Sir Alex Ferguson (photo: Mirrorpix)
In addition to the docs previously announced, Glasgow Film Festival will present the eagerly-anticipated world-premiere of feature documentary Sir Alex Ferguson: Never Give In, about the legendary Manchester United manager, directed by his son Jason Ferguson.
Filmed whilst recovering from a traumatic brain haemorrhage, and acutely aware that his memory might desert him, Sir Alex Ferguson recounts the most important stories of his life, both in and out of football, to his son Jason. Featuring exclusive and previously unseen archive footage, the film is described as “about the bond between a man and his family; an exploration of leadership and mental toughness and a celebration of one of football’s greatest careers.”
The film is produced by BAFTA Award-winner Andrew Macdonald (Trainspotting, 28 Days Later), Academy Award-winning John Battsek (One Day in September, Searching for Sugar Man), and BAFTA Award-winner Allon Reich (The Last King of Scotland, Never Let Me Go). Sir Alex Ferguson: Never Give In will be released in UK cinemas 27 May and will be available on Amazon Prime Video in the UK and Ireland from 29 May.
Sir Alex Ferguson and Jason Ferguson will take part in an exclusive digital Q&A for the festival, available to all ticket holders. Alongside them, GFF will be welcoming a host of other guests for exclusive Q&As. Docmakers include Celeste Bell and Paul Sng for Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliche (27 Feb), Bryan Fogel for The Dissident (6 Mar) and Viktor Kossakovsky for the Oscar-nominated Gunda (7 Mar). Other notable Q&As are Jodie Foster, Kevin Macdonald and Tahar Rahim for The Mauritanian (25 Feb) and Ewen Bremner and Nick Moran for Creation Stories (24 Feb).
On 5 March the festival will host the UK premiere of Tina, described as “the ultimate celebration of a global superstar and an intimate portrait of a woman who overcame extreme adversity to define her career, her identity and her legacy on her own terms”. From her early hits as the queen of R&B, to her record-breaking sell-out arena tours of the 1980s, Tina Turner draws back the curtain to invite us into her private world in a way she has never done before. Revealing her inner-most struggles, and sharing some of her most personal moments, Tina is the defining and inspirational record of one of the greatest survivors in modern music.
The film is directed by Academy Award-winning directors Dan Lindsay and T.J. Martin (Undefeated, LA 92), and produced by Lightbox, and will be released in the UK and Ireland in March.
The Glasgow Film Festival opens on 24 February with the UK premiere of Lee Isaac Chung’s Minari and closes on 7 March with the UK premiere of Suzanne Lindon’s Spring Blossom. In total, the festival will host 10 World premieres, 3 European premieres and 49 UK premieres via its new digital platform, Glasgow Film At Home.
