April 15, 2023

Glasgow Film Festival Going Hybrid For 2021 Programme

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We can all say, roll on 2021 and of course return to cinemas. February will see the return of the Glasgow Film Festival for the 17th edition is going to a lot different from the previous 16 editions.

For the 2021 edition of the festival GFF will return with a new hybrid format. Patrons will have a chance to attend cinema screenings at the festival iconic home, the Glasgow Film Theatre (GTF). These screenings will run alongside a brand-new online streaming platform, Glasgow Film At Home, allowing us to safely bring the festival to new audiences, as well as inviting back our dedicated Glasgow Film Festival fans.

Our new year-round platform Glasgow Film At Home will go live for the first time later this month, bringing our Best of the Fest programme of films straight to audiences at home. The programme consists of four films that were big hits at GFF 2020, including our 2020 Audience Award Winner Arracht from director Tom Sullivan, set during the desperate times of the 1840s Irish potato famine, and Runar Runarsson’s Echo, which was part of our Icelandic Country Focus and explores a fragmented society at Christmas time. They are joined by The Long Walk from director Mattie Do which follows a Laotian hermit who travels back in time, and Matthew Rankin’s wildly inventive and highly stylised faux biopic The Twentieth Century.

Today, we also launch our GFF 2021 branding, which brings to life our focus on delivering the festival to audiences at home, as well as on cinema screens, and still firmly rooting the festival in the City of Glasgow. Although Glasgow Film Festival will naturally be different this year, we are creating new and innovative ways to bring great cinema to our audiences, and to conjure up the festival feeling at home. Glasgow is known as one of the world’s friendliest film festivals and our mix of cinema screenings, streaming and online events will help recreate this atmosphere for all our audiences.

Related: 2020 Glasgow Film Festival archive

GFF 2020, held in February and March this year, had record audiences with more than 43,000 admissions, but we recognise that the 2021 edition must adapt to the new circumstances cinemas and festivals across the world are operating in. Making sure as many people as possible can access quality premieres from around the world, as well as the best new Scottish and UK releases, was a key consideration when planning the festival. The new blend of cinema screenings and at-home streaming means GFF can take place despite restrictions caused by Covid-19.

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.”

Allan Hunter, Glasgow Film Festival Co-Director, said: “We are very excited to share the dates of the 2021 Glasgow Film Festival and give everyone a glimpse of what lies ahead. It cannot be business as usual but we promise a festival of exciting UK premieres from around the world. The power of film to entertain, illuminate and move us has never felt more necessary. The launch of Glasgow Film At Home and the Best Of The Fest programme will allow a much wider audience access to the cherished Glasgow experience.

The 17th edition Glasgow Film Festival will run from 24 February to 7 March 2021. Closer to launch we will bring you the festival programme.

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