Zombie Nation

A decomposing Colonel Gaddafi lurches along a main road accompanied by a rabble of other creatures from beyond the grave.

Halloween in Shawlands does tend to be a colourful affair but there were even more eyebrows raised than usual when the Southside Film Festival came to town.

Festival founder and director, Karen O’Hare, has embarked upon a run of special Halloween events to publicise next years’ event which will take place on the weekend of May 18.

Along with a sell-out screening of The Cabinet of Dr Caligari in Pollokshaws Burgh Hall with live Wurlitzer organ accompaniment, Karen organised a showing of cult classic Night of the Living Dead on the eve of Halloween in south side nightclub The Shed.

She is keen not only to bring films to a more local venue for southsiders but also to provide a more sociable experience that “engages” people from all across the city.  In keeping with this, cinema-goers were encouraged to take part in a “zombie walk” before the film began on Sunday.

Prizes were given to the aforementioned “Zombie Gaddafi” and his rather gruesome one-armed companion for their imagination and dedication to character during the walk.

One zombie, Flora Munroe 27, had been to the festival in May and felt the audience participation was a real draw.

“I thought it would be great to dress up as a Zombie and I also really wanted to watch the film, it’s been a fantastic night” she said.

The event is a labour of love for Karen and mainly self-funded.  Her passion is in bringing local and unusual films to a south side audience: “It’s also normally quite hard to distribute local films or Scottish films in general so the festival is a way of getting those movies out there.”

“It’s fun more than anything else and a great way to see films you wouldn’t normally see” she added.

There are also plans to have screenings on the run up to Christmas, most likely these will be two favourites of Karen’s: A Muppet Christmas Carol and the classic 1951 version of A Christmas Carol featuring Alistair Sim as Scrooge.

Submissions are still being taken for next year and films will be accepted for free before January 16.

For more information check out http://southsidefilmfest.blogspot.com/