\n<\/p>\n
\n\tThe Sands International Film Festival opened Friday evening, marking a new milestone for the Scottish event: its fifth year in operations.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWhat nobody tells you at the start of new things is just how fragile beginnings can be,\u201d Festival Director Ania Trzebiatowska said in her opening speech on Friday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cHalf of new ventures don\u2019t make it to five years. I won\u2019t pretend that it\u2019s always been easy. But something extraordinary would happen every year at this festival, whether it was a student curator having their first moment on stage, introducing a film, or the truly magical afternoon that we had with Alan Silvestri a few years back.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tTrzebiatowska continued: \u201cSomething would happen that would make everything worth our while, and meant this town actually really wanted this festival, and that we should continue to put it on. So here we are.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tJohn Carney\u2019s latest feature, Power Ballad,<\/em> was the opening night film this year at Sands. Starring Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas, the musical comedy arrived at Sands following its debut at SXSW and a homecoming screening at the Dublin Film Festival.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tThe film follows Rick (Paul Rudd), a washed-up wedding singer, and Danny (Jonas), a fading boy band star, who bond over music during a miraculous late-night jam session. When Danny turns one of Rick\u2019s songs into a hit, Rick sets out to reclaim the recognition he believes he deserves.<\/p>\n \n\tAlso starring in the film are Marcella Plunkett, Havana Rose Liu, and Jack Reynor. Producers are Anthony Bregman, John Carney, Peter Cron, Rebecca O\u2019Flanagan, and Robert Walpole. Scottish musician Gary Clark composed the film\u2019s music, once again working with Carney following their collaborations on Flora and Son<\/em> and Sing Street<\/em>. Clark was present on Friday night in St Andrews for a post-screening Q&A with Trzebiatowska.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cJohn\u2019s movies have a lot of music performed in them as opposed to in the background, so everything has to be done that you\u2019re gonna see on screen before they start shooting, so it\u2019s pretty intense,\u201d Clark explained, adding that the film\u2019s central song, the anthem that drives the drama between Rudd and Jonas\u2019 characters, wasn\u2019t written until the last moment during pre-production.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWe literally didn\u2019t have it written until 3 days before Paul Rudd arrived,\u201d Clark said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tThe veteran musician was also full of praise for Rudd\u2019s musical ability. Throughout the film, the actor performs multiple musical numbers and holds his own alongside Jonas.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThe funny thing is, I\u2019d actually worked with Nick Jonas before, so I knew Nick was great, and when John told me that Nick was on board, I said, that\u2019s fantastic, it\u2019s a gift for me in the studio,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cBut when Paul came on, I was honestly Googling like mad trying to find bits, and then I found this clip of him doing Wichita Lineman. He did it really well, and I thought, this could be OK. But then in the studio, he was brilliant. I had no idea he was such a good singer.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tPower Ballad<\/em> is currently on release in the U.S. Lionsgate will release the movie next month in the UK.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tThis year, Sands runs until April 19. Headline events from this year\u2019s program include an on-stage Q&A session and musical event with the veteran BAFTA and Grammy award-winning composer Craig Armstrong (Ray<\/em>, The Great Gatsby)<\/em>. Titled An Afternoon with Craig Armstrong<\/em>, the event will see Armstrong in conversation with Edith Bowman about his career and creative process. The event will also feature live music performed on stage by St Andrews music scholars.<\/p>\n \n\tThe festival will once again mount its signature \u201cThis Much I Know\u2026\u201d<\/em> series, where leading industry professionals discuss their current practice and the contemporary marketplace. This year\u2019s guests include John Sloss, founder and CEO of Cinetic; AGBO Chief Creative Officer Angela Russo-Otstot; and production designer James Price. Price\u2019s credits include Poor Things, <\/em>which earned him both an Academy Award and a BAFTA for Best Production Design, as well as titles such as Bugonia, The Iron Claw, Speak No Evil, <\/em>and The Ipcress File.<\/em><\/p>\n \n\tElsewhere, veteran screenwriter and filmmaker Charlie Kaufman will travel to St Andrews to take part in an onstage session titled Moving Pictures: The Poetry of Cinema and Vice Versa <\/em>alongside poet Eva H.D. about the relationship between film, poetry, and the creative unconscious.<\/p>\n \n\tDeadline\u2019s Mike Fleming will also sit down with AGBO\u2019s Joe Russo and Angela Russo-Otstot for an onstage Q&A. They will be joined by a series of unnamed special guests.<\/p>\n