues starting from 8 November
Trash Cinema Presents - TrashFest 2025! - This October Trash Cinema is going all out for Hallowe’en with a full-day horror movie marathon!
We’ll be screening 5 sensational horror movies: The Guest, Idle Hands, May, Murder Party and a special mystery movie! Any correct guesses for the mystery movie will be in the running for a trashtastic mystery prize. Drygate 18 Oct 11am-11pm
CinemARC: Borderzone III, The Act of Witnessing | Join us for the third event in the CinemARC: Borderzone series. The Act of Witnessing examines the relationship between bodies, the environment, and the framing of identities in the context of war. It explores ways that colonial violence shapes identity through what is revealed, and omitted, highlighting the silenced and excluded, and echoing Judith Butler’s question of “who counts as a who.” | ARC Glasgow (Advanced Research Centre) | 17 October, 6pm
Hidden in Plain Sight ~ film screening | Featuring works by The Camelia Committee and Hannan Jones. Mira Adoumier is a researcher, filmmaker and visual artist. Carine Doumit is a film editor, writer and researcher. Nour Ouayda is a filmmaker and film programmer. Together we form The Camelia Committee, exploring the relationships between image, text, voice and sound through writing, research, filmmaking and film programming. | Many Studios | 18 October, 7pm
Tron: ARES on IMAX | TRON: ARES is Filmed For IMAX, featuring almost 50% of IMAX’s exclusive expanded aspect ratio, resulting in a motion picture experience that fills the whole screen. | IMAX at Glasgow Science Centre | Until 23 October
Rot Your Brain: A Television Reading Group | Discuss theories and themes in contemporary and past television. This month: Murder Mini-Series (Mare of Easttown, Sharp Objects and more) | Glasgow Zine Library | 16 October, 7pm
Creating for Film & TV — One-Day Intensive with Sacha Kyle | Join us for a jam-packed day of learning and creating for film & TV with Sacha Kyle Creative Producer & Director from Curious Dreamers! | House of Toad CIC | 19 October, 11am
Thinking Cinema, Thinking Latin America Workshop + Film Screening - Join us for a workshop led by Dr Charlotte Gleghorn explaoring textual film analysis and Latin American cinema as collaboration and practice I Advanced Research Centre (ARC), University of Glasgow I 16 Oct (tickets selling fast)
3 pm - Workshop - Dr Charlotte Gleghorn, Senior Lecturer in Latin American Film Studies and LLC Director of Research, will be joining us in the ARC this October to share her expertise and engagement with Latin American Cinema.
6.30 pm screening - El Rojo Más Puro (2023) - Luis Plaza, a union leader from the 70s, survived the eradication of his polical party. Following his last assasination attempt in 2014, his daughter Yira, a film director, discovers a lonely man in need of his family
FURTHER AFIELD AND FURTHER AHEAD
Film-related treats happening around the rest of Scotland and UK!
BOOK AHEAD: Eat FILM at Sloan’s The Addams Family | The rich Addams family lives in a nonconformist manner. But this wealthy eccentricity is threatened when the family lawyer and a mother-son duo plot to steal the riches of the family. A battle ensues. Enjoy dinner, drink, popcorn and a film from £20.00 per person | SLOANS | 30 October, 6.30pm
ACROSS SCOTLAND : IRON LADIES SCREENING ACROSS SCOTLAND - The inspirational story of iron-willed, working-class women who, during the 1984–85 Miners’ Strike, found themselves at the forefront of a battle against the British state. From Scotland down to Kent, women from the coalfields shed light on their experiences of the year long struggle trying to save their communities, and how they became the backbone of the Strike. With many still active today, their actions reshaped the landscape of political activism for working-class women.
