Glasgow Film Festival 2017 full lineup unveiled

The full programme for the 2017 Glasgow Film Festival (Feb 15-26) has been revealed.

The festival will host 65 UK premieres, 67 Scottish premieres and nine world and international premieres.

As previously reported, Glasgow will kick off with the European premiere of Handsome Devil, a coming-of-age drama starring Andrew Scott and directed by John Butler (The Stag).

The world premiere of Mad To Be Normal, starring David Tennant as renowned Scottish psychiatrist R.D. Laing, closes the festival. Tennant is expected to attend.

Premieres

Other highlights include UK Premieres of Raoul Peck’s I Am Not Your Negro, Terrence Malick’s Voyage of Time: Life’s Journey [pictured], Cate Shortland’s Berlin Syndrome and Aki Kaurismäki’s The Other Side of Hope.

There will also be first Scottish screenings of Paul Verhoeven’s Golden Globe-winning Elle, Ben Wheatley’s Free Fire; Lone Scherfig’s Their Finest; Olivier Assayas’s Personal Shopper, Werner Herzog’s eco thriller Salt And Fire starring Michael Shannon and Hope Dickson Leach’s The Levelling.

Glasgow will also showcase the world premiere of Benny, an unconventional biopic of beloved local boxer Benny Lynch which fuses archive footage, animation and interviews with contemporary boxing stars.

Talent expected to attend include director Terence Davies for A Quiet Passion; Lady Macbeth producer and 2016 Screen Star Of Tomorrow producer Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly; Julian Barratt (The Mighty Boosh) for Mindhorn; director Ben Wheatley (High Rise), Michael Smiley (Kill List) and Jack Reynor (What Richard Did) for Free Fire.

Five female filmmakers are in contention for the audience award: Maysaloun Hamoud (In Between); writer-director Rachel Lambert (In The Radiant City); documentary director Benthe Forrer (The Chocolate Case); BIFA-nominated writer-director Hope Dickson Leach (The Levelling); and writer-director Alankrita Shrivastava (Lipstick Under My Burkha). The other films up for the award are Jawbone, Halfway, Free in Deed, Marija and Old Stone.

Special events

As previously announced, there will be “immersive” pop-up cinema screenings of The Lost Boys (to celebrate its 30th Anniversary) on February 17, a 30th anniversary of The Princess Bride on February 25 and a Secretary 15th anniversary screening in association with Torture Garden fetish club on February 24.

There will also be a “Dangerous Dames” strand of free screenings to celebrate film noir femme fatales, including The Postman Always Rings Twice and Body Heat.

John Carpenter’s The Thing will screen on an actual ski slope, while Cajun noir classic The Big Easy will screen at the new Barras Art and Design centre with a post-screening live gig from Hoodou Bayou.

The festival will showcase 310 events and screenings from 38 countries at venues including the GFT, CCA, Cineworld and Grosvenor cinemas.