The biggest film festival in Scotland has today announced its full line up for its 20th anniversary event.
Glasgow Film Festival will run from February 28 to March 10 at Glasgow Film Theatre, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2024.
The event will open with the UK premiere of romantic thriller Love Lies Bleeding starring Kristen Stewart and Katy M. O'Brian and directed by Rose Glass (Saint Maud).
Read more: Glasgow Film Festival announces 20th edition line-up and country focus
And the festival will close with the world premiere of Janey, a documentary which follows Scottish stand-up star Janey Godley as she embarks on her final tour after a cancer diagnosis.
Across 12 packed days, the programme features 11 world and international premieres, 69 UK premieres, and 15 Scottish premieres, from a range of 44 countries.
World and international premieres include Tummy Monster, a hallucinogenic dark drama by Glasgow director Ciaran Lyons, starring rising Scottish star Lorn Macdonald.
There is also the big screen adaptation of darkly comic novel Bucky F*cking Dent, written, directed and starring David Duchovny; and a new restoration of Billy Connolly: Big Banana Feet, the rarely-seen documentary shot during The Big Yin's 1975 tour of Ireland.
UK premieres include Ewan McGregor and his daughter Clara taking a road trip in Bleeding Love, Cynthia Erivo as a Liberian refugee who befriends Alia Shawkat’s American tour guide in Drift, and Viggo Mortensen directing and starring in Western epic The Dead Don’t Hurt.
Meanwhile, the UK premiere of La Chimera, a fantasy romance starring John O'Connor, will be shown at the Glasgow Film Festival (GFF) and nine partner cinemas across the UK.
Scottish audiences will get the first chance to see Kevin Macdonald’s take on the rise and fall of a fashion icon in High and Low: John Galliano, as well as Lea Seydoux and George MacKay in The Beast and Luna Carmoon’s "hotly-tipped" debut Hoard.
Other highlights include Edge of Summer, the feature debut from Grierson award-winning British directior Lucy Cohen, and and exclusive first look at the second series of award-winning queer BBC Scotland drama Float, filmed in Helensburgh.
The only award handed out at the festival will be the Audience Award, sponsored by MUBI and given to an outstanding feature film by a first or second time director as chosen by viewers.
There will also be a "legendary" three-day horror binge in the form of FrightFest from January 7-9, featuring 11 new films from eight countries.
And the country focus for 2024 is 'Czech, Please!', exploring contemporary and re-discovered cinema from Czechia, also known as the Czech Republic. Among the showcases will be radical feminist film Daisies, which was once band for its stance on communism and patriarchy.
Tickets to the opening and closing events go on sale from 11am on Thursday (January 25), and the full programme goes on sale from 11am on Monday (January 29) on the Glasgow Film Festival website and from the GFT Box Office.
Allison Gardner, CEO of Glasgow Film and director of GFF, said: “I am extremely proud to have been here for every one of Glasgow Film Festival’s 20 editions. My thanks goes to everyone who has helped us to get this far. Many, many people have worked incredibly hard to make this the friendliest film festival in the world.
"One of my highlights of GFF is our Audience Award, this year sponsored by MUBI. The Audience Award supports emerging talent and it’s a joy to see these films play in front of our dedicated audiences. Watch all eight of our hand picked films and support these directors at the early stages of their directing careers.
Read more: 10 of the most unmissable movies at Glasgow Film Festival
"Over the years, at Glasgow Film Festival, we have supported Scottish films and talent. Something that we are very proud to have done and this year is no exception. We also champion Scottish films from our past and this year we have some fantastic anniversaries to honour.
"My advice to everyone is to choose films you know nothing about and take a chance, you might discover a hidden gem (and the programme is positively bursting with them!) that will stay with you forever. Here’s to the next 20 years.”
Ben Luxford, from the BFI, said: “The Glasgow Film Festival is delivering another fantastic programme in venues across Glasgow, plus elements which reach far beyond the city’s borders.
"It promises to be another great Festival and we hope as many audiences as possible will be able to enjoy it thanks to National Lottery funding."
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