The full programme of the 2024 edition of Scotland’s largest film festival, the Glasgow Film Festival has just been announced. Celebrating its 20th instalment, the festival run from Wed 28 Feb to Sun 10 Mar at Glasgow Film Theatre and other venues across the city.
GFF will open with the UK premiere of Rose Glass‘ (Saint Maude) Love Lies Bleeding, currently having its world premiere at Sundance, and close with with the world premiere of Janey, following legendary stand-up Janey Godley on her final stand-up tour following her cancer diagnosis.
The programme boasts 11 world and international premiers, 69 UK premieres and 15 Scottish premieres, from 44 countries.
Another Scottish comedy icon gets to shine again on the big screen with a new restoration of the 1976 documentary, Billy Connolly: Big Banana Feet. Lovingly restored by the BFI in collaboration with the film’s director Murray Grigor from the only two 16mm prints known to exist, the film follows Billy on his legendary 1975 tour of Ireland.
Other Sottish highlights include Glasgow director Ciaran Lyons makes his feature debut with Tummy Monster, a hallucinogenic black comedy about a self-centred tattoo artist (rising Scottish star Lorn Macdonald from GFF19 closing film, the brilliant ode to the ’90s rave scene, Beats) who gets embroiled in a bizarre psychological battle with an international popstar.
There is also an exclusive chance to see the entire second season of the award-winning Helensburgh-shot queer BBC Scotland drama Float, written by acclaimed playwright Stef Smith and starring Hannah Jarett Scott and Jessica Hardwick.
Amid the dizzying array of premieres is the Audience Award, the sole award presented at GFF. The eight-film shortlist, sponsored by MUBI the nominated films are:
Milk Teeth, an atmospheric survivalist drama with a fairy-tale edge that sees trouble brewing for a young woman and her mother after they take in a foundling youngster against the wishes of their community.
Falling into Place, a meet-cute romance set between London and a wintry Isle of Skye written, directed by and starring Aylin Tezel alongside Chris Fulton (Bridgerton).
Hesitation Wound, a taut character study from Selman Nacar whose protagonist, embroiled in a murder trial defending a mentally fragile client faces tough choices that extend well beyond the courtroom.
The Home Game,the true story of how a plucky village football side became determined to play a home game in Iceland’s FA Cup.
Martinez, an irresistibly droll Spanish comedy that sees a curmudgeonly elderly office worker determined to live out his neighbour’s bucket list after she dies.
The Teacher, a powerful drama from British-Palestinian filmmaker Farah Nabulsi about Palestinian school teacher struggling to reconcile his risky commitment to political resistance with the chance of a new relationship with volunteer-worker Lisa (Imogen Poots).
Woken, Alan Friel’s psychological sci-fi thriller set in the near-future starring Maxine Peake and Erin Kellyman as a pregnant woman who wakes up on an island with no recollection of anyone she’s living with, forced to question everything she knows as new arrivals trigger violence in a fight for both her life and that of her unborn baby.
The Dead Don’t Hurt, an epic new Western directed by and starring Viggo Mortensen alongside Vicky Krieps and Danny Huston.
Allison Gardner, CEO of Glasgow Film and Director of GFF, said: “I am extremely proud to have been here for every one of Glasgow Film Festival’s 20 editions. My thanks goes to everyone who has helped us to get this far. Many, many people have worked incredibly hard to make this the friendliest film festival in the world.
One of my highlights of GFF is our Audience Award, this year sponsored by MUBI. The Audience Award supports emerging talent and it’s a joy to see these films play in front of our dedicated audiences. Watch all 8 of our hand picked films and support these directors at the early stages of their directing careers.”
There will also be the 19th staging of FrightFest from Thu 7 to Sat 9 Mar, which is always a welcome edition and a phenomenal weekend. There is also a country focus strand, Czech, Please! As well as a series of premieres from the Czechia, the strand features a screening of Věra Chytilová‘s anarchic masterpiece Daisies.
Other retrospective screenings include such diverse classics as Mr Smith Goes to Washington, The Godfather Part II, Foxy Brown, and A History of Violence. Some Scottish classics also make an appearance in pristine new 4K restorations:
Allison Gardner said, “Over the years, at Glasgow Film Festival, we have supported Scottish films and talent. Something that we are very proud to have done and this year is no exception. We also champion Scottish films from our past and this year we have some fantastic anniversaries to honour. Shallow Grave is 30 years old and Glaswegian Lynne Ramsay’s debut feature Ratcatcher screening from a new 4K print is 25 years old. Our motto is ‘Cinema For All’ and we strive to bring the best films from around the world to Glasgow. My advice to everyone is to choose films you know nothing about and take a chance, you might discover a hidden gem (and the programme is positively bursting with them!) that will stay with you forever. Here’s to the next 20 years.”
Tickets to Opening and Closing Galas go on sale at 11am on Thursday 25 January; tickets to all events go on sale to GFT Cinecard holders at 11am on Friday 26 January and on general sale at 11am on Monday 29 January at https://www.glasgowfilm.org/home and from the GFT Box Office.
Glasgow Film Festival runs from Wed 28 Feb to Sun 10 Mar 2024