21 Nov 2024
Glasgow Film Theatre (GFT) has announced its programme for the final month of 2024, including the return of its much-loved festive programme.
Christmas at GFT
As the independent cinema celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, its eclectic Christmas programme has become a festive tradition for thousands of Glaswegians. This year’s line-up has something for every taste, with beloved Christmas classics and seasonal family staples screening alongside some decidedly more adult festive offerings.
GFT’s long-running annual screenings of the Frank Capra classic, It’s A Wonderful Life, are the cornerstone of the programme, having earned their place as one of the hottest tickets in Glasgow’s Christmas calendar. In the last 17 calendar years, only four films have ever beaten It’s A Wonderful Life’s sales figures at the GFT Box Office. Classics fans will also welcome the return of The Bishop’s Wife and White Christmas, whilst families will enjoy Elf and The Muppet Christmas Carol. For those looking to celebrate Christmas off the beaten path, the cinema will present screenings of cult hits Die Hard and Gremlins, as well as Alexander Payne’s Oscar-winning The Holdovers, Martin McDonagh's darkly comic In Bruges, Bill Forsyth's Glasgow urban fairy tale Comfort and Joy, and Stanley Kubrick's surreal thriller Eyes Wide Shut.
Seasons
GFT’s Crimbo Limbo season will provide an eclectic mix of winter watches in the week between Christmas and New Year. The line-up will include Paul Thomas Anderson’s romantic drama Phantom Thread, Wayne Wang’s comedic Smoke, John Huston’s James Joyce adaptation The Dead, Ingmar Bergman’s period drama Fanny and Alexander, Powell and Pressburger’s iconic The Red Shoes, Leos Carax’s new experimental film self-portrait It’s Not Me (C’est Pas Moi) and Carax’s earlier bonkers odyssey Holy Motors.
GFT’s long-running CineMasters season, celebrating directors and key figures from filmmaking history, gives audiences the opportunity to watch their work on the big screen. It returns in December with a season devoted to possibly Scotland’s finest director, Bill Douglas. Celebrated by other great filmmakers including Lynne Ramsay, Lenny Abrahamson, Satajit Ray and Yuliya Solntseve, in his short career Douglas made four films, an autobiographical trilogy My Childhood, My Ain Folk and My Way Home about his appalling childhood and Comrades, an epic about a momentous moment in English history. They will screen alongside the new documentary, Bill Douglas – My Best Friend, which tells the story of the extraordinary friendship between Douglas and his lifelong companion and collaborator Peter Jewell. The special screening of Bill Douglas – My Best Friend on Wednesday 11 December will be followed by a Q&A with the director Jack Archer.
Focus Hong Kong – the UK festival dedicated to celebrating the amazing cinema and filmmakers of Hong Kong – will return to GFT in December with three unmissable screenings, including the UK premiere of Obedience — the latest film by acclaimed independent documentarian Wong Siu-Pong; Ray Yeung’s acclaimed queer drama All Shall Be Well; and the UK premiere of the 4K restoration of Hong Kong classic July Rhapsody.
December will mark the end of GFT’s Scorsese of the Month programme, which has brought a different film by Martin Scorsese to the big screen each month for the past two-and-a-half years. The 29th and final film in the programme will be the director’s first feature from 1967, Who’s That Knocking at My Door?
The Under The Mink: Film Noir At Columbia Pictures season, presented by Park Circus and curated by Christina Newland, continues into December with screenings of GFT fan favourite, In a Lonely Place.
Special Screenings
GFT is known for its insightful Q&As with filmmakers and film stars, and the December programme boasts several intriguing Q&A events. A special screening of the new documentary The Contestant, which tells the incredible true story of a man who lived for 15 months trapped inside a small room, naked, starving and completely unaware that his life was being broadcast on national TV in Japan, will be followed by a recorded Q&A with the contestant himself, Nabusi.
