By Maisie McGregor
GFF will be back in 2021 with in-cinema screenings, as well as a presence on a new year-round online platform. The ‘Best of the Fest’ programme will launch the Glasgow Film at Home streaming site on 23 November.
It’s no secret that Glasgow Film Festival (GFF) is one of the highlights of the city’s cultural calendar. Every year, fans flock from all over the country to attend screenings, red-carpet events and the festival’s famous secret-location showings.
In 2021, GFF will return for it’s 17th edition, taking place from 24 February to 2 March. The Covid-19 pandemic has meant the festival will be taking on a brand-new hybrid format to ensure the safety of audiences. In-cinema screenings at the Glasgow Film Theatre (GFT) will run alongside a new online streaming platform, Glasgow Film at Home.
Going live later this month, the year-round service will be home to the ‘Best of the Fest’ programme. This consists of four fan-favourites from GFF 2020, including Audience Award Winner Arracht, an Irish period drama set during the potato famine. Joining Arracht will be Icelandic film Echo, Mattie Do’s The Long Walk and Matthew Rankin’s The Twentieth Century.
GFF 2020 recorded its highest ever audience numbers, with over 43,000 admissions. The festival’s reputation for inclusion, friendliness and great quality cinema helps make it one of the leading film festivals in the UK. New circumstances require change, however, and this exciting blend of in-cinema screenings with at-home streaming means fans can safely access new Scottish and UK releases from all over the world.
Allison Gardner, Glasgow Film CEO and Co-Director of Glasgow Film Festival, said:
“We are delighted to be bringing Glasgow Film Festival back in 2021 in as safe as possible a way. GFF has always been a festival for audiences and, though our festival must take a different shape this year, our audiences are still at the heart of everything we do.”
“Glasgow Film at Home and our new branding will invite GFF straight into your living room, and the Best of the Fest programme will give a taster of what’s to come and share incredible cinema with audiences all around Scotland and the UK this November.”
Ben Luxford, Head of UK Audiences at the BFI, said:
“We’re delighted to continue our support of Glasgow Film Festival as it makes exciting changes to reach audiences in the cinema and also at home. At a time when our physical world might seem quite small, it’s wonderful that GFF 2021 will bring international and national stories to Glasgow, Scotland and beyond.”
Both GFF and GFT are run by the charity Glasgow Film, and the festival is made possible by support from Screen Scotland, the BFI (awarding funds from the National Lottery), Glasgow Life and EventScotland.
More information about the 2021 festival and Glasgow Film at Home streaming platform can be found here.
