August 14, 2000 12:42

MOVIEGOERS LEFT IN THE '...DARK'

But the star doesn't show up - and then the power fails...

Bjork's award-winning debut movie 'DANCER IN THE DARK' launched the EDINBURGH FILM FESTIVAL last night (August 13).

The star herself failed to show up, but the audience still included a number of Scots celebrities including Robert Carlyle, Teenage Fanclub's Norman Blake and Gerry Love, Stuart Murdoch of Belle And Sebastian, The Pastels, EastEnders actor Forbes Masson, comedian Phil Kay, plus 'Top Of The Pops' and 'O-Zone' presenter Jayne Middlemiss.

The musical, which won the prestigious Palme D'Or award when it premiered at Cannes Film Festival, opened with a short video introduction from director Lars Von Trier, from his home in Denmark.

The showing at the city's ABC1 cinema was beset by technical glitches, with a 15-minute blackout towards the end. The sound cut out, then the audience were told that there was a problem with power in the rest of the building and the lights went out. Ironically, it ground to a halt during a scene in the film where Bjvrk's character Selma talks about how much she hates silence.

Applause, tears and cheering greeted the closing scenes.

The Film Festival continues this week with a special event as part of the music video Mirrorball series, profiling Bjvrk's musical career today (August 14), and a late-night showing to mark the UK premiere of Kylie Minogue's horror movie 'Cut' on Saturday (August 19).

Other Mirrorball features include a special on animation in music videos featuring work by Richard Kenworthy and his associates at animation company Shynola, who have produced videos for UNKLE, Grooverider and Quannum.