Stirling I Macrobert Art Centre (as part of Central Doc Film Festival) I 31 Oct 7.30 pm - Edinburgh I Cameo I 21 Nov I 6 pm
CINETOPIA SALON #1 - Elevator to the Gallows (Louis Malle, 1958) + Live Jazz Performance: Join us for the very first Cinetopia Salon, a new monthly gathering where cinema meets live performance, nibbles and drinks, and good conversation. We’re screening Louis Malle’s Elevator to the Gallows (Ascensceur pour l’echafaud - 1958) starring Jeanne Moreau, famous for its live improvised score by Miles Davis. The evening includes a live jazz session by Colin Steele & Dan Abrahams. Come early for our French-style, apéro-hour pop-up bar (cash/card) and complementary nibbles! | FRENCH INSTITUTE | 30 Oct, from 6pm
Edinburgh Film Guild’s 2025/2026 Season at the French Institute has been announced- Since its founding in 1930, the Edinburgh Film Guild has organised and presented programmes of films not normally shown in mainstream cinemas. Their Season Pass gives you access to all the films of the Edinburgh Film Guild season at the Institut français d’Écosse, a saving of £12 on the regular price. Full Price : £36 | Concession* : £25.20 – Tickets available online and on the door I French Institute I 24th Oct 2025 - 20 Mar 2026
DUNDEE : Discovery Film Festival - celebrating its 22nd year! Based at Dundee Contemporary Arts and touring to partner venues throughout Scotland, the festival screens films from all over the world which have been specially programmed for young audiences. I 25th Oct - 2 Nov
Jali Collective launches inaugural Jali Film Weekender: Edinburgh’s new Black, Africa and diaspora festival I 30 Oct – 2 Nov 2025.
OPPORTUNITIES
JOBS / WORK OPPORTUNITIES COMING UP:
Reclaim the Frame Communications Coordinator - £27,500 pro rata (fixed term, to end March 2026). The Communications Coordinator will be both the voice of our mission across marketing and outreach channels, and the connector who helps keep our internal systems running smoothly. I apply by 14 Oct 2025
Digital Marketing Officer (remote) KLASSIKI streamer | Salary: From £2,500 pcm, Work with the team to develop and deliver effective & engaging marketing campaigns for all online and in-venue film screenings, events, and other associated activities. | Apply by 15 Oct
Jali Collective Call for Volunteers - We’re looking for enthusiastic and motivated volunteers to help us deliver the first edition of Jali Film Weekender. apply by 16 Oct
Film Programmer - BFI (London) | Salary: £35,640 - £41,763 | The BFI is seeking an experienced Film Programmer to work with the venue’s programming team to develop and deliver a bold, inclusive and imaginative film programme at BFI Southbank that inspires existing audiences, attracts new ones, and champions diverse voices and stories. | Apply by 22 October
Feature Film Producer - Silly Wee Films - seeking a Short Film or Feature Film producer with experience in funding applications to join our team. We are writing and developing “Call of the Laoich”, an epic Scottish adventure live action feature and we are keen to work with a collaborative producer who will help us realise the full potential of our story. | apply by 20 October
COURSES & WORKSHOPS:
Through the Lens North Edinburgh | Hands-on filmmaking course for adults (18+, no upper age limit) living in North Edinburgh | Screen Education Edinburgh | Deadline, 22 October
Composing for Film & TV | Led by BAFTA, RTS, and Cannes Golden Lion winning composer Giles Lamb, this one-day intensive pulls back the curtain on the creative and professional realities of scoring to picture. | House of Toad, Glasgow | 19 October, 11am-3pm
The NFTS Sean Connery Talent Lab - The Sean Connery Talent Lab announces the launch of its third year, continuing its mission to discover and nurture the next generation of filmmakers across Scotland and the UK. I apply by 1 Dec
Female Self Shooters - 5 Day course - A fully funded BBC-supported course in Glasgow for female TV producers to boost self-shooting skills in factual and documentary TV. Includes hands-on training and one-to-one tutor feedback. I Apply by 3 Nov
Creative Documentary Filmmaking for Researchers | Run by IMPRINT Documentary Collective, for people or marginalised genders (women, trans, and non-binary people) this is a practical, creative workshop on documentary filmmaking that aims to find the artistic, human, and emotional elements already present in our research. | online - various dates in September and October
BFI Film Academy Online Masterclass: Crafting a Career: Production Design - Learn directly from industry expert, Mark Leese, in this online session all about the dynamic work of the Art Department. Explore the creative processes involved in shaping the backdrops and materials of a scene. Discover the wide range of roles involved in bringing on-screen worlds to life, from production designers and set decorators to prop masters and scenic artists. For 18-25 Years I Online I 15 Oct 6.30 pm
AWARDS / FESTIVALS:
FESTIVALS / ORGS LOOKING FOR FILM SUBMISSIONS:
Glasgow Short Film Festival (BAFTA qualifiying) | Since 2008 Glasgow Short Film Festival has been the leading short film event in Scotland, hosting an inclusive community of filmmakers and film lovers, showcasing ground-breaking works of visual storytelling. We nurture and promote diverse forms of cinematic expression, in Scotland and around the world. | regular deadline 30 September, Late deadline 28 October.