Director Daniel Draper and photographer Simon Murphy will visit the cinema for a Q&A following a screening of their new documentary, Liverpool Story – a year-in-the-life portrait that allows the city of Liverpool to take centre stage.
GFT will also welcome co-writer/co-director Sam Crane for a Q&A following a special screening of Grand Theft Hamlet, which tells the remarkable story of two actors who became immersed in the video game Grand Theft Auto during lockdown and decided to stage a full production of Shakespeare’s Hamlet with the game.
Glasgow’s film fans will have an early chance to see the new genre-bending documentary 2073 from Asif Kapadia (Amy, Diego Maradona) as Take One Action and GFT present a preview screening on Wednesday 13 December. In this ingenious mixture of visionary science fiction and speculative nonfiction, Kapadia transports us to a future foreshadowed by the terrifying realities of our present moment. Take One Action will lead a post-film discussion on the themes and questions the film raises.
The cinema will play host to a special screening of Palestine: Five Short Films from Bethlehem Cultural Festival followed by a Q&A with Dr Abdelfattah Abusrour from Alrowwad Centre for Arts and Culture, Bethlehem, hosted by Dr Cairsti Russell. These films, created and directed by Palestinians, give insight into the stories of generations living under occupation.
For music lovers, GFT will present a one-off screening of the new documentary RM: Right People, Wrong Place, a film that follows RM, solo artist and leader of 21st century pop icons BTS, as he produces his second solo album; and a chance to see Runrig: The Last Dance on the big screen.
New Releases
Must-see new releases and re-releases playing at GFT in December include Conclave, All We Imagine as Light, Maya and the Wave, The Contestant, On Becoming a Guinea Fowl, Grand Theft Hamlet, Nightbitch, Memories of a Burning Body, Queer, Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story, Rumours, A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things, The Universal Theory and Spirited Away.
Accessible Screenings
In addition to an extensive programme of captioned and audio described screenings, GFT have announced the December editions of their long-running accessible film events.
Access Film Club, delivered in partnership with the National Autistic Society Scotland, includes a film screening and post-film chat in a friendly and welcoming environment. The December Access Film Club screening will be the classic fairytale fantasy The Princess Bride, with tickets available for just £6.50.
Take 2 Access presents an autism-friendly screening of three of Aardman’s Wallace & Gromit classics – A Grand Day Out, The Wrong Trousers, and A Close Shave – in crisp 4K. Every child attending a Take 2 Access screening receives a free ticket for themselves and two free tickets for accompanying adults.
Visible Cinema, GFT’s monthly Deaf-friendly film event, will present a screening of Luca Guadagnino’s latest film Queer. The film will have descriptive subtitles, and the introduction and discussion will have Live Captioning and BSL interpretation. Tickets are available for just £6.50.
Movie Memories, GFT’s dementia-friendly film event, will mark the festive season with a screening of 1940s romantic comedy Remember the Night. Designed to enable people living with dementia to socialise in a safe and welcoming environment, tickets for Movie Memories are just £3, including free refreshments and live music.
Tickets for GFT’s December and Christmas Programmes will go on sale on Wednesday 20 November at 2pm from glasgowfilm.org and the GFT Box Office.
Glasgow’s original independent cinema, GFT celebrates its 50th birthday in 2024. Glasgow Film’s ‘£50 for 50’ campaign invites supporters to take part in celebrating 50 years of GFT by donating £50. People making donations will become part of GFT’s cinematic history and help shape the next 50 years of independent film. In return, donors will be invited to a special screening in January 2025 and have their support recognised on screen. Find out more and donate at www.glasgowfilm.org/donate
GFT is operated by Glasgow Film, an educational charity which also runs the award-winning Glasgow Film Festival and Glasgow Youth Film Festival, and is the lead organisation for Film Hub Scotland. GFT is the city’s original independent arthouse cinema and the home of film in Glasgow. Glasgow Film is funded by Creative Scotland, Screen Scotland and Glasgow City Council.
