Broadway and Nottingham UNESCO City of Literature have joined forces to revive Nottingham's International Crime, Mystery and Thriller Festival: Shots in the Dark.
After a hiatus of almost two decades, Shots in the Dark Film Festival is heading back to Broadway Cinema for four days of crime, mystery, thrillers, preview screenings, talks and classic films. Originally created in 1991 by Broadway’s first Director and Film London’s current CEO, Adrian Wootton, Shots in the Dark ran until 1999 and welcomed a number of internationally renowned filmmakers and crime writers to Nottingham including Sara Paretsky, John Woo, James Ellroy and a young Quentin Tarantino, who presented a screening of Reservoir Dogs in 1992, and returned the following year to host an unofficial first UK screening of Pulp Fiction.
Here's a preview at some of the highlights from this year's festival, which will run from Thursday 28 June until Sunday 1 July.
Terminal (2018) Preview Screening
“There is a place like no other on earth. A land full of wonder, mystery, and danger. Some say to survive it, you need to be as mad as a hatter. Which luckily, I am”
Thursday 28 June – 7.45pm
Director: Vaughn Stein
Starring: Margot Robbie, Simon Pegg, Dexter Fletcher
Runningtime: 95 mins
Country: UK
In the dark heart of a sprawling and anonymous city, two assassins carry out a sinister mission, a teacher battles a fatal illness, an enigmatic janitor and a curious waitress lead a dangerous double life. Murderous consequences unravel in the dead of night as their lives all intertwine at the hands of a mysterious criminal mastermind who is hell-bent on revenge.
Did you know? Terminal will be Mike Myers’ first major motion picture in seven years.
Scarface (1932) + Introduction
“Listen, Little Boy, in this business there's only one law you gotta follow to keep out of trouble: Do it first, do it yourself, and keep on doing it.”
Friday 29 June – 2pm
Director: Howard Hawks
Starring: Paul Muni, Ann Dvorak, Karen Morley
Runningtime: 93 mins
Country: US
Key lieutenant of South Side Chicago crime boss Johnny Lovo, Tony Camonte is an ambitious and reckless gangster who ignores warnings not to mess with Irish gangs on the North Side. When the North Side retaliates, Tony essentially massacres them, leaving him on top of the world. Worried about Tony's overconfidence, however, Johnny orders him killed, but this also backfires, and Tony finds himself even closer to becoming king of the city.
Did you know? Irving Thalberg suggested Clark Gable for the role of Tony Camonte. However, Hawks turned him down, saying, "We need a real actor, not some personality."
Screening will include an introduction from Dr. Ian Brooks, from the Department of Culture, Film and Media at the University of Nottingham and author of Howard Hawks: New Perspectives.
Bertrand Tavernier Career Overview + In The Electric Mist (2009) Screening
“Venal and evil men are destroying the world you were born in. It's us against them my good friend. Don't compromise your principles or abandon your cause.”
Friday 29 June – 6pm
Director: Bertrand Tavernier
Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, John Goodman, Peter Sarsgaard
Runningtime: 117 mins
Country: France
Director Bertrand Tavernier is welcomed to Broadway Cinema to receive the Inaugural Shots in the Dark Lifetime Achievement Award. At this event the director, who is known for work rich in political and social commentary, and classic Policiers and Film Noir adapted from legendary novelists such as Jim Thompson and James Lee Burke, will discuss his long and distinguished career as a critic, publicist, director and producer. The event will include a screening of Tavernier's film In The Electric Mist, which follows a Louisiana detective as he tries to link the murder of a local prostitute to a New Orleans mobster who is co-producing a Civil War film.
Did you know? John Bell Hood died at the age of 48. In this movie, he's played by 68-year-old Levon Helm.
Bertrand Tavernier will be in conversation with Adrian Wootton
On Dangerous Ground (1951)
“The city can be lonely too. Sometimes people who are never alone are the loneliest.”
Saturday 30 June – 12.15pm
Director: Nicholas Ray and Ida Lupino
Starring: Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan, Ward Bond
Runningtime: 82 mins
Country: USA
Jim Wilson is a New York police detective on the edge. Hardened and embittered by his years of dealing with the lowest forms of criminal the city has to offer, Wilson becomes increasingly violent with suspects. For his own good, Wilson's police captain assigns him to a murder investigation in the countryside for a change of scenery. While searching for the killer, Wilson meets the suspect's sister, Mary Malden, a blind woman who might turn his life around.
Did you know? Lee J. Cobb, Albert Dekker and Howard Da Silva were all considered for the role eventually played by Ward Bond.
On Dangerous Ground will be presented in 35mm
Bertrand Tavernier on French Crime Cinema + L.627 (1992) Screening
“You have no friends, they're all informants.”
