The 22nd edition of Scotland’s largest film festival will showcase 126 films (both docs and fiction) from 44 countries, with 16 World, European, and International premieres, 68 UK premieres and 18 Scottish premieres taking place between 25 February and 8 March.
This year’s festival marks Paul Gallagher’s first edition as Head of Programme, working alongside Programme Manager Chris Kumar and a team of programme advisors that includes Lauren Clarke (documentary).
The festival will open with Felipe Bustos Sierra’s local documentary Everybody to Kenmure Street, executive produced by Emma Thompson. The film concerns one of Scotland’s most spontaneous and successful acts of civil resistance in recent memory when, after a UK Home Office dawn raid in the Glasgow district of Pollokshields, one of Scotland’s most diverse neighbourhoods, local residents rushed to the streets to stop the deportation of their neighbours. The film will world-premiere in World Cinema Doc Comp at the upcoming Sundance FF.
Glasgow FF will also feature the world premieres of Sailm nan Daoine (Psalms of the People), Jack Archer’s documentary on Scotland’s tradition of Gaelic psalm singing, and Molly vs the Machines, Marc Silver’s story of a heartbroken father’s quest to uncover the truth behind his daughter’s death. Molly vs the Machines is distributed by Scottish outfit Cosmic Cat and received significant funding from Screen Scotland.
The Iranian-Scottish co-production, Without Permission, by Aberdeen-based British-Iranian director Hassan Nazer, is a docufiction hybrid about an exiled filmmaker who returns to Iran to shoot a film. The feature is anchored in authentic interviews with a group of Iranian children who reveal their sweetly hopeful dreams for the future.
Films with ties to Scotland that will have their Scottish premiere at the festival include the documentary Super Nature, shot collaboratively across 25 different countries, and which offers a fresh way of looking at the environment and creatures great and small around us via the glorious and tactile intimacy of vintage Super 8 cameras. Filmmakers based in Oban, Isle of Lewis and Edinburgh are among those who contributed to the film, which also saw partnership from Screen Scotland, co-production from Scottish studio Forest of Black, and co-executive production from Glasgow-based Nikki Parrott of Tigerlily Two.
Raoul Peck’s documentary, Orwell: 2+2=5, braids together George Orwell’s biography and the writing of his final book, 1984, on the Scottish island of Jura, and features an exploration of its ideas, including doublethink, Big Brother and newspeak, which resonate more than ever today.
Glasgow FF will also present the Scottish premiere of Broken English, featuring George MacKay and Tilda Swinton, a formally playful swansong documentary, following Marianne Faithfull as she looks back over her long career, sifting out fact from folklore, and featuring the bohemian rock queen’s final musical performance.
Other Scottish premieres include Militantropos, an observational documentary articulating the devastating impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on everyday lives forced into transformation by war. With Hasan in Gaza uses rediscovered footage of a road trip through Gaza with a resident guide, Hasan Elboubou. Hasan, whose fate is now unknown, provides the poignant bedrock for this reflection on memory and loss in Gaza in the years since.
A Fox Under a Pink Moon, which won best international film at the 2025 International Documentary Festival Amsterdam, is an intimate documentary capturing life for teenage artist Soraya, an Afghan refugee who shot much of the footage herself over five years, as she tries to travel from Iran to reach her mother in Austria. Megadoc sees British director Mike Figgis (Leaving Las Vegas) going behind the scenes as Francis Ford Coppola directs his passion project, Megalopolis, offering an eye-opening and entertaining insight into the Apocalypse Now filmmaker’s unconventional working process, and featuring a star-studded line-up of famous faces, including Adam Driver, Jon Voight and Aubrey Plaza.
Lomu explores the tragically short life and extraordinary career of Rugby Union All Blacks legend Jonah Lomu. Jaripeo transports us into the world of the hypermasculine jaripeo, a traditional Mexican-style rodeo, including bull and horse riding. Audiences are guided into another world full of queer desire and longing.
The FrightFest sidebar will present the UK premiere of David Kittredge’s documentary Boorman and the Devil, which explores the troubled legacy of Exorcist II: The Heretic through interviews with John Boorman, Linda Blair, Louise Fletcher and others.
Finally, in the ‘Take a Chance on Me: Swedish Cinema’ country focus, Glasgow audiences will have the chance to see Jon Asp and Mattias Nohrborg’s documentary Being Bo Widerberg, which chronicles the life of the writer and film critic and the personal costs of his artistic vision.
Paul Gallagher, Head of Programme at Glasgow Film Festival, comments: “It is an absolute honour and privilege to unveil my first Glasgow Film Festival programme for this 22nd edition of the festival. Across these 126 features are stories of vastly differing characters, settings and ideas, but one thing connects them: they are all the result of a personal vision, uniquely brought to the screen.
“I’m particularly pleased at the depth and variety of films in this programme that were made here in Scotland or by Scottish talent; it speaks so highly of the great filmmakers we have, and the increasing opportunities they are taking and creating for themselves. I can’t wait to showcase theirs and so many other brilliant filmmakers’ work to the greatest cinema audience in the world!”
Isabel Davis, Executive Director of Screen Scotland, adds: “The Scottish films reflect a year of fearless, ingenious and entertaining work, from first-time filmmakers to those making a second, third or fourth film here in Scotland. These films sit alongside world-class cinema in a programme that remains as welcoming and audience-focused as ever. “Screen Scotland is GFF’s major funding partner because the festival champions strong, locally originated work alongside its international programme, and is becoming a significant date in the industry calendar. All of which contributes to our creative and economic growth.”
