JAMES MCAVOY AT GLASGOW FILM FEST

Pic James McAvoy Instagram 

Actor James McAvoy will attend Glasgow Film Festival’s closing gala for the UK premiere of his directorial debut, California Schemin'

Theshowbizlion.com enjoys popping along to the red carpet every year for the film fest and this year will be no different. 

James will be joined by cast members Samuel Bottomley (How to Have Sex), Scottish star of Outlander: Blood of My Blood, Séamus McLean Ross and Paisley-born BAFTA Scotland Award-winning Lucy Halliday (Blue Jean). Watch the new trailer here.

Scotland-based Chilean-Belgian film director Felipe Bustos Sierra (Nae Pasaran), will return to GFF for the UK premiere of Everybody to Kenmure Street, the festival’s opening gala film on 25 February. This comes after the title was awarded the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Civil Resistance at the Sundance Film Festival. Also attending the premiere will be Glasgow-based political activist and human rights lawyer Aamer Anwar and Glasgow Councillor Roza Salih, who co-founded the Glasgow Girls in 2005 at the age of 15.

A selection of hot new talent and ground-breaking filmmakers will also appear on the red carpet at the 22nd edition of GFF, taking place between 25 February and 8 March.

Scottish talent to tread the red carpet includes 22-year-old identical twins from Bothwell, Ben McQuaid and Nathan McQuaid, who will attend the world premiere of their directorial debut, Welcome to G-Town (28 February). The micro-budget horror film, shot on location in Glasgow and poised to be an audience favourite at the festival, has had a third screening added to the GFF26 programme, after the first two screenings quickly sold out. Edinburgh filmmaker Sean Dunn will also attend the UK premiere of his Edinburgh-filmed black comedy The Fall of Sir Douglas Weatherford (4 March).

Glasgow-based Jack Archer, director of Gaelic-language documentary Sailm nan Daoine (Psalms of the People), will attend, as well as the film’s subject, precentor Rob MacNeacail (1 March). The UK premiere of Midwinter Break, based on Glasgow-based novelist Bernard MacLaverty’s book of the same name, will see the writer grace the red carpet, as well as the film’s director, Olivier Award-winner Polly Findlay (26 February).

Other British filmmakers attending include Ed Sayers, director of environmental feature Super Nature (28 February), BAFTA-winning Mark Jenkin (Bait), who will return to GFF for the Scottish premiere of his hotly anticipated science fiction drama Rose of Nevada (26 February), BAFTA-winning Stroma Cairns (Mood) for the Scottish premiere of The Son and the Sea (7 March), and BIFA-winning directors Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard, who will return to GFF for the Scottish premiere of Broken English, about British pop icon Marianne Faithfull (26 February). 

Filmmakers from across the world will attend, including French screenwriter and director Alice Winocour (Proxima) for the UK premiere of Angelina Jolie-led drama Couture, which will also be attended by co-writer, Swiss filmmaker Jean-Stéphane Bron (28 February). NME Award-winning Irish filmmaker Gavin FitzGerald will attend the UK premiere of Lomu, his new documentary about rugby icon Jonah Lomu and Italian director Francesco Sossai will attend the UK premiere of GFF26 Audience Award shortlisted film The Last One for the Road (5 March), as well as the directors of Leonora in the Morning Light, Swiss/Czech filmmaker Lena Vurma and German filmmaker Thor Klein (28 February). 

Gavin FitzGerald, Irish director of Lomu about legendary rugby player Jonah Lomu, will attend (27 February), as well as Mexico City-based Efraín Mojica and Rebecca Zweig, directors of Jaripeo, about the queer side of Mexican rodeo (1 March). Japanese filmmaker Yukinori Makabe will also return to the festival for the world premiere of his romance drama Sinsin and the Mouse, adapted from celebrated author Banana Yoshimoto’s short story of the same name (6 March). 

Acting talent who will grace the GFF red carpet include Call the Midwife star Natalie Quarry and Eastenders actor Ronni Ancona for the UK premiere of Think of England (6 March), 16-year-old BAFTA-nominated rising star Woody Norman (C'mon C'mon) for the UK premiere of My Father’s Island (2 March), and up-and-coming actor Leisa Gwenllian, lead of Effi o Blaenau, a Welsh drama having its world premiere at the festival, as well as a return to GFF by the film’s director, BAFTA Cymru-winning Marc Evans (3 March).

FrightFest, the horror festival known as the UK’s “Woodstock of gore”, taking place within GFF, will also see a selection of stars gracing Glasgow Film Theatre, with the UK premiere of The Restoration at Grayson Manor being attended by previously announced stars Chris Colfer (Glee) and Alice Krige (Star Trek) (6 March), and Red Riding being attended by acclaimed horror director and producer Neil Marshall (The Descent) (7 March).

GFF26 will host 126 films across 12 days, including 16 World, European and International premieres, 68 UK premieres, and 18 Scottish premieres, with titles from 44 countries and six continents.  

GFF is Scotland’s flagship film festival and is run by Glasgow Film, a charity which also runs Glasgow Film Theatre (GFT). The festival is made possible by support from Screen Scotland and the BFI Audience Projects Fund, both awarding National Lottery funding, and Glasgow Life, the charity which delivers culture, events and active living in Glasgow. 

