Latest news with #IndiaDonaldson
Scottish Sun
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
Five things to do in Glasgow and further afield this summer to entertain adults and kids alike
Here's five ideas for things to do in and around the Dear Green Place SUMMER'S COMING Five things to do in Glasgow and further afield this summer to entertain adults and kids alike Looking for summer plans? Glasgow's got you. From ceilidhs in the park and smoky BBQ takeovers to indie film gems and Highland adventures, the city's buzzing from June through August. Advertisement 5 People Make Glasgow - come and find out for yourself Here's what not to miss! Get your dancing shoes on for The Reeling Head to The Reeling and see some of Scotland's biggest names in Trad music take to the stage in Rouken Glen park. The 5,000-capacity event will see the Southside spot spring to life with world-class performances across two stages. Advertisement The event offers fun for all with a dedicated kids' area, 'The Weeling', as well as high-quality Scottish food and drink offerings from the likes of the popular Skye eatery Café Cùil. The festival is guaranteed to have you toe tapping and singing along all weekend. WHEN: 6-8th June WHERE: Rouken Glen Park, Glasgow PRICE: £49.50 - £120 (kids under 5 go free) 5 The Reeling is held in Rouken Glen Park Advertisement Enjoy your staycation for less with Hostelling Scotland With over 28 locations across the highlands, islands and lowlands, Hostelling Scotland has something to suit every traveller - from private en-suites to shared dorms and even exclusive hire options for larger groups. The majority of the youth hostels are licensed and offer a selection of food and drink, along with well-equipped self-catering kitchens, drying rooms and laundry facilities. Scots holiday park named one of best in world When: All summer! Where: Across Scotland. Price: More info here Advertisement Escape on a breathtaking bikepacking trip with Comrie Croft Only an hour's drive from Glasgow, Comrie Croft will have you fully kitted out for a Highland bikepacking adventure within minutes. That's the magic of Comrie Croft Journeys: Scotland's most seamless cycling escape. Based at a converted farmstead in the heart of Perthshire, they offer fully supported off-road trips through ancient woodlands, wild glens and lochside trails, with everything from bikes and bags to route planning and local tips sorted for you. Think of it as an all-inclusive, but on two wheels. Advertisement 5 Comrie Croft cycling When: All summer! Where: Braincroft, Crieff Price: More info here Take yourself to the Glasgow Film Theatre If you need a cool calm break from the sunshine (or the rain!), step inside the Glasgow FIlm Theatre for a summer of indie cinema. Advertisement A must-visit for lovers of arthouse and international film, the GFT regularly brings bold new voices to the big screen. This Spring/Summer don't miss Good One, the striking debut from US filmmaker India Donaldson. Recently nominated for Best First Screenplay at the Independent Spirit Awards, the film was picked up by UK distributor Conic and will hit the GFT on the 16th of May. Following a 17-year old girl on a backpacking trip with her dad and his friend, the story unpacks simmering tensions and teenage resilience. Fresh from Sundance and Cannes, Good One is the kind of quiet masterpiece GFT was made for! Advertisement When: Good One released on 16th May Where: Glasgow Film Theatre. Price: More info here 5 Glasgow Film Theatre Eat, drink and share stories at Meatopia 5 Meatopia hits Glasgow in June Advertisement Get your hands on some quality scran at the 'World's Best BBQ' Meatopia. Founded in the US by the late food writer Josh Ozersky, the meaty extravaganza is making its Scotland debut at SWG3 this June. Built around sustainability, high-quality ingredients and unforgettable flavour. Prepare to get your hands on high quality cuts cooked on an open flame by a stacked line up including El Perro Negros' Nick Watkins, fire cooking experts Melissa Thompson and Maureen Tyne, 2023 Scotland's chef of the year Calum Montgomery and many more. When: 6th-8th June Where: SWG3, Glasgow Price: More info here
Glasgow Times
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Glasgow Times
New 'film and walk-in nature club' to launch in Glasgow
The "film and walk-in nature club" will launch this month to celebrate the release of Good One, a coming-of-age film by US director India Donaldson. Field Notes Film Club is the creation of Glasgow-based filmmakers Carina NicHaouchine and Isa Rao. Read more: Glasgow Film Theatre to host special season of classic films Isa described it as "the new book club but with boots and a big screen." It is designed to provide people with a fresh way to connect to films, nature, and each other. The first watch-and-walk event will focus on Good One, a drama that follows 17-year-old Sam on a camping trip with her dad and his best friend. The film's themes of gender roles, emotional labour, and the concept of being "the good one alongside its strong relationship with nature, are what led to the creation of the Field Notes Film Club. Carina said: "The idea was sparked by the film's message - the emotional weight so many women and queer people carry, especially in quiet, 'in-between' spaces like walking or camping. "We wanted to take that idea, turn it into a connection, and bring it into the hills and woods around Glasgow. 'I hope that this can catch on beyond Glasgow. "There are truly so many benefits to getting out in nature, in a group environment that you feel safe in and can build a community within. 'It's an opportunity to celebrate film, to connect with others, and to connect with the world around you.' The club's first event is designed specifically for LGBTQ+ people and those of marginalised genders, offering a safe, inclusive space to explore the outdoors and reflect on resonant stories. Participants will set off on a nature walk together after watching a screening of Good One. Read more: Entrepreneurs urged to join 'inspiring' school mentor programme in Glasgow Isa Rao said: "Walking in nature can be a powerful way to process film, especially one like Good One, which speaks so much through silence, gesture, and the emotional weight women and queer people often carry quietly. "It's a different kind of conversation when your body is in motion." Full details of this event are expected to be announced soon via Conic and participating venues. Good One will appear in selected cinemas across the UK and Ireland, including the Glasgow Film Theatre, from Friday, May 16.
