Weird Weekend 2024, taking place Friday 25 to Sunday 27 of October at OFFLINE, Glasgow's newest multi-arts venue, presents exclusive restorations, world premieres, international guests and special events as it brings strange cinema to the local audience.
The festival’s main theme is The Observer Effect, exploring the outsider perspective of cult cinema and cult audiences, the relationship between viewer and film, film-maker and medium, and the blurring of all lines. The festival also considers films that can’t be seen at all, from Batgirl to Goncharov, in the complementary No-Film programme of commissioned video essays and related gallery show, exploring unmade films.
World premieres include the 25th Anniversary 4K restoration of Treasure Island (Scott King, 1999), starring Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation, The Last of Us) and the 4K preservation of Screamplay (Rufus Butler Seder, 1984), commissioned by Weird Weekend from the director’s own print, in celebration of the film's 40th anniversary.
Opening and Closing Nights give the audience control, with Make Good Choices: An Evening of Interactive Cinema celebrating the unpredictable world of choose your own adventure movies, and Overchoice: th 5-2-1 Game presenting the audience with the first five minutes of five unfamiliar films and then the option of which to watch together.
In-person guests include Treasure Island director Scott King; Unsee curator Louise Weard (Computer Hearts, Castration Movie); and Jaye Hudson (TGirlsOnFilm), to deliver an extended introduction to the Scottish premiere of “lost” midnight movie musical Scarecrow in a Garden of Cucumbers (Robert J Kaplan, 1972).
Unsee is Weird Weekend’s annual mystery 60-minute slot taking place in the hour before the clocks go back (i.e. 1am to 1am), this year curated by Canadian director Louise Weard.
Weird Weekend offers sliding scale tickets, so audiences choose what to pay according to their means (from zero to £8 for single tickets), and descriptive subtitles and optional audio description on the entire programme, so the event can be as accessible as possible.
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Weird Weekend is an annual cult film festival based in Glasgow, Scotland, founded, programmed and produced by Matchbox Cine (Sean Welsh and Megan Mitchell).
Established in 2018, past editions have hosted the world premiere of Fredric Hobbs’ “lost” film Troika (1969), rediscovered and restored by Matchbox; Welsh-language horrors Gwaed Ar Y Sêr (1975) and O’r Ddaear Hen (1981) translated into English for the first time; John Paizs’ Crime Wave: The Original Cut, preserved from the director’s own 16mm print; rare outings for the likes of T om Schiller’s Nothing Lasts Forever (1984); and the annual UNSEE event, inviting film-makers including Elizabeth Purchell and Vera Drew to guest curate.
Weird Weekend is funded by Screen Scotland. Screen Scotland drives the development of all aspects of Scotland’s film and tv industry, through funding and strategic support. Screen Scotland is part of Creative Scotland and delivers these services and support with funding from Scottish Government and The National Lottery.