THE Glasgow Film Festival is now underway, with co-directors Allison Gardner and Allan Hunter welcoming audiences back to the GFT and other cinemas across the city.
Tonight sees the European premiere screening of My Old School, with stars Alan Cumming, Lulu, Dawn Steele and Gary Lamont set to attend.
It’s a film about performance and deception, a documentary that deploys quirky storytelling techniques to remember the curious case of Brandon Lee, a 16-year-old Canadian pupil enrolled at Bearsden Academy.
In 1993, it emerged that Brandon was in fact 30-year-old Brian MacKinnon, an imposter who lied about his age to make an attempt at going to university.
The improbable local tale is brought to life by Alan Cumming. Long before his memorable turn in Cabaret on Broadway led to his Hollywood screen career, Alan studied at Glasgow’s Royal Scottish Academy and Drama.
In 1982, he met fellow student Forbes Masson and together they created a double act, Victor & Barry before starring in the BBC sitcom The High Life.
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On Sunday, Glaswegian Armando Iannucci will appear at a public conversation event that will explore his creative influences and the story behind the characters and dialogue he created for The Day Today, The Thick of It and In The Loop.
Monday brings the Scottish premiere of Benediction, Terence Davies’ stylish drama that charts the life of poet Sigfried Sassoon and his experiences during the First World War.
Jack Lowden and Peter Capaldi portray Sassoon at different stages of his life, with Lowden attending the Glasgow screening.
The film was shot during Covid restrictions, completed in 2020 and it is only now that cinema audiences will get a chance to see it, with a general release at the start of May. I spoke to Jack while he was at Glasgow Airport last week, on his way to a film location recce on Orkney for a new project he is working on.
He said he joined Benediction because of the strength of the script. “I was sent the script and I think as I read it as a piece of writing on the page, it’s so well thought out.
“It was a joy to read it. I read it like a play.”
While he shares the role with Springburn-born Capaldi, they didn’t have much of an opportunity to interact on set.
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“I didn’t meet Peter until towards the end of my time shooting on it,” Jack explains.
“I met him on a make-up truck, which was surreal as well from a sort of fan point of view. He’s a hero, obviously. And just growing up watching him, in The Thick of It and things like that, and thinking ‘you were playing the older me?’.
"We literally had one day with each other and we just swapped notes about the accent because Peter had been listening to a recording of Sassoon reading poetry, which I’d never found. And that was about it. It was very separate.
“The whole film in general was quite like that. A lot of it’s worked out for you when you do a Terence Davies film.”
I ask how that suits him as an actor when the film is laid out in quite a rigid fully-formed manner.
“It’s a real comfort when you know someone ultimately has that strong vision because you feel like you are in safe hands. You do have to alter the way that you go about your work, where normally you would sort of suggest things and push things forward. I had to learn very quickly to give in to Terence and the project as quickly as possible. But it’s ultimately, really comforting when you’ve got a director that really knows what they want because the opposite is a nightmare.”
Jack is from the Borders and recently lived in Leith, but he did study in Glasgow so this screening can be considered something of a home turf gig. He has fond memories of his time in Glasgow.
“I trained at the Academy, now the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. I don’t come back to Glasgow that often. Occasionally I get to come up for the Scottish BAFTAs and things like that.
“I do that reminiscing thing of looking down St Vincent Street and then seeing Bath Street and remembering waiting in queues to get into bars on Bath Street.
“It’s funny going back to places where you were when you were younger. So I will have a bit of a sentimental look around. It will feel lovely to bring it there. I’ve never been to the Glasgow Film Festival so that will be fun as well, just to be part of the audience.”
THERE are few places in Glasgow as glorious in the sunshine as Queen’s Park. Stand at the flagpole and the city unfolds in front of you, framed against hills and mountains.
Sunday brings a fashionable crowd out to enjoy the greenery, walk their dogs and meet for a chat.
After completing your circuit, you have plenty of options for coffee and a quick bite at the top of Victoria Road. We’ve previously spoken to Michael Onorati who opened Cibo, an Italian deli, inspired by his father’s commitment to local hospitality and the food he grew up with. Visit for an Italian sausage, peppers and fontal cheese panino, a big pot of tea and a cinnamon bun.
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