Irish Times
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Good One review: This low-key coming-of-age drama is a sneaky revelation
Good One Director : India Donaldson Cert : None Genre : Comedy Starring : Lily Collias, James Le Gros, Danny McCarthy Running Time : 1 hr 29 mins India Donaldson's Good One is a sneaky revelation, a low-key coming-of-age drama that deftly sidesteps familiar tropes in favour of keen cringe comedy and emotional precision. Set against the verdant backdrop of the Catskill Mountains, in New York State, the film follows 17-year-old Sam (the remarkable Lily Collias, in a breakout performance) as she joins her father, Chris (James Le Gros), and his long-time friend Matt (Danny McCarthy) on what was supposed to be a four-person hiking trip. When Matt's resentful son bails, Sam finds herself an unwilling third wheel to two middle-aged man babies marinating in nostalgia, insecurities and unacknowledged failures. Spooky campfire tales descend into stories of postdivorce resentment. A meal at a roadside diner culminates in food shaming. 'I've never been a vegetarian,' Sam explains patiently. 'But you seem like one,' Dad replies. READ MORE Under the guise of banter, Matt teases Sam about her queerness; Chris demeans her driving. The passive-aggressive barbs come thick and fast while Sam is left to cook the ramen, dismantle the tent and act as unofficial umpire. Her parentalised status is finally acknowledged in a moment of toe-curling inappropriateness. All subsequent attempts to flag the disconcerting incident are brushed off, leaving the weary heroine to enact a deliciously petty revenge. Donaldson, a first-time writer, director and producer, has written a fiendishly clever script enlivened by a quick-witted ensemble cast. Collias, who can do more with a raised eyebrow than most actors can manage with a soliloquy, brings exasperated pathos to every reaction shot and pregnant silence. The cinematographer Wilson Cameron frames the bickering and multiple microaggressions with serene woodlands, rushing rivers and tranquil hillsides. This sly, observant debut – a critical wow at both Sundance and Cannes last year – channels the bittersweetness of Kelly Reichardt's snappier moments, but from the youthful perspective of an eye-rolling teenager staring into the abyss of male privilege. In cinemas from Friday, May 16th
The Guardian
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Good One review – excellent indie hike movie is intelligent and humane
Road movie and coming-of-age are accepted genres; maybe hiking-through-the-forest deserves equal status. It's a distinctive US indie type, coloured by the sun-dappled green foliage, flavoured by the unemphatic presence of both beauty and danger. And heading for … what? An escalating series of scary moments, or just a low-key crescendo of epiphanies or emotional confrontations? Middle-class New Yorkers can journey through the wilderness in the movies but, unlike in John Boorman's 1972 film Deliverance, they may encounter only the inner hillbillies of their own anxiety and discontent. This excellent film from first-time director India Donaldson is a smart, sympathetic and terrifically acted drama about 17-year-old Sam – an outstanding performance from Lily Collias – who agrees to go on a hiking trip in the Catskill mountains with her gloomy divorced dad Chris (played by James Le Gros) and his buddy Matt (Danny McCarthy), a failed actor who shares his friend's marital status (divorced), his portly body type, his receding hairline and his habit of exhaustedly cracking wise about the awful way their lives appear to have worked out. This trip was supposed to have included Matt's stroppy teen son Dylan (company for Sam, presumably) but he has pulled out after a quarrel with Matt – so now, a little weirdly, it's just the two ageing guys and the teenage girl in what promises to be a non-bonding adventure before Sam heads off to college, a kind of platonic Jules-et-Jim or Butch-and-Sundance and Katharine Ross dynamic, only it's just a vacation. Or is it? Donaldson sets a low-key tone of banter and backtalk, in which Sam has to ride in the back of her Subaru, making herself carsick by checking her phone and annoying her dad by asking if she can drive; he finds it annoying because she is actually a better driver than he is. Goofy Matt shows himself to as incompetent at hiking as he is at managing the rest of his life, and as they chat by the campfire under the stars, Matt is quietly awed by the wise, insightful way Sam sums up his problems and predicts how the rest of his life could well go. It's a lovely moment – and then the mood goes terribly wrong. Another kind of director might have cranked the dial way up at this crisis in her relationship with both Matt and Chris but Donaldson decides to let it go, just as Sam effectively lets it go and the mood recedes calmly back to normality. It is subtly climactic, as if in a short story, and you can see how Sam, as she gets into her 20s and 30s, is going to look back on this as a strange last-moment-of-youth event. (I almost wondered if we were going to get a flash-forward of older Sam looking back on it.) In some ways, the father-daughter theme reminded me of Debra Granik's 2018 Leave No Trace, and I wonder if Donaldson has taken a little inspiration from that film. It is very intelligent and humane, and what a great performance from Collias. Good One is in UK and Irish cinemas from 16 May.
