Glasgow Film Festival 2024 Launch
GLASGOW. Glasgow Film Theatre.
Glasgow Film Theatre launch GFF24. The event celebrates both the 20th edition of Glasgow Film Festival and the 50th anniversary of the GFT.
Glasgow Film Theatre launch GFF24. The event celebrates both the 20th edition of Glasgow Film Festival and the 50th anniversary of the GFT.
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00:00 [Music]
00:06 This year for GFF24 we have an absolutely brilliant opening gala.
00:16 We have Love Lives Bleeding, straight from its world premiere at Sundance.
00:22 It stars Kristen Stewart and Katie O'Brien.
00:25 It's directed by the wonderful Rose Glass who did St. Maud.
00:28 It's an explosive thriller and a mixture of love and violence.
00:32 It really is an absolutely brilliant film.
00:36 We are delighted to be opening GFF24 with this brilliant film from a female director.
00:43 Alison Gardner, here we are at the Glasgow Film Theatre.
00:46 It's a big year for the film theatre and for the Glasgow Film Festival.
00:49 Tell us a bit about that.
00:51 It is. It's the 20th edition of GFF this year, the first edition being in 2005.
00:56 It's the 50th year since Glasgow Film Theatre was constituted in 1974, a classic year for movies.
01:03 You've been involved with the festival since the very beginning. How did it come about?
01:07 I think we read a line in a European journal, Jackie McDougall, who was the previous CEO here,
01:14 saying that people who come to film festivals watch a broader range of cinema all year round.
01:19 We thought, well that's what we do at GFT, how difficult can it be to start a film festival?
01:25 So a film festival was born in 2005.
01:28 Did it take off right away or did it take a wee while to build?
01:30 No. Also, we are very good at building in baby steps, if you like, and building blocks to make sure that it was sustainable.
01:38 So no, we didn't start huge, we didn't start with a big budget, for example.
01:43 We had 6,000 people in our very first year, over seven days.
01:47 So it's expanded in what I would say is hopefully a sustainable way, although running any arts organisation, as you know, is a challenge in this current climate.
01:58 So obviously you've been through the impact of the pandemic affecting a couple of festivals.
02:04 How does it feel that the festival is very much on an upward trajectory now?
02:07 I think so. We obviously had Festival 2021 was fully online and Festival 22 was one of those sort of hybrid.
02:15 We still had to wear masks at that point.
02:18 And then 23 was the year we really felt that that was the first one out from underneath the shadow of the pandemic.
02:25 And this year, I think we're going all guns blazing to celebrate essentially what we do all year round.
02:31 The festival is our 'ta-da' moment in the year.
02:35 But I think that we've got that real international appeal to guests, filmmakers and sales agents, for example, in launching their films.
02:47 What do you anticipate the demand being like to see this year's programme?
02:51 Hopefully huge. I always like to remind people Glasgow Film Theatre and Glasgow Film Festival are not-for-profit making educational charities.
02:59 So every penny you spend with us goes back into making it better all year round.
03:04 So it's really important that people do continue to support us.
03:08 I think what we've got on offer, there's an absolute smorgasbord of films and there really is something from everyone.
03:14 We've got our fantastic Country Focus. We've got Invisible Women showing Dolores del Rio.
03:20 We've got Tamina's section Love is Sweet Oh about fantastic films about love.
03:25 We've got Natasha's films which essentially are about gestures of memory, which is about film and archive and looking at how that works in the African continent.
03:38 We've got Rosie's strand What Are the Men Wearing?
03:41 So we're looking at really interesting sections of the festival.
03:46 So there's something for everyone as well as the free retrospective, the opening and closing gala.
03:52 So there's something dotted around there for everybody as well as the special events.
03:56 So we've brought back at two of our special events this year.
03:58 We've got the Wizard of Oz and we've also got Female Trouble celebrating years in our history.
04:03 Tell us a little bit about the Scottish talent.