Saturday 30 June – 2.00pm
Director: Bertrand Travernier
Starring: Didier Bezace, Jean-Paul Comart, Charlotte Kady
Runningtime: 146 mins
Country: France
Bertrand Tavernier’s epic My Journey Through French Cinema provided an integral tour through the films that shaped him as a cinephile and storyteller. In this unique event he turns his attention to the history of the French Crime film, which will include a screening of his 1992 film L.627. Tightly wound Parisian narcotics officer Lucien "Lulu" Marguet teeters on the brink of job-related burnout despite his desire to wipe out the city's drug dealers. His bureaucracy-minded boss focuses more on paperwork. Female undercover officer Marie and HIV-positive streetwalker Cecile help Lulu's attempts to fight the dealers on their own turf.
Did you know? ‘L.627’ refers to the article in the French legislation on public health pertaining to narcotics.
Bertrand Tavernier will be in conversation with Adrian Wootton
A Prayer Before Dawn (2017) Preview Screening
“I need to fight… just give me a chance”
Saturday 30 June – 7.45pm
Director: Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire
Starring: Joe Cole, Vithaya Pansringarm, Panya Yimmuphai
Runningtime: 116 mins
Country: UK
The remarkable true story of Billy Moore - jailed in one of the world’s toughest prisons, Klong Prem, the notorious 'Bangkok Hilton'. Refusing to die there, Billy becomes a student of the lethal art of Muay Thai Boxing and in the process finds a brotherhood that will help guide him on an incredible journey to redemption.
Did you know? The inmates are all played by real ex-prisoners who had served time in Thai jails.
Screening will be followed by a Q&A with writer Nick Saltrese
Coup De Torchon (1981)
“They say there are a hundred kinds of deaths. I hope yours will be the worst.”
Sunday 1 July – 11.30am (with English subtitles)
Director: Bertrand Tavernier
Starring: Philippe Noiret, Isabelle Huppert, Stéphane Audran
Runningtime: 125 mins
Country: France
Hapless Lucien Cordie is the beleaguered police chief of a small town in French colonial Senegal. The local criminals openly mock Lucien's inability to put a stop to their illegal enterprises, and his unfaithful and shrewish wife Huguette is having a blatant affair with Nono, whom Lucien believes is her brother. When the humiliations finally become too much for him to bear, Lucien takes matters into his own hands.
Did you know? Coup De Torchon was France's official submission as Best Foreign Language Film to the 1983's Academy Awards.
Michael Eaton on Charlie Peace + The Case of Charles Peace (1949) Screening
“The man who had baffled the police for years. Master criminal, great lover… a mixture of childlike simplicity and cunning evil.”
Sunday 1 July – 2pm
Director: Normal Lee
Starring: Michael Martin Harvey, Chili Bouchier, Valentine Dyall
Runningtime: 106 mins
Country: UK
This illustrated talk charts the evolution of a Sheffield-born Victorian master burglar and murderer from truth to legend, using rare sources and illustrations. From how his crimes were reported in The Illustrated Police News to the growth of the legend and folk hero in Penny Dreadfuls, popular theatre, waxworks and early cinema, this is a fascinating blend of true crime and 19th-century history. Includes screening of the 1949 classic film The Case of Charles Peace.
Did you know? The Case of Charles Peace was the only lead role of Michael Martin Harvey’s career.
Sicilian Ghost Story (2017) Preview Screening
“Giuseppe hasn’t been to school for 17 days. Something must have happened.”
Sunday 1 July – 5.30pm (with English subtitles)
Director: Fabio Grassadonia, Antonio Piazza
Starring: Julia Jedlikowska, Gaetano Fernandez, Corinne Musallari
Runningtime: 122 mins
Country: Italy
In a little Sicilian village at the edge of a forest, Giuseppe, a boy of 13, vanishes. Luna, his classmate who loves him, refuses to accept his mysterious disappearance. She rebels against the silence and complicity that surround her, and to find him she descends into the dark world which has swallowed him up and which has a lake as its mysterious entrance. Only their indestructible love will be able to bring him back.
Did you know? Big screen debut for actors Julia Jedlikowska, Gaetano Fernandez and Corinne Musallari.
CJ Tudor in Conversation with Sandeep Mahal
Author CJ Tudor, whose debut novel The Chalk Man sparked a furious bidding war, joins UNESCO City of Literature Director Sandeep Mahal in conversation about her own novel, the incredible popularity of the psychological thriller, and the kind of novels CJ Tudor reads for inspiration. CJ Tudor was born in Salisbury and grew up in Nottingham, where she still lives with her partner and young daughter. Over the years she has had a variety of jobs, including trainee reporter, dog walker, radio scriptwriter, voiceover artist, television presenter, copywriter and now author.
For more information on screenings or to book tickets, visit the the Broadway Cinema website
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