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Press and Journal
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Press and Journal
Gallery: Highland Pride draws crowds to the heart of Inverness
Highland Pride took place on Saturday June 7, and was a vibrant celebration of diversity, inclusion and the LGBTQ+ community across the Highlands. Hundreds joined the colourful parade through Inverness city centre, marching from Falcon Square to Eden Court with banners, music, and loads of energy. The Pride Paddlers passed under the bridge just as the parade crossed over it, and a flashmob-style dance outside Eden Court closed the parade on a high. At Eden Court, people could explore a fire engine with local firefighters, take part in sports demos including badminton, disc golf, football and paddling, and chat to groups like Nature Days and the Samaritans. Later in the day, the celebration continued inside the Empire Theatre from 2.30pm, with speeches from Emma Roddick MSP, Cllr Sarah Fanet, and Lady Carbisdale, each highlighting different aspects of LGBTQ+ activism. There were also brilliant performances from Venus GuyTrap, Dashh, and Sugar Browne. P&J photographer was there to capture all the best moments.
The Citizen
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Citizen
Joburg's Forgotten Movie Empire
'When you look at what he achieved, it is astonishing.' Before Tom Cruise came to Mzansi to shoot his new Mission Impossible movie, before District 9 gave locally created alien tin cans a cult following, there was Killarney. Not the mall, not the office blocks or leafy streets. A hundred years ago it was more veld than suburb, a little off the beaten track. But for a brief period, it became our version of Hollywood. At the same time as the film and movie industry was starting to take shape as an industry in California, with Charlie Chaplin and others laying the foundations of what would become the movie capital of the world, Isidore William Schlesinger, better known as IW, was doing the same in South Africa. In 1913, after founding and successfully running everything from insurance companies to banking ventures, he moved into the top floor of the Carlton Hotel. It was already the city's most glamorous address, although only six storeys high at the time. From there, he set about building a movie empire the country had never seen before. Hollywood on the Highveld This is the historical spine of Hollywood on the Veld, the new book by author and journalist Ted Botha, also known for Apartheid in My Rucksack and Daisy de Melker. The book is extremely well-researched, and while it's not fiction, it reads like a novel. 'It was its own little Hollywood, right here in Joburg,' said Botha. 'There was glamour, gossip, intrigue and ambition. But no one remembers it.' Hollywood on the Veld was born out of a mystery. Botha said he stumbled across two black and white photos as a child, depicting a South African film set dated around 1917. It clashed with what he had always been told, that the country had no real film industry at the time. Over time, what began as curiosity became a full-blown investigation into a forgotten chapter of local history and the man behind it. Also Read: Chris Carter's 'Death Watcher': Unputdownable 'Schlesinger had a vision,' said Botha. 'But did not like publicity, so it was difficult finding information.' 'He bought the Killarney land, and people thought he was mad. It felt like the middle of nowhere back then.' What followed was a decade of movie-making that rivalled the scale of cinema's only other major centres at the time, Los Angeles and Rome. Joburg was dusting off the mining camps and becoming a city Johannesburg was a city on the up and up, dusting off its mining camp beginnings to become a major city. Showbusiness was emerging. Cinema, however, was not a money spinner at the time. But Schlesinger saw the potential. In 1913, he bought a failing movie theatre called Empire Theatre and turned it into African Consolidated Theatres, slowly building a nationwide film and variety show network. He founded South Africa's first film studio, African Film Productions, and launched the country's first newsreel, African Mirror. 'Schlesinger then built his own studio, ran production, distributed the films and showed them in his own theatres,' said Botha. 'It was a closed loop system. He did it all.' Epic films like The Symbol of Sacrifice and De Voortrekkers rivalled the biggest productions being made anywhere else at the time. 'When you look at what he achieved, it is astonishing.' 'Everything, be it radio or our movie industry, it all goes back to him,' said Botha. 'Even the Afrikaans film industry of the 1950s and 1960s. If you trace it, there is always someone who had a connection to Schlesinger.' He had big ideas for films about Shaka, Rhodes and Dingaan, and later turned to straight adventure stories, well before Hollywood made them a staple. Short-lived golden age But the Killarney based golden age did not last. 'The movies never really caught on locally,' said Botha. 'They did better overseas. But still, he kept going. Forty films in ten years. Then he lost interest and changed his focus to importing foreign films and growing his theatre business.' Naturally production declined. The studio eventually segued to industrial films, then to government commissioned propaganda. But African Mirror survived, becoming one of the world's longest running newsreels. After reading the book and speaking to Botha, it becomes clear that this is not just a story about old movies. It is about vision, ambition and follow through. 'I want people to get a great story,' said Botha. 'But also to walk away with the understanding that South Africa has always had the potential to compete on the world stage. We forget that. We underestimate ourselves. This book is a reminder.' Now Read: Muse in motion: Louisa Treger redefines the creative spark …