BODYGUARD STAR RICHARD MADDEN INSISTS IN PAYING TO WATCH HIMSELF IN GLASGOW

 Beverley Lyons
RICHARD Madden ended up paying for his own ticket to see a film he narrated at the Glasgow Film Festival.
The Bodyguard and Game of Thrones star turned up unannounced at the Glasgow Film Theatre for the world premiere of Harry Birrell: Films of Love And War and surprised punters in the audience.
Richard, who told filmgoers in the audience he was in town for some work, had narrated the documentary about amateur camera man Harry Birrell who was born in Paisley in the 1920s.
The documentary was put together from hundreds of hours of amateur footage and is one man’s view of the twentieth century.
Instead of taking a complimentary ticket which was available at the film office, he insisted on paying his £11 for the pleasure of listening to himself.
Richard then sat with films producer and Harry’s granddaughter Corina Birrell and met up with co producer John Archer and Director Matt Pinder at the end.
A GFT film goer said: “We couldn’t believe it when we saw Richard queue for a ticket and then take a seat in the cinema. It was really bizarre. He looked so handsome in his black too and jacket.  He was keen to be pretty low key and he seemed to have a great rapport with Carina Birrell and the crew. It was around three thirty pm and most people didn’t realise they had a real award winning star in their midst.”
Golden Globe and NTA award winner Richard is currently being tipped as the new James Bond as previews of his new movie project Rocketman are released.
The actor plays John Reid Elton Johns former lover and manager in the movie which is due for release at the end of May. Allison Gardner Co-director Glasgow Film Festival, said:  “We are delighted that Richard made the effort to support the film at its debut screenings at Glasgow Film Festival. Richard leant his voice to wonderful documentary and it was a joy to have him the audience'



From Scotland with Love Theshowbizlion.com

DOCTOR WHO STAR KAREN GILLAN TALKS CHIPPIE SAUCE AND MORE ON SCOTS VISIT TO GLASGOW FILM FEST

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Beverley Lyons
Karen Gillan might be invited to dine at all the black tie dos with A list celebs like Vin Diesel, Jack Black, Chris Pratt, and The Rock but the Jumanji and Dr Who Star says she misses chippy sauce the most when she’s away from home.
The Inverness born former model who is in Glasgow for the launch of her directorial debut feature The Party Is Just Beginning revealed she gets homesick for the simple things.
As she sparkled on the red carpet in a stunning silver number by New York designer Thom Browne,  Karen, 30, told theshowbizlion.com: “The thing I miss most about Scotland has to be the chippy sauce. That’s it, but also my family and all the people here and also the sense of humour cause I feel that we have a very specific sense of humour in the face of adversity which is something I incorporate into the film. I miss it a lot.”
Karen who rose to fame as Amy Pond in Doctor Who and plays Nebula in the Guardians of The Galaxy movies told of her nerves and pride at directing her first movie.
Appearing at the GFT for her world premiere at Glasgow Film Fest she said. “I’ve done two shorts before but this is first feature I’ve directed. Tonight it’s being seen for the first time so I’m feeling very vulnerable but it’s exciting. There’s something lovely about  being behind the  camera.”
She joked: “Directing myself meant I had the ultimate shorthand so there was not a lot of discussion with myself and I gave myself a lot of options so every take was different and I had lots to choose from in the edit.
Speaking of her outfit the former model said: “The dress is by Thom Browne and they have put lovely jewels on it for me and I love it it’s really pretty.
I”d always imagined we were going to do the film in my hometown but there was something so trippy about seeing all those familiar places on a big screen like the places I used to eat chips as a teenager it was really weird. I couldn’t feel more proud to be a female director at this time when the numbers are so low.”
Karen also says she likes the idea of moving into directing full time once her acting career is over - and she believes change is in the air for women in the industry.
She said: “I love acting and it’s what I do - I love directing and being behind the camera and watching amazing actors doing amazing things so I’m quite taken with the idea of doing it more later in life. I’ve been bitten by the bug of directing.”
She said: “I felt like it was the most natural thing in the world to write. When I first decided to write my story I wanted to tell it from my perspective as a young girl growing up in the Highlands of Scotland. The story is about a young girl dealing with the suicide of her best friend and she’s having a hard time communicating with people and communicating her grief. It comes out in a self destructive way. “I do believe change is in the air for women. I feel so happy and grateful as a woman that we are finally being heard and that women are coming forward telling stories and am so pleased that conversation is starting. We are at the beginning of change but there is a lot to do.
I’m so pleased to be a woman director and hopefully I can inspire people to do the same.
I’ve made a point of showing off the places in Inverness that I grew up in - the local chip shop where I used to shovel chips in my face is heavily featured and you might recognise some other spots.
Asked about suicide rates being high in Highlands she added: “I think I found an answer and I hope that’s in the film. One of the main topics is communication and if anyone has enduring heartache then the main thing is to communicate. Our lead character is unable to do that and if she just communicated her feelings would be different.”