Glasgow Film Festival (GFF, February 25-March 8) has unveiled its full lineup for the 2026 edition of the festival with 11 world premieres including documentary Molly Vs The Machines, about a father’s fight against Big Tech.
Marc Silver’s feature tells the tragic story of British teenager Molly Russell, who was driven by social media to take her own life in 2017, and her father’s quest to uncover the truth. Scottish company Cosmic Cat will distribute theatrically in the UK.
Ten UK premieres from first- and second-time directors compete for the audience award, the festival’s only competitive strand. The award was previously sponsored by Mubi and is not backed by a sponsor this year. A GFF spokesperson has said this was due to the expiry of a two-year partnership and was unrelated to Mubi’s 2025 Sequoia funding controversy.
Features include Sundance 2025 world premieres Rebuilding starring Josh O’Connor, about a Coloradan cowboy trying to reconnect with his nine-year-old daughter, and Atropia, the winner of the US grand jury prize that stars Alia Shawkat and Callum Turner and is produced by Luca Guadagnino.
The festival will showcase 13 Scottish films including Psalms Of The People (Sailm Nan Daoine), Jack Archer’s Gaelic-language documentary about Scotland’s cultural heritage of traditional Gaelic psalm singing.
Micro-budget Welcome To G-Town marks the debut feature from identical twin brothers Ben McQuaid and Nathan McQuaid and centres on shape-shifting aliens that land in Glasgow.
FrightFest, GFF’s resident horror festival which runs March 5-7, will open with the world premiere of Vasily Chuprina’s action thriller Jailbroken, set entirely within a single prison cell.
For the first time, GFF will open and close with UK premieres of films shot in Glasgow. The previously announced titles bookending the festival are Felipe Bustos Sierra’s documentary and imminent Sundance 2026 world premiere Everybody To Kenmure Street and James McAvoy’s directorial debut and TIFF 2025 world premiere California Schemin’.
Further UK premieres include Alice Winocour’s Couture and Pete Ohs’ Erupcja starring and co-produced by Charli xcx. Both world-premiered at Toronto. The life and work of Marilyn Monroe will be celebrated 100 years after her birth with films including The Asphalt Jungle and Some Like It Hot.
This year’s edition marks Paul Gallagher’s first as head of programme, working alongside programme manager Chris Kumar; and Seonaid Daly’s first as chief executive of Glasgow Film following the departure of Allison Gardner as CEO last year.
GFF 2026 lineup
World premieres
*part of FrightFest lineup
Bone Keeper* dir. Howard J. Ford
Bury The Dead dir. Adam O’Brien
Deathkeeper* dir. Tristan Barr
Effi o Blaenau dir. Marc Evans
Jailbroken* dir. Vasily Chuprina
Molly Vs The Machines dir. Marc Silver
Red Riding* dir. Craig Conway
Psalms Of The People (Sailm Nan Daoine) dir. Jack Archer
Sinsin And The Mouse dir. Yukinori Makabe
The Trick dirs. Matt Fich, Chris Baker
Welcome To G-Town dirs. Ben McQuaid, Nathan McQuaid
Audience award
Live A Little dir. Fanny Ovesen
Atropia dir. Hailey Gates
Bouchra dirs. Orian Barki, Meriem Bennani
First Light dir. James J. Robinson
The Last One For The Road dir. Francesco Sossai
Nino dir. Pauline Loques
On A String dir. Isabel Hagan
Rebuilding dir. Max Walker-Silverman
A Place For Her dir. Mélisa Godet
Pasa Faho dir. Kalu Oji.
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