How local filmmakers are represented at Scotland's biggest cinema showcase

By Lola Lea

Glasgow Film Festival will be held at the Glasgow Film Theatre from 28 February - 10 March (GettyImages)

From 28 February to 10 March, the Glasgow Film Theatre and CCA will host the Glasgow Film Festival (GFF), the largest of its kind in Scotland.

The selection this year includes the UK premieres of much-anticipated films, such as Love Lies Bleeding, a Rose Glass film starring Kristen Stewart; Viggo Mortensen’s western epic The Dead Don’t Hurt, and Yannick, by Deerskin director Quentin Dupieux.

Celebrating a Glaswegian legend, a remastering of the 1975 Billy Connolly documentary Big Banana Feet will also be showing, widely available for the first time since its initial release.

Among all these big names, it’s easy to lose focus on what filmmakers from Glasgow have to offer. Tummy Monster, the debut feature from Glasgow director Ciaran Lyons, has already sold out its first two screenings at GFT. Even as one of the biggest selections for the festival coming out of Glasgow, this film was self-funded by Lyons’s VFX work.

Aaron McIntyre, a local filmmaker, says: “The festival circuit in Scotland does have a good focus on young Scottish voices. There’s some great shorts and I’m really excited to see what’s playing at Glasgow this year.” His short film, Gomorrah, won best edit and best score at the HB Film Festival, best edit at Feel the Reel International Film Festival, and was part of the official selection for Shortscape, St Andrews, Bolton and Directors Notes festivals.

Although the Film Festival is held in Glasgow, there are a limited amount of Glaswegian nominees (GettyImages)

Programmes such as the BFI Film Academy industry events that will take place at the festival aim to inspire the next generation of filmmakers, but as Aaron explains: “It’s a bit of a mixed bag. Some places are really good, like Shortscapes, at inviting you to networking events and making those things accessible, but others are more there just to try and inspire people.”

The accessibility of filmmaking in Scotland depends entirely on what opportunities these programmes have to offer. In an industry that’s notoriously difficult to break into, awards such as those won by Gomorrah help unknown names stand out in the crowd.

The only award available at GFF is the audience award, which has previously been given to films such as Riceboy Sleeps, a coming-of-age drama from Anthony Shim, and Lipstick Under my Burkha, a Hindi-language black comedy by Alankrita Shrivastava. While it’s unusual for a film festival not to have awards judged by a panel, this allows for the spotlight to be solely placed on the film that was most widely loved.

Film festivals do provide a good stage for talent to be showcased; however, they can still be unaffordable for those having to self-fund their submissions, with many requiring fees just to apply. “It can be really discouraging when it’s your own money, and you’re putting 50 quid in just to get a rejection and never see that money again,” says Aaron.

Following the Edinburgh Film Festival closing its curtains for good, if you’re looking for some more shorts like Gomorrah, which showcase what young Scottish filmmakers have to offer, the Glasgow Short Film Festival will also take place in March. This festival highlights the best films from a new wave of directors, with a special focus on local releases. Glasgow Short Film Festival also provides these filmmakers with funding and awards, such as the Young Scottish Filmmaker Prize, to promote these voices.

While the Glasgow Film Festival may not be showcasing everything that new filmmakers in Scotland have to offer, there are ten days’ worth of films from all over the world available next month. From Io Capitano, the story of two Senegalese cousins’ journey to Europe, to Sleep, a South Korean horror from director Jason Yu, there’s plenty of unmissable new films you can be the first in the UK to see.

Tickets are available online at www.glasgowfilm.org, where you can browse everything the festival has to offer.