Spilt Milk, the directorial debut of Ireland’s Brian Durnin, won the audience award at the Glasgow Film Festival, which marked the final edition under the leadership of Allison Gardner.
The feature had its world premiere last year at Tallinn, is set in inner-city Dublin in 1984, in a public housing estate where one family fights for survival amid a heroin epidemic that has ravaged the city, through the eyes of an 11-year-old wannabe detective.
• Read Screen’s Spilt Milk review
The audience award is the only prize given to a title in the programme and is awarded to a first or second-time director. The runner-up was Natja Brunckhorst’s German comedyTwo To One, starring Sandra Huller.
A lively edition of the festival wrapped last night (March 9) with the world premiere of Martyn Robertson’s documentaryMake It To Munich. The film is about Aberdeenshire teenager Ethan Walker who took on the challenge of cycling from Glasgow to Munich for Scotland’s opening match against Germany in the Euro 2024 men’s football finals nine months after suffering a life-threatening road traffic accident.
He was supported by pioneering Scottish surgeon Gordon Mackay, who joined him as they hit the festival red carpet by bike.
Further films to play to packed out screenings in the 10-strong audience award selection included Jed Hart’s UK thriller Restless, about a woman who turns on her disruptive neighbours, and Marie-Claire Marcotte’s Canadian title Neon Dreaming, about an eight-year-old trying to uncover her mother’s true identity.
Tears
There were some tears shed across Gardner’s final GFF, who had co-directed the festival since 2007 with Allan Hunter. Hunter left after the 2023 festival. Gardner saw off her last edition in style, including joining Toni Colette to dance to Abba’s ’Dancing Queen’ at a 30th anniversary screening of Muriel’s Wedding, after the film’s star made a surprise visit.
Gardner will remain as CEO at Glasgow Film, the charity that runs GFF and the Glasgow Film Theatre, until October, with her replacement yet to be recruited.
“Being part of Glasgow Film Festival has been the most fun, rewarding and brilliant time over the last 21 years. From co-directing alongside the wonderful Allan Hunter to going solo the last couple of years I have had the most fabulous support and friendship from the exceptional teams in our organisation,” said Gardner.
”I have met some wonderful filmmakers and guests over the years and witnessed audiences fall in love with films that have changed their lives for the better. I will miss the rush of excitement when an audience takes a film to their hearts and no other festival in the world has better audiences, however it is time to hand the baton over. I’m immensely proud that the film festival lives by the ethos of GFT and that we uphold ‘Cinema For All’.”
Homegrown Glasgow star James McAvoy was this year’s recipient of the Cinema City Honorary Award, after Viggo Mortensen received the inaugural prize last year.
New industry hub
The festival’s industry programme has taken on greater prominence at the festival in recent years, as demonstrated by the need to move to a venue big enough in 2025 to cater for all the events, The Social Hub. Although a bit of a further walk from the festival’s hub Glasgow Film Theatre than previous industry venues, attendees felt the near 25-minute stroll was worth it to have all industry activity under one roof.
Highlights from the industry programme included the inaugural Funny Features pitch session, in which nine teams pitched comedy film ideas to a live audience and panel of industry experts, with Glasgow-set crime comedy Responsibility winning the audience vote. Animatic, the pitching event for animated TV series and shorts also returned for its second year. The winning TV project was Abigail Lamb’s Lochs & Legends, which received a £5,000 prize, while the winning short was To Myself And The Forest Of Tigers by filmmaker Sammi Duong, which took home a £1,000 award.
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