Films - Glasgow Film Festival

Glasgow Film Festival gets underway this evening, so here's a baker's dozen of the films we're looking forward to...

With the opening Gala performance of The Outfit already a sell-out, there's a lot to look forward to at this year's Glasgow Film Festival. As well as the official selections and Audience Award, over the eleven days of the festival, you can find films from every corner of the world from Scottish Productions to African Stories. And they cover every genre from documentary to fantasy adventures, musicals to detective noirs and, of course, the brilliant Glasgow Frightfest horror festival is wrapped up in all of that. And that's just the new films! Their retrospective strand this year goes all the way back to 1962 with such classics as Lawrence of Arabia, To Kill a Mockingbird, Cape Fear and Doctor No... can you believe they all came out in the same year?!

Anyway, with so much to choose from, in chronological order here's just a few of the films on our "to watch" list [Film information from the GFF website]:

Hive (Zgjoi) (15)
3-4 March (UK Premiere)

A major award-winner at Sundance, Hive is an outstanding first feature from director Blerta Basholli. In March 1999, the Kosovan village of Krusha e Madhe was the site of a massacre that left 240 people dead or missing. Seven years later, the villagers live with not knowing the fate of their loved ones. Fahrije (Yllka Gashi) has become everything to her family - home maker, plumber and provider. She hopes to start a small business selling the relish ajvar. Her determination to move on inspires the other women but is also a source of bitter conflict in a deeply patriarchal community.

This film is also screening online via Glasgow Film At Home.

The Gravedigger's Wife (Guled & Nasra) (N/C 15+)
4-5 March (Scottish Premiere)

Winner of Best Film at the African Movie Academy Awards, Khadar Ayderus Ahmed’s The Gravedigger’s Wife is set in Djibouti City, where Guled (Omar Abdi) works hard to support his wife and son. The deaths of others provide him with a living as a digger of graves. His wife Nasra (Yasmin Warsame) has an infected kidney. Life-saving surgery is possible but the cost is extortionate, so Guled embarks on an epic quest to try and raise the money. An involving, suspense-filled tale of survival that culminates into a celebration of love and family.

Yuni (N/C 15+)
4-5 March (UK Premiere)

Yuni (Arawinda Kirana) could have stepped out from the pages of a Jane Austen novel. A bright teenager, her life should be filled with exciting possibilities but she lives in Jenang, Indonesia, at the mercy of superstition and deep-rooted expectations. A school Islamic Club has banned musical activities and there is talk of mandatory virginity tests for female students. This is a society where a girl's greatest achievement is deemed to be a favourable marriage. Yuni’s ability to weather these pressures and follow her own path forms a touching tale treating hefty issues with the lightest of touches.

This film is also screening online via Glasgow Film At Home.

a-ha The Movie (12A)
4-5 March (UK Premiere)

a-ha were the first Norwegian stars to break through into international fame. Their iconic synth-pop single ‘Take on Me’ catapulted them onto the world stage and garnered them adoring fans across the globe. With new band interviews and unreleased behind the scenes footage of their time at the top, Thomas Robsahm and Aslaug Holm’s documentary delves into a-ha’s meteoric rise to fame and questions whether they truly got to live their dream.

The screening on Friday 4 March will be followed by a Q&A with Thomas Robsahm.

The Hermit of Treig (N/C 8+)
5-6 March (World Premiere)

Ken Smith has spent the past four decades living in a log cabin nestled near Loch Treig, known as 'the lonely loch', not too far from Fort William. He has no electricity or running water. He lives off the land, fishing for his supper, chopping wood, and even brewing his own tipple. Director Lizzie MacKenzie has known Ken since 2012 and filmed him through changing seasons and challenging health problems. Her warm, captivating documentary, now presented in a feature-length version, fondly celebrates a man in the wilderness and records the friendship that has grown between them.

The screening on Saturday 5 March will be followed by a Q&A with Lizzie MacKenzie, hosted by Rachel Caplan from Keep Scotland Beautiful. A recorded Q&A with Lizzie MacKenzie will be available online after the screening.

This film is also screening online via Glasgow Film At Home.

Lost Illusions (Illusions Perdues) (N/C 15+)
5-6 March (UK Premiere)

Xavier Giannoli’s sumptuous historical epic does justice to the 19th century Balzac novel it's based on, and brings out all its striking relevance to our age.

Aspiring poet Lucien (Benjamin Voisin) has won the heart of the aristocratic Louise de Bargeton (Cécile de France). Fleeing wagging tongues, they head to Paris where Lucien’s literary talent and scathing wit make him a newspaper critic to be feared. Fame is a powerful drug as Lucien negotiates a society rife with greed, corruption, a hunger for power, and a lack of accountability at the highest levels. Sound familiar?

