The Glasgow Film Festival has revealed that its 16th edition will be bookended by female-directed features for the first time.
The festival will open on February 26 with Proxima, from French filmmaker Alice Winocour, and close on March 8 with How To Build A Girl, directed by Coky Giedroyc. Both are UK premieres.
Proxima stars Eva Green as an astronaut and single mother who signs up for a year-long space mission, leaving her young daughter behind. Joining an all-male crew – played by Matt Dillon, Lars Eidinger and Aleksey Fateev – she battles to prove herself in the face of male chauvinism while coping with deep feelings of guilt and loss over the separation from her daughter.
The film, handled by Pathe International, debuted at Toronto and went on to win prizes at San Sebastian. Picturehouse Entertainment will release the film in the UK on April 17.
It marks Winocour’s third feature as director, having debuted with Augustine at Cannes 2012, followed by Un Certain Regard entry Disorder in 2015. She also wrote the screenplay for Oscar-nominated Mustang.
How To Build A Girl stars Beanie Feldstein (Booksmart) as Johanna, a smart, funny, overweight 16-year-old from a working-class family in Wolverhampton who moves to London to try to make it as a rock journalist, rechristening herself as Dolly Wilde. The cast also includes Alfie Allen, Paddy Considine, Emma Thompson and Chris O’Dowd.
Adapted from Caitlin Moran’s semi-autobiographical 2014 novel of the same name, the film debuted at Toronto where Giedroyc picked up the FIPRESCI Prize. Lionsgate is handling UK distribution.
Director Giedroyc is perhaps best known for directing TV drama such as Harlots for Hulu and The Hour for the BBC.
Its screening as the closing film on March 8 also marks International Women’s Day.
The full programme for GFF 2020 will be announced on January 29.
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