You might spot some famous faces in and around Glasgow over the next two weeks as the Glasgow Film Festival celebrates its 21st birthday. Tim Roth, Jessica Lange, George Mackay and Japanese model-turned-songwriter Kōki are among those who will be strutting their stuff on the red carpet, alongside homegrown talent like Martin Compston and James McAvoy. There will even be an appearance by Formula One champion Damon Hill at what is set to be a cracking edition of the popular annual event.
Why will it be cracking?
This year is extra special for the festival team, and there may be a few tears on closing night because it’s the final event being run by longstanding festival director Allison Gardner. “Working with Allison has been amazing”, said programme coordinator Chris Kumar, acknowledging that decisions about the future are yet to be made. “The most important thing for us just now is just making sure that we make Allison’s last festival the best one we can.”
World premières, thrillers and more
The festival has opened with the première of Scottish/Japanese co-production Tornado, a surreal thriller which sees puppeteers cross paths with a crime gang. The thriller genre is well represented this year, with other highlights including Kill The Jockey – a personal favourite of Kumar’s – The Surfer, Zero, and Baby Assassins: Nice Days. For those who like things a little darker, there is, of course, also the regular FrightFest strand, which includes Italian romantic chiller An American Backyard and fascinating folk-horror-tinged documentary The Last Sacrifice, in which Rupert Russell (son of the late, great Ken Russell) explores a bizarre real-life English murder mystery.
This year’s line-up also includes a special strand dedicated to Austrian cinema which shows that there’s life beyond Michael Haneke – though you will still have the chance to catch the original Hidden on the big screen.
As is typical of this festival, there are music-themed films scattered right across the line-up, including Ebony and Ivory, Peaches Goes Bananas and Margherita Vicario’s extraordinary historical drama Gloria! There’s a retrospective screening of Coyote Ugly in the Grand Ole Opry. “I don’t know if we can do dancing on the bar just for health and safety reasons”, said Kumar, “but we’ll probably have something along the lines of that anyway. It’s an iconic venue and fits the vibe perfectly. These events take a life of their own. It’s an immersive experience – a chance for you to really enjoy watching a film that you love with a bunch of other people who also love that film.”
Scotland in the spotlight
“We’re really putting Scottish films in the spotlight and we’re really proud we can do that”, said Kumar, citing the documentary that will close the festival, Make It to Munich – the story of a seriously injured teenager who was determined to cycle all the way from Hampden Park to the German city in time for Scotland’s opening match in Euro 2024. On Falling depicts a different side of Scottish life through the story of a lonely Portuguese warehouse worker in Edinburgh, while a more fantastic vision is explored in post-apocalyptic musical The End, which stars Tilda Swinton.
“We just focus heavily on getting the best films that we can and making the most diverse programme possible so that there’s a bit of something for everyone”, Kumar added. “Anyone can pick up that programme and find something that would appeal to them. And the hope is then that that’ll introduce someone to their new favourite film and then, because they’ve got that lovely experience of being at the festival and seeing something that’s wowed them, hopefully they’ll come back for more.”
The festival opened yesterday 26 February, and will run until 9 March, with tickets available at the Glasgow Film Theatre. But hurry, tickets are selling fast.
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