Glasgow Film Festival (GFF) has announced the big screen stars that will be visiting the city for its 20th annual celebration of cinema, which runs from 28 February to 10 March 2024.
Walking the red carpet will be 1917 star George Mackay at the Scottish premiere of sci-fi romance The Beast (7 March); Schitt’s Creek and The Rig star Emily Hampshire at the World premiere of her new horror Mom (9 March); and Breaking Bad’s Dale Dickey, one of Hollywood’s leading character actresses, with revenge thriller The G (29 February).
Dance First’s Maxine Peake will be attending the UK premiere of new dystopian sci-fi Woken (3 March); The Gold star Nichola Burley with the World premiere of haunting Cornish drama Edge of Summer (8 March) and The Vampire Diaries’ Sara Canning in the World premiere of The Burning Season (3 March), a tragic love story told backwards.
Three-time Best Actor Oscar nominee and Lord of the Rings star Viggo Mortensen will also be in town for GFF, doing a special live In Conversation event and introducing the UK premiere of his new Western, The Dead Don’t Hurt (3 March), which he directs and stars in.
Aylin Tezel, Kevin Macdonald and Janey Godley, courtesy of GFF
Scottish talent attending includes award-winning comedian Janey Godley at the World premiere of the new documentary about her final tour following her terminal cancer diagnosis Janey (10 March); Beats and Shetland star Lorn Macdonald at the World premiere of Glasgow-shot hallucinogenic comic thriller Tummy Monster (2 March), and Orkney-born lead of ITV’s recent Tom Jones adaptation Solly Mcleod, in town for the UK premiere of The Dead Don’t Hurt (3 March), who also has the UK premiere of nail-biting police siege Jericho Ridge (9 March) screening at GFF.
Behind-the-camera talent includes British director Rose Glass at the Opening Gala UK premiere of her Sundance hit Love Lies Bleeding (28 February); veteran filmmaker Murray Grigor introducing the World premiere of the new restoration of his rarely-seen 1975 documentary of Billy Connolly’s tour of Ireland Big Banana Feet (3 March); BAFTA-winning British-Palestinian director Farah Nabulsi with the UK premiere of her new feature The Teacher (4 March), about a Palestinian school teacher struggling to reconcile his life-threatening commitment to political resistance with the chance of a new romantic relationship with a volunteer worker.
German actor Aylin Tezel (7500) will be attending the UK premiere of her Isle of Skye-shot directorial debut Falling Into Place (2 March). Festival favourite Ben Wheatley will also introduce a 15th anniversary screening of his debut feature Down Terrace (1 March) and Glasgow-born Oscar winner Kevin Macdonald will introduce both the Scottish premiere of his new fashion documentary High & Low: John Galliano (5 March) and the UK premiere of Made in England: The Films of Powell & Pressburger (5 March), featuring his own grandfather Emeric Pressburger.
Glasgow Film Festival takes place at Glasgow Film Theatre and venues across the city from 28 February to 10 March, with a programme boasting 11 world and international premieres, 69 UK premieres and 15 Scottish premieres, from 44 countries.
Tickets are on sale now for all screenings, at GFT Box Office or online at the Glasgow Film Festival website.
Background
GFF is one of the leading film festivals in the UK and is run by Glasgow Film, a charity which also runs Glasgow Film Theatre. Glasgow Film Festival is made possible through support from Screen Scotland, the BFI Audience Projects Fund, awarding National Lottery funding, and Glasgow Life.
Glasgow Film Festival is firmly established as a key event in the UK's cultural calendar. Launched in 2005, GFF has grown greatly in significance and is now a key launching pad for films and one of the top film festivals in the UK. GFF continues to grow and develop its international reputation. Held annually, it presents a unique programme of feature film premieres, special events, live and interactive experiences, and an Industry Focus programme for filmmakers at every stage of their career.
GFF was named the Big Screen Event of the Year at Screen International’s Big Screen Awards in November 2022 for achieving a record high of 73% audience capacity at its first in-person edition post-Covid.
Header image: Emily Hampshire, Viggo Mortensen and George Mackay, courtesy of GFF