Glasgow Film Festival facts for kids

The Glasgow Film Festival is a yearly event in Glasgow, Scotland, where people celebrate movies! It started in 2005. By 2015, over 40,000 people came to the festival each year. It is now known as one of the best film festivals in the UK.

About the Festival

The Glasgow Film Festival began in 2005. It first took place at the Glasgow Film Theatre. The festival focused on movies that were not big Hollywood blockbusters. It treated the audience as the most important guests. Because of this, it quickly became known as one of the friendliest film festivals in the world.

In 2005, fewer than 5,000 people attended. By 2013, this number grew to 40,000! The festival grew and started using other places for screenings. In 2017, some special movies were even shown on an indoor ski slope with real snow!

Awards and Special Sections

The festival has one main award called the Audience Award. This award is sponsored by MUBI. The audience gets to vote for their favorite film.

Another popular part of the festival is FrightFest. This section shows a selection of horror movies. It is put together by a horror film festival from London. The festival also offers free morning screenings of older, classic films.

The festival also helps people who work in the film industry. It offers chances to meet others and learn from experts. For example, in 2024, they had a live event where people could pitch their animation ideas. The best idea won £5,000 to help make their project.

Allison Gardner has been a director of the festival since 2006. Allan Hunter, who was also a director for a long time, stepped down in 2023. Chris Kumar took his place.

Festival History

The Glasgow Film Festival has grown a lot since it started. Here are some highlights from its past events:

2008 Festival

The festival in 2008 happened from February 14 to 24. It showed new movies for the first time. It also had a special look back at the films of actress Bette Davis.

2009 Festival

The 2009 festival featured a special collection of films by Audrey Hepburn. There was also a birthday celebration for actor Errol Flynn.

2010 Festival

In 2010, the festival ran from February 18 to 28. The organizers received over 800 movie ideas. They chose 120 films to show. The opening night featured the film Micmacs. Its director, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, was there to present it.

Other famous guests included Peter Mullan and James Earl Jones. The actors from the Scottish classic movie Gregory's Girl also attended. The Oscar-nominated film Crazy Heart was shown before it was released everywhere. There was also a special look at films by Cary Grant. Other sections focused on Japanese movies, fashion, and music in film.

In 2010, a new award was created. It was called the Margaret Tait award. This award was for new and creative filmmaking. The winner received £10,000 to help with their next movie project.

2011 Festival

The 7th festival took place from February 16 to 26, 2012. It celebrated 100 years since the birth of Gene Kelly with a special "Strictly Song and Dance" film series. More than 250 movies were shown. This included the first showings of You Instead and The Eagle.

2012 Festival

The 8th festival was held from February 16 to 26. It featured 7 world premieres and 21 UK premieres. A "world premiere" means it was the first time the movie was shown anywhere in the world. The closing night showed films like Le Havre and This Must Be the Place. The FrightFest section included popular horror films like The Raid.

2013 Festival

The 2013 festival ran from February 14 to 24. It had 368 movie screenings and 57 UK film premieres.

2014 Festival

The 10th Glasgow Film Festival lasted 11 days, from February 18 to March 1. Over 40,000 people attended! The program included 60 UK premieres and seven world premieres. The festival also held special "pop-up" events in different places around the city. These included the Briggait and the Tall Ship. The 10th festival was so popular that the organizers decided to add an extra day for the next year.

2015 Festival

The 11th Glasgow Film Festival took place from February 18 to March 1. This festival had 174 events. These included 11 world premieres, 33 UK premieres, and 65 Scottish premieres. This was the first year the festival had its own award, the Audience Award. The first winner was Tom Browne's film Radiator. About 35,000 people attended.

2016 Festival

In 2016, the festival was held from February 17 to 28. It showed 174 feature films, with 60 of them being UK premieres. Over 42,000 people came to the festival. The Audience Award was won by Deniz Gamze Ergüven's film Mustang.

2017 Festival

The 13th festival took place from February 15 to 26. For the fourth year in a row, over 40,000 people attended! It showed 180 films from 38 countries. More than 65 of these were UK premieres. Some popular films included Elle and I Am Not Your Negro. A special screening of John Carpenter's The Thing was even held on an indoor ski slope! Empire Magazine also showed The Lost Boys at a secret location. The Audience Award went to Alankrita Shrivastava's Lipstick Under My Burkha.

2018 Festival

The 14th festival was from February 21 to March 4, 2018. More than 300 premieres, screenings, and events were planned. However, a very cold weather period in the British Isles almost ruined the festival. For several days, only people living nearby could attend the events.

2020 Festival

The 16th festival took place from February 26 to March 8, 2020. The program included nine world premieres and 102 UK premieres. The opening film was Proxima by Alice Winocour.

2023 Festival

The 2023 festival was held from March 1 to 12. This 19th festival showed 123 feature films. These included six world premieres, 16 European and international premieres, and 70 UK premieres. The festival opened with Adura Onashile’s film Girl, which was filmed in Glasgow. It closed with Nida Manzoor’s Polite Society.

2024 Festival

The 20th anniversary festival was held from February 28 to March 10, 2024. Over 400 films were submitted this year. The festival showed 11 world and international premieres. These included The Teachers’ Lounge and Green Border. The opening film was Rose Glass's Love Lies Bleeding.

2025 Festival

The 2025 festival took place from February 26 to March 9.

Audience Award Winners

In 2015, the Glasgow Film Festival started its only award, the Audience Award. Films that can win this award are usually from directors making their first or second movie. These can be either fiction films or documentaries. People who attend the festival vote for their favorite film. The winner is announced at the festival's closing celebration.

See Also

• Culture in Glasgow