BBC News
13-03-2025
- BBC News
Liverpool: Pedestrian hit by bus in city centre dies
A pedestrian who was hit by a bus in Liverpool city centre has 27-year-old man was struck outside the Empire Theatre on Lime Street in at about 23:00 GMT on Saturday. He was taken to hospital with serious injuries but has since died, Merseyside Police said. The driver of the bus stopped at the Christine Bennett said the force was continuing to investigate what happened and asked for anyone with information, including dashcam or mobile phone footage, to get in touch. "Our thoughts and condolences are with the man's family and our specialist officers are supporting them at this difficult time," she said. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
BBC News
16-02-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Rotherham filmmaker Nathan Geering on shooting kung fu feature in his home town
Nathan Geering heads off into the basement of the bar he's shooting his film in."I'm the writer, director, lead actor and fight choreographer" he tells me as he disappears down the 43-year-old martial arts expert is taking on a host of roles for his debut feature - a kung fu thriller entitled The Lock Forge bar is one of a handful of venues in Rotherham town centre being used in his "passion project".Nathan, who was born and bred in the town, first developed a taste for martial arts action as a child."I use to watch old-school kung fu movies back in the 80s with my grandma but two years ago I was in a bit of a funk. I asked my inner eight-year-old child what I really wanted to do and he said 'I want to be Jackie Chan!'" In the dusty basement, a bar brawl scene is being shot. This is filmmaking on a shoestring budget which means each crew member takes on multiple roles. The scene laid out in front of me needs director of photography Adam Hornsby to play the part of a victim. In a dramatic moment, glass showers across the room after a bottle is smashed over his head."I'm not hurt," he reassures the room. "It's the weirdest thing. It's sugar glass so it just pops on impact."Mr Hornsby says the film is "like Quentin Tarantino meets Jackie Chan but in Rotherham".The story focuses on a "nervous guy" on a date who meets a mysterious bartender (played by Nathan) and gets caught in the crossfire between assassins. Despite the film's lack of budget, there is a wealth of experience amongst the bubbly crew, even through long days."I've worked with these guys on short films. We are of the same heart and mind. "I need my team to feel happy, valued and appreciated. This is a collective" explains we talk, Carolyn Dean, who plays one of the assassins, stands nearby confidently holding a broken pool cue. Nathan wrote the script for the film in late 2024. He'd spent the summer training with the Jackie Chan Stunt Team in Beijing where he learnt the art of action filmmaking and martial arts to the UK he says he felt "inspired" and ready to make a longer film, having previously had some success with short action films, including Flaming Assassin, which bagged a number of awards."You can either wait for permission or you create your own opportunities" he film was always going to be set in his home town."We're not pretending this is Shanghai. We want to raise the aspirations of the town and change the narrative."We are here to show that if you collaborate, great things can happen," he adds Although The Lock In has been shot predominately around Rotherham town centre including at the redeveloped Empire Theatre, Nathan also took advantage of a recent visit to the claiming three martial arts gold medals in the The Battle of the Dragons World Championships in Atlantic City, he managed to get a little help from "Hollywood stunt royalty"."Jeff Pruit, the stunt co-ordinator on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, leant me a helicopter so now we have a helicopter stunt. It's mad!" The cast and crew move upstairs to the main bar of The Forge and begin setting up for the final scene of the day. A pool table is pushed to the side of the room and lights shine towards the bar where Ethan Lyndsey, who plays The Farmer, prepares for a fight scene with Nathan's character The trained in martial arts and break dancing but says he was cast because he had "very specific" skills."I'm really good at what they call hit reactions, that's my thing," he explains."Not everyone can do it but I get hit a lot in this film and I make it look realistic." Nathan hopes to wrap at the end of February and is hopeful the film can travel "far and wide"."We are still raising funds to ensure the post production, sound effects and music score can be as good as possible," he says."We have to have a premiere here in Rotherham, but then hopefully a full international distribution deal, [hopefully] Netflix, Paramount Plus. "We want to take on the big boys."Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here.