West Lothian Film Festival | We are a vibrant celebration of emerging film and TV talent rooted in the heart of West Lothian. We provide an engaging platform for up-and-coming filmmakers. | early deadline 7 October
The Activists Without Borders Film Festival (AWBFF) is an in-person event held in the UK, celebrating powerful documentaries and dramas that address critical issues such as human rights violations, the climate crisis, and social inequality. | Final deadline October 2025
RSNO Open Call for Short Films - The RSNO is seeking existing short, animated films (4-7 minutes maximum) to be rescored by emerging composers and recorded by the RSNO as part of the next edition of our Film Composers Lab. You will receive a £200 usage fee per film I Submissions until 7 Nov
SI-FAN 2026 - SI-FAN is Scotland’s newest genre festival, with the aim of being the coolest film festival in Scotland and supporting the genre filmmaking community here. SI-FAN (Scottish International Fantastic Arts Network) is open for short film submissions. There is a dedicated Scottish short film award category.
FUNDS, GRANTS, FELLOWSHIPS, MENTORSHIPS:
Look Aside Film Fund - We’ve opened this fund to provide more opportunity for emerging voices and filmmakers. This year, our fund is of total value £5000 cash, as well as additional support from us and from our partners for the selected short film Early Deadline 26 Oct
BFI Future Takes - BFI and Film4 Future Takes offers support for higher-budget live action, short-form projects from teams of writers, directors and producers based in the UK. We are looking to support up to six short films, with funding of between £60,000 and £90,000 per film. I Apply by 20th Oct
The Bigger Picture Screen Scotland Talent Builder I The Bigger Picture, run by TAKE THREE, will support up to four short fiction films (live action only) that are developed and produced by filmmakers based in Scotland. This programme is aimed at filmmakers who have either made a funded feature already or are in development on a first feature film with some demonstrable industry interest. I Apply before 10 November, 12 pm
PERIPATETIC SCREEN EDUCATOR PROGRAMME 2025/26 | Schools across Scotland are invited to apply to the Peripatetic Screen Educator Programme, which is part of the wider work to develop, test & evaluate a draft Film & Screen Curriculum for Scotland. | Screen Scotland | Deadline 31 December 2025
NFTS Sylvia Anderson Scholarship | A new funding opportunity for aspiring storytellers, created in partnership with ITV Studios. The Sylvia Anderson Scholarship will support students on the NFTS’ world-renowned two year Screenwriting MA, ensuring that the next generation of screenwriters continue to push the boundaries of creativity and innovation. | Starting Jan 2026
OPEN CALL: Community Filmmaking Workshops | Apply now to host a one-day introductory filmmaking workshop in your community. Opening Shot’s Community Workshops Fund supports locally rooted workshops across Scotland. | Deadline: February 2026
BFI Creative Fund Opens | UK screen organisations can apply for funding ranging from £12,000 to £150,000 | Ongoing until March 2026
Schools Screen Education Fund | Funding to support schools across Scotland in their delivery of film and screen education. £500 - £5,000 per project. | Screen Scotland | apply before March 2026
Research Bursaries | Digital access to the LUX Collection - a set of bursaries for researchers (including artists, curators and programmers), allowing four researchers free digital access to the LUX Collection for a two-week period. The bursaries are for researchers who work with the moving image and are based in Scotland.
NEWS:
Film stories, productions, news, reports, industry insights, and other tidbits that have caught our attention this week!
The road ahead for UK producers, Trump tariffs and Bafta rule changes explained - The Screen Podcast
Work underway to turn former Scottish barracks into £16m film studio
Film Festivals currently running / coming up:
Samizdat Eastern European Film Festival / 30 September - 10 November / Across Scotland
Edinburgh Spanish Film Festival / 1-19 October / Edinburgh and across Scotland
BFI London Film Festival / 8-19 October / London
SQIFF: Scottish Queer International Film Festival / 27th Oct – 1st Nov / Glasgow
French Film Festival UK / 6 November, 11 December / UK-wide
Edinburgh Short Film Festival / Nov 7th – Nov 16th / Edinburgh
Havana Glasgow Film Festival / 11-16 November 2025 / Glasgow
IDFA / 12-23 November / Amsterdam, Netherlands