Cineworld, February 17, 6.45pm;
February 18, 9pm
Teenagers in marginalised societies are a familiar enough subject in Scottish cinema – think Neds, Sweet Sixteen – but it's instructive to see how filmmakers in other cultures deal with the same issues. Andrew Okpeaha MacLean's Sundance hit, On The Ice, is set among the Inupiaq community in Barrow, northern Alaska. The common concerns of its young leads are hip-hop, parties, dope and girls – until a drunken feud on a hunting trip ends in a death. Under the guise of a thriller, MacLean shines a light on the tensions that erupt in any closed community when lie builds on lie, as well as on some which are more specific to his Alaskan homeland: rampant alcoholism, lack of opportunity, economic hardship. It would be easy to revel in the majesty of the snowscape, but MacLean's camera dwells instead on the slush and squalor of the town. A clever and absorbing film, made with an insider's eye for detail.
