Allison Gardner, Rose Glass

Source: Eoin Carey

Allison Gardner, Rose Glass at GFF opening night gala

Glasgow Film Festival 2024 (GFF24) saw an increase in cinema admissions and industry attendance, with director Allison Gardner describing the 20th edition as “a perfect reflection of everything Glasgow Film Festival stands for: cinema for all”.

GFF24 ran from February 26 to March 9, with cinema admissions increasing to 34,817, a 4% rise from GFF23. Industry attendance was up by 56%, with 650 delegates visiting from across the globe, and over 3,000 admissions to its industry focus events.

2020 remains GFF’s record-breaking year for audience levels, with 43,147 cinema admissions.

Icelandic football film The Home Game received the audience award, the festival’s only award, while Danish actor and filmmaker Viggo Mortensen was presented with the festival’s inaugural Cinema City Honorary Award.

GFF will return in 2025, running from February 26 to March 9, with the full programme revealed in January 2025.

“We were particularly delighted to host so many sold out screenings, from our opening film Love Lies Bleeding selling out in a record-breaking six minutes, to two packed-out Cinema 1 showings of the new Big Banana Feet restoration and extra screenings of Glasgow filmmaker Ciaran Lyons’ debut Tummy Monster added due to phenomenal demand,” said Gardner.

Isabel Davis, executive director of Screen Scotland, a funder of the festival, added: “This edition underscores the festival’s role in showcasing the vibrant Scottish filmmaking sector, which made it the ideal place to launch our new strategy during the festival. We join in celebrating the amazing milestones achieved with this year’s efforts and continue to support its growth and development.”