THE full programme for this year's Glasgow Film Festival (GFF) has been announced, including premieres of movies starring Paul Mescal and Kelly Macdonald.
The city's annual celebration of cinema, which is in its 19th year, will take place from March 1 to 12, and will host 70 UK premieres, six world premieres, 16 European/international premieres and six Scottish premieres.
The impressive programme, which will see more than 250 screenings in total, will take place at Glasgow Film Theatre and venues across the city.
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The festival will open with the UK premiere of Girl, which was shot in Glasgow, and is the feature debut of director Adura Onashile.
It tells the story of 11-year-old Ama and her mother Grace, who are trying to build a new life in Glasgow, a city which to them feels strange and hostile.
GFF23 will see the world premieres of films including the feature documentary Cassius X: Becoming Ali, which traces Muhammed Ali from confident teenager to heavyweight champion; Dog Days, a big-hearted look at a musically gifted homeless Dundee man; and I Am Weekender, an exploration of Wiz’s controversial and banned 1992 film about the UK acid house scene, featuring a host of talking heads including Bobby Gillespie and Irvine Welsh.
The extensive list of UK premieres includes God's Creatures, starring Paul Mescal and Emily Watson; Butcher's Crossing, starring Nicolas Cage; and Typical Artist Pirate King, starring Kelly Macdonald, while Scottish premieres include the insightful My Name is Alfred Hitchcock from Mark Cousins.
The festival will also celebrate vitality with its 2023 Country Focus: Viva el cine Espanol! which showcases eight contemporary films from Spain, including the award-winning thriller The Beasts, Lullaby and Prison 77.
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GFF23 will be the final festival for co-director Allan Hunter, who says the event is an "amazing way to discover a whole world of cinema".
Allan said: "It is always a thrill to raise the curtain on the GFF programme.
"The string of hand-picked gems for 2023 stretches from glorious new work by homegrown talent to the very best that world cinema has to offer.
"Spanish cinema is a blazing beacon of creativity right now and I can’t wait for audiences to watch a stunning selection of premieres that includes the nail biting, award-winning thriller The Beasts, the irresistible family drama Lullaby and Prison 77, a jail story to rival The Shawshank Redemption.
"There are so many things I want to recommend from the tense Turkish thriller Burning Days to the magical, eye-popping The Ordinaries, to the latest Lav Diaz epic When The Waves Have Gone.
"All that plus a free retrospective that allows audiences to see undisputed classics like Bonnie and Clyde and The Piano on the big screen and absolutely free."
He added: "It's bittersweet [it's my last festival] but it doesn't feel real at the moment, until we get to closing night and I'll be like 'where do I go now?'
"But it was the right time."
Allison Gardner, co-director of GFF, said: "I’m always so excited to share the hard work of the team here at Glasgow Film and let our audiences and film colleagues across the UK and beyond know about the great range of films we have on offer.
"I’m delighted that audiences across the country can watch How To Blow Up a Pipeline and The Five Devils at our partner venues.
"We can’t wait for UK audiences to be the first to see films such as My Name is Alfred Hitchcock, with a 60th anniversary screening of The Birds on the first Sunday, Sanctuary and some fabulous Icelandic films, Driving Mum, A Letter from Helga and Band.
"Whilst I will sorely miss my co-director Allan as this is his last year, I think he would agree that this programme is a fabulous testament to the power of cinema."
Tickets for the full GFF23 programme will on sale at 12pm on Monday, January 30 at glasgowfilm.org/festival and via 0141 332 6535.
Tickets for the Closing Gala will go on sale at 12pm on Wednesday, January 25.
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