Sundance is well and truly over out in Park City, with some very promising films making their debut out in Utah. And with the year’s first big festival complete, we turn our eyes next to the Berlinale, and then shortly after, the Glasgow Film Festival.
The line-up for this year’s Glasgow Film Festival was announced earlier in the month, with an absolutely stellar set of films landing their UK premiere up in Scotland next month.
Régis Roinsard’s Populaire has been selected for the Opening Night Film, with Joss Whedon’s Much Ado About Nothing chosen for the Closing Night Film. And in between is a slew of films, including some of the most highly-anticipated of the year: Derek Cianfrance’s The Place Beyond the Pines; Neil Jordan’s Byzantium; Michael Winterbottom’s The Look of Love; and Nicolás López’s Aftershock, with Eli Roth.
The festival has now announced a stellar line-up of people attending, and those heading out to the Glasgow Film Festival next month will definitely not be disappointed.
Joss Whedon will be attending the screening of Much Ado About Nothing, taking time out from working on S.H.I.E.L.D. and The Avengers 2 for the film’s UK premiere. I saw the film at its TIFF debut last year – you can read our five-star review here – and cannot recommend it enough. It is going to be one of the best and most talked-about films of the year, worthy of Oscars come early 2014.
Also in attendance will be the king of horror himself, Eli Roth, joined by his Aftershock director, Nicolás López, and co-star, Lorenza Izzo, who is brilliant in the film alongside Roth. Aftershock is another fantastic film I saw out in TIFF – you can read our review here – and is essential viewing this year for horror fans.
Neil Jordan, Saoirse Ronan, and Gemma Arterton will be attending in support of Byzantium. And director Régis Roinsard will be heading to Glasgow in support of the festival’s opening film, Populaire.
It promises to be a fantastic event for everyone heading up to Scotland, and it certainly should be a memorable year for all in attendance. The Glasgow Film Festival will be held from 14th to 24th February, and I am more than a little bit jealous to everyone who’s going.
Glasgow Film Festival is delighted to announce that Joss Whedon, the man behind long-running TV series Buffy The Vampire Slayer, as well as 2012 blockbuster Avengers Assemble, is expected to attend GFF’s Closing Gala, the UK Premiere of his film Much Ado About Nothing, on the evening of Sunday 24 February.
Whedon’s reputation alone meant that the gala screening of his latest film had sold out within an hour of going on sale, long before he was announced as attending.
Other guests expected to walk the red carpet outside Glasgow Film Theatre include actors Gemma Arterton (Quantum of Solace, Clash of the Titans) and Saoirse Ronan (Atonement, Hanna), and The Crying Game / Interview With A Vampire director Neil Jordan, all in support of mother-daughter vampire thriller Byzantium, which screens as part of Film4 FrightFest. Horror hero Eli Roth, best known for the Hostel films and Inglourious Basterds, will also be in attendance for FrightFest, promoting the UK Premiere of Aftershock, which he stars in and also produced. He’ll be accompanied by Lorenza Izzo, who also stars in the film, and director Nicolas Lopez.
Director Régis Ronsard, whose first feature film, the glossy, 1950s-set romcom Populaire, has its UK premiere as GFF’s Opening Gala, will help launch the festival on Valentine’s Day. Legendary Scottish actors David Hayman and James Cosmo will also be in attendance; Hayman to introduce FrightFest horror film Sawney: Flesh of Man, a modern-day take on the legend of Scottish cannibal king Sawney Bean; Cosmo, who features in a record five films in this year’s programme, will also be in conversation about his career.
Also expected: Yasmin Fedda, writer/director of the much-talked about documentary A Tale of Two Syrias, which receives its World Premiere at GFF. Director Konrad Begg and Scottish stars Lorna Anderson and Ford Kiernan, in support of the Irish musical film Songs For Amy. Twenty year old directing prodigy Rob Savage, in support of his first feature, Strings, which he started work on aged eighteen. Channel 4’s Fresh Meat stars; Greg McHugh (Howard) Kimberly Nixon (Josie) and Charlotte Richie (Oregon) will join Annie Griffin (Director – The Book Group, Festival) and Sam Bain (Writer, Peep Show, The Thick of It) for a masterclass as part of Glasgow Youth Film Festival.
