GLASGOW FILM FESTIVAL TURNS TEN WITH POP-UP CINEMA AND VINTAGE HOLLYWOOD GLAMOUR
GLASGOW FILM FESTIVAL TURNS TEN WITH POP-UP CINEMA AND VINTAGE
HOLLYWOOD GLAMOUR
After enjoying its most successful year ever in 2013, Glasgow Film Festival has
announced some very special developments along with the programme strands for the tenth
annual festival.
Since opening in 2005 with 68 films over ten days, GFF has grown into the third-biggest film festival
in the UK, with over 39,000 admissions to 368 events at the 2013 Festival, fifty-seven UK
premiere screenings and seven world premieres, and guests including major names like Joss
Whedon, John C Reilly, Gemma Arterton and Saoirse Ronan.
2014 is also a significant anniversary for Glasgow Film Theatre, the art deco cinema where
the Festival originated and which remains its headquarters. The Cosmo, which was only the
second purpose-built arthouse cinema in the UK, opened its doors seventy five years ago in
1939; after a makeover it reopened as Glasgow Film Theatre forty years ago in
1974. The full 2014 programme, which will include a number of anniversary celebrations, will
be revealed on Tuesday 21 January 2014.
NEW PROGRAMME STRANDS FOR 2014
1939: Hooray for Hollywood!
As well as birthing the Cosmo, 1939 was also a very significant year for Hollywood cinema –
widely regarded as Hollywood’s greatest year ever. 365 films were released, 80 million tickets
a week were sold, and the Best Picture award nominees at the 1939 Oscars were Gone with
the Wind, Stagecoach, Wuthering Heights, Dark Victory, Love Affair, Goodbye Mr Chips,
Ninotchka, Mr Smith Goes to Washington, Of Mice and Men, and The Wizard of Oz. Rather
than celebrating the achievement of an individual actor in the popular retrospective
programme strand, this year GFF will be screening all of those films, beginning with a palette whetting advance screening of Gone with the Wind at GFT in December, bringing a touch of Old Hollywood glamour to a Glasgow winter.
CineChile
The Festival’s country focus this year is on Chile, where filmmaking has recently been
energised by two large international successes, No (starring Gael Garcia Bernal) and Gloria
(for which Paulina Garcia won Best Actress at the 2013 Berlin Film Festival). GFF is delighted
to be able to draw attention to the breadth of excellent, innovative work coming from the
skinniest of countries.
Pop-Up Cinema
GFF’s audience-focused programmes are designed to bring cinema to the whole city, with
boutique screenings and cinematic experiences in a huge variety of unusual locations. At
GFF13, audiences went underground to watch The Warriors in the bowels of the Glasgow
Subway system, witnessed Jaws and Dead Calm from the cargo hold of the Tall Ship
Glenlee, encountered the silent classic The Passion of Joan of Arc, with live soprano
soundtrack, in the vaulted surroundings of Glasgow Cathedral, and donned Stetsons for a
barn dance and screening of Calamity Jane at the Grand Ole Opry, Glasgow’s long-running
country and western saloon. This year, there will be a themed pop-up event on every night of
the Festival apart from the opening and closing galas, taking in more venues across the city
than ever before. Selected events will be announced in December 2013.
‘The Festival has grown and developed in ways that we couldn’t have imagined in 2005. It
has been nurtured and sustained by the enthusiasm and passionate dedication of audiences
from near and far who have come to regard Glasgow as their Festival and an event they can
trust to bring them the best cinematic experiences, the most accessible guests and the most
affordable prices. We take the bond of trust with our audiences very seriously and look
forward to presenting them with a 2014 programme that matches their expectations of what a
Film Festival should be and how a special anniversary should be celebrated.’
Allan Hunter, Co-Director of Glasgow Film Festival
Glasgow Film Festival is funded by Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, Creative Scotland, Event
Scotland and the BFI Film Festival Fund.
COMPLETE LIST OF PROGRAMME STRANDS AT GFF14
• 1939: Hooray For Hollywood! All the Best Picture Oscar nominees from Hollywood’s Greatest
Year.
• Best of British – Brand new films and much-loved classics from all over the UK.
• CineChile – Recent releases from a country bursting with exciting new cinema talent. INCLUDES
The Illiterate (Las Analfabetas), Crystal Fairy, The Quispe Sisters (Las Ninas Quispe), The Summer of Flying Fish (El Verano de los Peces Voladores), Things the Way They Are (La Cosas Como Son), Violet Went to Heaven (Violeta Se Fue a los Cielos)
• Crossing the Line – Open your mind to experimental and artist films from Glasgow and across the
world. 2014’s programme will include the world premiere of Happy and Glorious, a new film
commission by upcoming video artist and recent Jarman Award nominee, Rachel Maclean, the
winner of GFF13’s prestigious Margaret Tait Award.
• Eurovisions – Romcoms from Romania, Swedish sci fi or noir from the Netherlands?
– the best new cinema from the continent.
• FrightFest – The horror institution takes over Screen 1 at GFT for the final weekend of the Festival
for back-to-back screenings and an advance wallow in the gore of the finest, freakiest new horror
movies.
• Gala – The big ones. Gala screenings, red carpet events and premieres. Are you ready for your
closeup?
• Game Cats Go Miaow! As computer games now regularly beat the biggest Hollywood box office
takings, is video set to kill the movie star too? Ace gamer Robert Florence, best known from
BBC comedy sketch show Burnistoun, is back with irreverent events, screenings and probably a
house party to celebrate the rise of the pixel.
• Glasgow Music and Film Festival – An inspired programme of live music events, features and
rockumentaries celebrating the special relationships between film and music, co-curated with The
Arches.
• Glasgow Short Film Festival (13-16 February 2014) Scotland’s leading short film showcase
returns for four days of screenings, events and parties dedicated to emerging film talent here and
around the globe. Four awards are up for grabs, including the prestigious Bill Douglas Award for
International Short Film, and this year’s programme includes a focus on emerging Irish talent,
avant-garde 16mm films from Japan, explorations of sound and cinema and much
more. http://www.glasgowfilm.org/gsff
• Glasgow Youth Film Festival (2-12 February 2014) Showcasing the best contemporary
international cinema for and by young people alongside workshops, masterclasses, competitions
and special events. Our Youth Film Festival is the only festival of its kind in Europe to be curated
and programmed entirely by 15-17 year olds, with films representing issues faced by young
people alongside events and workshops for those thinking about getting into the movie business.
http://www.glasgowfilm.org/gyff
• Great Scots – A celebration of native talent and local heroes with screenings of the best new
productions from Scottish filmmakers and Scottish production companies.
• It’s a Wonderful World – Globetrotting without a passport – brilliant titles from all over the world.
• Kapow! Biff! Bang! Kapow! Comic book legend and Fox creative consultant Mark Millar, creator
of Kick-Ass, is back to curate our strand dedicated to cult movies and the rise of the superhero.
• Out of the Past – Classic movies in peak condition back on the big screen, where they come alive
all over again.
• Pop Up Cinema and Special Events Cinema experiences in strange and unusual locations,
and distinguished guests in conversation.
• Stranger than Fiction – An exceptional selection of the best new documentary releases.