20 Years of Celebrating Glasgow’s Film Industry

By Brandon McLean

Viggio Mortensen

The Glasgow Film Festival (GFF) is celebrating its 20th anniversary this month with some high-brow celebrities visiting the city for the occasion. A total of 11 world premieres are scheduled for the film festival, a further 69 films are receiving their UK premiere.

A huge name coming to the festival this year is Viggo Mortensen, also known as Aragon in The Lord of the Rings. He will be hosting his own Q&A event after one of the showings of his new movie The Dead Don’t Hurt. A movie he has not only starred in but also directed and produced.

This is one of the few popular movies for this year’s festival with many others not having as big an appeal. This raises the question, in an age of movie and tv streaming services, is there any room for the silver screen? With the Edinburgh Film Festival ending its run in 2022, it would be no stretch to have concerns that the Glasgow variant could be doomed to the same fate.

James Carmichael, from Glasgow, said: “I knew the Glasgow Film Festival was on, but I wouldn’t go, I don’t have any interest in movies like that. I go to see movies less because of streaming services, they make it too easy.”

Carl Anderson, another native of the city, said: “One of the main reasons I don’t go to the cinema anymore is because movies seem to be getting bad. I didn’t even know Glasgow Film Fest was happening. Streaming services 100% play a part in me not wanting to go to the cinema anymore.”

The drop in cinema-goers is less about streaming giving them a better experience and more about giving them an easier one.

The GFF happens over just less than two weeks when a selection of movies that were chosen from a collection of worldwide submissions are played consecutively over that period. When the festival ends the audience feedback is reviewed and one of the movies is given the Audience Award, the only award given out at this festival.

The Audience Award is a uniquely interesting award that places all the power in the viewers hands. While giving all these directors only their first or second movie a chance to win an award. It is best described by the GFF themselves on their website: “The only award that The Glasgow Film Festival gives out and it is decided by you, our wonderful audience! Eight handpicked films from first or second-time directors who we believe to be some of the most exciting filmmakers around and who are sure to have long and excellent careers ahead.”

Big-name visitors include Dale Dickey who starred in both Breaking Bad and My Name Is Earl who will be attending the showing of The G on the 29th of February. English actress Maxine Peake will be attending the showing of the Sci-Fi film Woken on March 3rd. 1917-star George MacKay will be attending the sci-fi romance movie The Beast.