Once Upon a Time in Uganda (N/C 15+)
5-6 March (UK Premiere)

For years maverick Ugandan filmmaker Isaac Nabwana, has been creating over-the-top, low budget action films from his home in Wakaliga, affectionately known as Wakaliwood. Mesmerised by Isaac’s work, film-lover Alan Hofmanis moves to Uganda and quickly becomes his right-hand man, as well as a Ugandan film star in his own right. As Wakaliwood begins to gather viral fame, the pair will have to contend with the pressures of success and the impact it has on their creative journey. A true ode to the art of earnest filmmaking that’s guaranteed to have you cheering in the aisles.

The screening on Saturday 5 March will be followed by a Q&A with Cathryne Czubek, hosted by the GFF Young Selectors.

Love, Life and Goldfish (すくってごらん) (N/C 15+)
6-7 March (UK Premiere)

When big city banker Makoto has an outburst at work, he is sent to work in a small village in the middle of nowhere as his punishment. Immediately, he falls in love with the woman who runs the local goldfish scooping store. However, the road to true love is not that easy and Makoto has to contend with rivals for his love, as well as his own admirer who has taken quite the shine to him. With shades of Sion Sono’s Love & Peace (GFF16), this quirky musical will leave you tapping your feet for days.

The screening on Sunday 6 March will be followed by a Q&A with Yukinori Makabe.

Benediction (N/C 15+)
7-8 March (Scottish Premiere)

Terence Davies’s elegant drama offers a multi-faceted portrait of poet Siegfried Sassoon (Jack Lowden, Peter Capaldi) and a life scarred by his experiences during the First World War.

Archive footage underlines the brutal conditions of trench warfare and the appalling loss of life. Sassoon’s opposition to the slaughter makes him an inconvenience to the establishment, but the guilt of his survival is overwhelming. His life as a gay man, searching in vain for love and fidelity, adds to the weight of a tragic tale told with biting wit and stand-out performances from Lowden and Capaldi as Sassoon at different stages of his life.

The screening on Monday 7 March will be followed by a Q&A with Jack Lowden.

Casablanca Beats (Haut et fort) (N/C 15+)
9-10 March (UK Premiere)

Morocco’s Oscar candidate is a joyous celebration of music and the role it plays in empowering a younger generation. Blurring the lines between documentary and fiction, director Nabil Ayouch shot the film with real-life students enrolled in The Positive School of Hip-Hop at the shantytown cultural centre he co-founded. Anas (Anas Basbousi) is the former rapper who establishes the programme, but it is the students who take centre stage as they confront the issues that matter to them, and use them to create music and devise dances that make sure their voice is heard.

You Are Not My Mother (N/C 18+)
11 March (UK Premiere)

Teenager Char is convinced there is something wrong with her mother. Ever since Angela returned home following an inexplicable absence, her daughter has observed subtle changes in her posture, personality and appetite. While she welcomed the changes at first, the differences soon become worrying as Char’s scrutiny quickly turns to horrified dread. Before long, suppressed secrets and family lies are brought to the surface, along with multiple finely-tuned scares. Rooted in eerie Irish folk horror, this quirky doppelganger mystery unsettles with character-driven chills as writer/director Kate Dolan’s contemporary fable reaches its incendiary climax.

This screening will be followed by a Q&A with Kate Dolan.

Hold Your Fire (N/C 15+)
11-12 March (European Premiere)

Stefan Forbes's extraordinary documentary is as tense as any New York thriller Sidney Lumet might have directed. Revisiting a landmark crime from the Brooklyn of 1973, he brings history vividly alive with the testimonies of those originally caught in the crossfire. It is the story of a botched robbery, a murdered policeman, a media scrum and a hostage situation that seemed unlikely to end well. Forbes’s forensic eye for detail and thought-provoking historical context create a Rashomon-style narrative, challenging lazy assertions and revealing deep-rooted prejudices.

Wake Up Punk (N/C 15+)
12-13 March (World Premiere

Has the legacy of punk been distorted and commodified beyond all recognition? Joe Corre most definitely thinks so. In 2016 the son of Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood burnt millions of pounds worth of punk-era memorabilia in protest. Nigel Askew's freewheeling documentary recalls the energy and anarchy of the punk era and gives a voice to Corre’s fear that 'punk has become part of business as usual', but It also finds hope that the punk spirit survives in the guise of current protest movements, bringing the hunger for change into the hands of the people.

The screening on Saturday 12 March will be followed by a Q&A with Nigel Askew and Joe Corre.

For more information and to book tickets for either online or in person screenings, please visit the Glasgow Film Festival website glasgowfilm.org/festival

GFF is one of the leading film festivals in the UK and run by Glasgow Film, a charity which also runs Glasgow Film Theatre (GFT). GFF is made possible by support from Screen Scotland, the BFI (awarding funds from the National Lottery), Glasgow Life and EventScotland, part of VisitScotland’s Events Directorate.