04:05 We've got Ewan McGregor in Bleeding Love. We've got a lot of great documentaries.
04:10 We've got the Bill Douglas My Best Friend directed by Jack Harcher.
04:14 That's a really great documentary. There's lots of really interesting stuff in Scotland happening around documentary.
04:21 I think it's a really growing genre. We have Tummy Monster as well.
04:26 I think our job as a festival based in Scotland is to highlight that talent and show what we have.
04:32 I really liked a Korean film called Sleep. I'm a sucker for a great Korean film and it's a really good film.
04:40 I like a touch of horror about it. That's fantastic.
04:44 Another horror film is You Will Never Find Me which is launching Frightfest, a great Aussie drama. I really love that.
04:53 The Teachers' Lounge which we're showing is being distributed. That will absolutely blow you away.
05:01 And also La Camara as well. There really is lots of things in there that will be the talking point at some point for audiences.
05:10 And you want the bragging rights. Where did you see it? I'm sorry, I saw that first at Glasgow Film Festival.
05:15 That's what you want to do.
05:17 I'm Chris Kumar. I'm the programme coordinator for the festival.
05:21 This year we really focused on the idea of discovery with the festival.
05:27 There are so many amazing films that hit festivals all around the world that don't necessarily always get to land in the UK.
05:34 We've really put a concerted effort into searching for the best of the best.
05:40 Things that we really think people will come away from and want to tell other people about.
05:45 We're trying to open the door to discovery with our programme and show people that while there are big names in the programme and big films that people will be interested in,
05:55 there's also a lot to uncover. We're just really excited to showcase what we have on offer.
06:01 Do you find that the festival's audience is willing to take a gamble and a chance on things they've never heard of?
06:06 Yeah, I think so. I think over the 20 years now we've managed to grow an audience to the point where a lot of people want to take a chance.
06:13 They'll listen to what the programmers and the team have recommendations for.
06:19 I think we've got a good trust with the audience now.
06:22 I used to be an audience member before I worked for the festival. I was sitting in these seats.
06:27 I would get the schedule and I would be like, "Oh, there's a clash," and all this stuff.
06:32 It's an exciting time. It's a buzz. I think that's what we've managed to cultivate over the years, is that buzz of titles that are coming.
06:39 I think the audience does trust us now at this point.
06:42 But obviously, if you don't like the film, it's fine. We'll happily have that chat as well, because everyone is different at the end of the day.
06:48 If it's your first year, I would recommend having a good look through the programme.
06:53 If you do it in plenty of time, you'll be able to get tickets for things you want to see.
06:58 Come along and just give it a shot. We're a very friendly film festival. That's what we aim for.
07:04 You're always going to see members of staff buzzing about the GFT and other venues.
07:08 So please, if you're feeling at all apprehensive about it, come and chat to us. We'll happily have a chat with you.
07:15 That's what we want to do. We want to have conversations with the audience.
07:19 It can be daunting if it's your first year, but once you've been to one screening, you're going to be ready for the next one.
07:28 I know you're probably not allowed favourites, but give us a few things to watch out for in the programme.
07:33 I think the home game is an amazing documentary in the same vein as Next Goal Wins.
07:38 The Icelandic football team are desperate to have a game at the pitch they've built in their Nations Cup.
07:46 It's all about them building a team and having that game. It's very sweet and heartwarming.
07:52 For anybody that's just a documentary fan, I feel good documentary fan, that is the one for you.
07:58 I would probably highlight a Sri Lankan comedy called Tentigo.
08:03 We don't get many Sri Lankan films in the programme, and a comedy as well. We don't get many comedies in the programme.
08:08 It's hard to source those. This is a film about a family who have to deal with the aftermath of their father's death.
08:14 Something embarrassing happens and they have to...
08:17 It's a farcical situation where things start to snowball and go wrong.
08:21 It's a real crowd pleaser, so I'm really delighted to have that in the programme as well.
08:26 [Music playing]
08:32 [MUSIC]