Glasgow Film Festival 2007

The third Glasgow Film Festival (GFF) will screen more than 90 films over eleven days. Running from February 15 to 25 2007, the Festival presents a wide-ranging programme of UK premieres and special events that includes such eagerly awaited titles as Robert De Niro’s all star drama The Good Shepherd, Clint Eastwood’s award-winning Letters From Iwo Jima, Woody Allen’s Scoop with Hugh Jackman and Scarlett Johansson and Werner Herzog’s thrilling adventure story Rescue Dawn with Christian Bale.

“It’s a really exciting and packed programme that has something for all tastes and all pockets, “say Festival co-directors Allan Hunter and Allison Gardner. “The titles range from the latest must-see Hollywood productions to the best arthouse triumphs of the past year, ace documentaries, a day of top scary movies and films with a strong Scottish flavour.”

The Festival will open on Thursday 15 February with the UK premiere of Cashback, a lyrical romantic comedy starring Scottish actor Sean Biggerstaff alongside Emilia Fox and Shaun Evans. A first feature from hot new talent Sean Ellis, it follows the tribulations of an art student who is dumped by his girlfriend and fills his lonely nights by working the graveyard shift at his local supermarket.

The Festival closes on Sunday 25 February with the UK premiere of Zhang Yimou’s lavish historical epic Curse Of The Golden Flower starring Gong Li and Chow Yun Fat. Yimou’s previous films House Of The Flying Daggers and Hero have been among the most popular foreign-language titles ever released in Britain. His new film is the most expensive Chinese production to date and is a blood-soaked saga of 10th century court intrigue. It is also China’s contender for the Oscars that take place that same evening in Los Angeles.

Funded by Glasgow: Scotland with style and supported by VisitScotland and media partner The Sunday Herald, the GFF also presents a focus on the career of John Wayne in the centenary year of his birth and a celebration of recent Danish cinema.

“John Wayne’s political activities have often overshadowed his other achievements and this is a chance to refocus attention on Wayne the movie star,” claims Co-Director Allan Hunter. “He is the great American icon of the western genre and a much better actor than critics were ever willing to acknowledge. We have deliberately chosen to focus on his westerns with a retrospective that runs the length of his career from his first starring role in The Big Trail in 1930 to his touching swansong in The Shootist more than forty years later.”

The celebration of Danish cinema includes the new Lars Von Trier comedy The Boss Of It All, powerful performances from Casino Royale villain Mads Mikkelsen in both After The Wedding and Prague as well as a salute to prolific writer/director Anders Thomas Jensen who will visit Glasgow to present his films Flickering Lights, The Green Butchers and Adam’s Apples. Virtually a one-man film industry Anders Thomas Jensen also wrote the Glasgow-set Wilbur Wants To Kill Himself and devised the characters that formed the basis of the recent Scottish triumph Red Road.

“Denmark is a small country with an amazing film heritage that stretches from Carl Dreyer to Lars Von Trier. It is also a country that has proved inspirational to Scottish filmmakers like Gillian Berrie,” states Co-Director Allison Gardner.

“There is such a rich diversity of talent in the current crop of Danish films that we were almost spoilt for choice. This is a great chance to capture a snapshot of one country’s film production and see a fantastic selection of films from the adult animation Princess to A Soap.”

The GFF also salutes home grown talent, hosting the world premiere of the Scottish feature Finding Bob McArthur directed by Jim Hickey, a gala screening of True North co-starring Martin Compston, Gary Lewis and Peter Mullan (the Festival’s patron) and a double-bill tribute to pioneering Scottish filmmakers Jenny Gilbertson and Harry Watt.

Other Festival highlights and premieres include the Dixie Chicks documentary Shut Up And Sing, Away From Her starring Julie Christie, blistering Gallic thriller Tell No One based on the Harlan Coben novel, award-winning German triumph The Lives Of Others, Cannes prize-winner Days Of Glory and Half Nelson starring Ryan Gosling.

Among the many guests expected to attend the Festival, Sylvain Chomet will introduce a screening of Paris Je t’aime, Oscar-winning producer Jeremy Thomas will introduce Fast Food Nation, Shane Meadows presents his stunning new drama This Is England and Laura Muscardin will introduces her new film Billo il Grand Dakhaar co-produced by Youssou N’Dour.

The full Glasgow Film Festival programme is available online at glasgowfilmfestival.org.uk. Tickets are on sale now.