Film festival keeps its eyes on the fries

Film-maker Morgan Spurlock shocked America and the fast-food industry with his experiment, which saw his weight soar from 185lbs to 210lbs.

Now the documentary, the release of which coincided with a move by McDonald’s to phase out "super size" meals in the United States, is set for a gala premiere at the festival in August.

Super Size Me, a prize winner at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, was confirmed today for this year’s festival programme, along with new works by acclaimed British film-makers Ken Loach and Richard Jobson.

However, it is the premiere of Super Size Me that is bound to create one of the biggest stirs at the festival, after its huge success in the US. Spurlock put on so much weight and his health deteriorated so badly that doctors urged him to abandon the experiment.

Inspired by reports about two women who accused the fast food industry of causing their obesity, Spurlock set about taking a satirical look at the legal, financial and physical costs of America’s hunger for fast food, famously deciding to put his own body at risk.

His expos of the effects of eating breakfast, lunch and dinner at McDonald’s has become one of the most successful documentaries of all time, and is said to have done for fast food what Michael Moore’s Bowling for Columbine has done for the gun industry.

Spurlock drew up simple rules for his month-long experiment, including that he had to accept a super-size meal if he was offered one and that he had to eat everything on the menu at least once.

Already confirmed for this year’s festival are The Motorcycle Diaries, about the young Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara, which will open the ten-day extravaganza on August 18, as well as Dear Frankie, a warm-hearted Scottish film set in Greenock that wowed audiences at Cannes.

It was confirmed today that the Chinese martial arts epic Hero, a big-budget spectacular that has impressed critics, will also be screened.

The sci-fi drama 2046, by the acclaimed Hong Kong director Wong Kar-Wai, and the thriller The Machinist, starring Christian Bale, are also thought to be in the festival programme.

Jobson’s The Purifiers, his second feature after the critically acclaimed 16 Years of Alcohol, reunites the director with Scots actor Kevin McKidd in a British martial arts film set in the near future.

Ken Loach’s Ae Fond Kiss, his first film since the smash hit Sweet Sixteen, is set in Glasgow and explores the racial tension that results from an affair between a Catholic and a Muslim. It has already created controversy because of its portrayal of the issues at the centre of the storyline.

Evening News film critic Rory Ford said: "The two big films for me in this line-up are Hero, which is just meant to be an absolutely amazing film, and Super Size Me.

"Super Size Me is going to be huge when it is released here in the autumn. It shot straight into the US top ten at the box office and stayed there for ages.

"It’s already apparently caused McDonald’s to ditch super-size portions from their menus, although they claimed they were going to do so anyway, as well as introduce salads.

"By all accounts Hero is just as good as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. It’s a story told in a series of flashbacks about how one man defeated three assassins who sought to murder the most powerful warlord in pre-unified China."

Film festival director Shane Danielsen said: "It’s a very interesting time for documentaries at the moment following the success of Michael Moore’s Farenheit 9/11 and Bowling for Columbine, and this piece of work is every bit as political as they were.

"It’s a great criticism of American culture and it is fascinating to watch the impact it has on Spurlock, whom we’re hoping will be able to attend the premiere.

"I would expect Ae Fond Kiss to be an even bigger success for Ken Loach than Sweet Sixteen. It’s a much softer film for him and is almost a romantic comedy.

"Jobson’s new film is a martial arts epic set in a Glasgow of the future and is very much inspired by the martial arts films that he grew up with."

Details of this year’s festival are due to be unveiled next week.