A raft of big screen stars and famous favourites are set to tread the red carpet for the 21st edition of Glasgow Film Festival (GFF).
Pulp Fiction star Tim Roth, Japanese model, musician and actor Kōki, Shogun star Takehiro Hira and Edinburgh director John Maclean will attend the World premiere of their hotly-anticipated survival thriller Tornado, which will open Glasgow Film Festival 2025 (GFF25) on 26 February.
Scots teenager Ethan Walker and pioneering Dunblane surgeon Professor Gordon Mackay, will cycle to the GFT for the Closing Gala World premiere of Martyn Robertson’s Make It To Munich, the inspiring story of Ethan’s recovery from a life-threatening traffic accident. Just nine months after his accident, Ethan, Gordon and Martyn cycled from Hampden stadium in Glasgow to Munich for Scotland’s opening game of Euro 2024, carrying the team’s official match pennant the whole journey.
More sporting icons will tread the GFF25 red carpet when Formula One champion Damon Hill attends the World premiere of Hill (27 February), the major new documentary about Damon and his father, racing legend Graham Hill, who died in a plane crash when Damon was 15. Sky Sports F1 presenter Simon Lazenby and director Alex Holmes will also be in attendance at the premiere.
Hollywood legends Ed Harris and Jessica Lange will attend the UK premiere of Long Day’s Journey Into Night, the new big screen adaptation of Eugene O’Neill’s seminal American play, on 28 February. Jessica will also appear in a special In Conversation event on 1 March, reflecting on her six decade-long screen career, from King Kong and Tootsie to Rob Roy and American Horror Story.
Homegrown film star James McAvoy will introduce a special screening of his breakthrough role in Kevin McDonald’s compelling fiction debut The Last King of Scotland (2006), following his sold out In Conversation event (2 March).
Scottish stars Martin Compston, James Cosmo and Solly McLeod will attend the World premiere of the first episode of new Amazon Studios-produced thriller Fear (27 February), shot in Glasgow’s West End; and Glasgow-born actor James McArdle will attend the Scottish premiere of his new rom-com Four Mothers (3 March). GFF favourite George MacKay returns with the Scottish premiere of the post-apocalyptic musical The End (4 March) and Icelandic singer-songwriter Emiliana Torrini along with directors Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard will attend the Scottish premiere of the vibrant performance film The Extraordinary Miss Flower (1 March), based on a real-life treasure trove of hidden love letters.
Behind-the-camera talent visiting the festival includes Athina Rachel Tsangari with the Scottish premiere of her Scottish folk horror Harvest (2 March), shot entirely on location in Argyllshire, The Greasy Strangler auteur Jim Hosking at the UK premiere of his new feature Ebony & Ivory (5 March), Edinburgh-based filmmaker Laura Carreira at the Scottish premiere of her Edinburgh and Glasgow-shot drama On Falling (28 February), Neon Dreaming director Marie-Claire Marcotte (4 March), Peaches Goes Bananas director Marie Losier (1 March), The Players director Sarah Galea-Davis (6 March), The Surfer director Lorcan Finnegan (1 March), and The Return director Uberto Pasolini (9 March). This year’s country focus- Austria- is represented by director Bernhard Wenger, who will attend the UK premiere of his absurdist comedy Peacock (2 March) and filmmakers Daniel Hoesl and Julia Niemann will attend the UK premiere of their bloodthirsty social satire Veni Vedi Vici (8 March).
Glasgow Film Festival will run at Glasgow Film Theatre and venues across the city from 26 February to 9 March, with a programme boasting 13 World and European premieres, 66 UK premieres and 12 Scottish premieres from 38 countries.
GFF is one of the leading film festivals in the UK and is run by Glasgow Film, a charity which also runs Glasgow Film Theatre. Glasgow Film Festival is made possible by support from Screen Scotland, the BFI Audience Projects Fund, awarding National Lottery funding, Glasgow Life and EventScotland.
See the full programme now at glasgowfilm.org/festival