Glasgow Film Festival: 10 to see

Scotsman film critic Alistair Harkness picks his highlights from this year’s Glasgow Film Festival programme
Mid 90sMid 90s
Mid 90s

Mid90s, 20 & 21 February: Festival opener Jonah Hill’s directorial debut promises plenty of 90s nostalgia with a coming-of-age tale about a painfully shy 13-year-old (Sunny Suljic).

Aquarala, 22 February: Immersive documentary about the awesome power of water in all its forms. Demands to be seen on the big screen.

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Daydream Nation, 23 February and Lance Bangs In Person, 24 February: The acclaimed US music video director will be in town to discus his career and screen his Sonic Youth concert film, shot in Glasgow’s (now destroyed) ABC.

Eighth Grade, 28 February and 1 March: More coming-of-age social anxiety, this time from stand-up-turned-filmmaker Bo Burnham’s acclaimed US indie film about 13-year-olds negotiating the move into high school.

Her Smell, 24 February: Elizabeth Moss plays a Courtney Love-esque rock-star dealing with sobriety in what promises to be another mercilessly misanthropic character study from her Listen Up, Philip director Alex Ross Perry.

Transit, 22 and 26 February: German auteur Christian Petzold’s conceptually daring Holocaust drama strips away period details to explore parallels with the contemporary rise of right wing extremism.

The Sisters Brothers, 21 and 23 February: John C Reilly and Joaquin Phoenix take the leads in this rugged western from French master Jacques Audiard.

May Days: The Films of Elaine May, various dates: The marginalised maverick of American comedy gets a welcome tribute with screenings of the four films – A New Leaf, The Heartbreak Kid, Mikey and Nicky, Ishtar – that she managed to direct before the industry curtailed her career.

Vox Lux, 2-3 March: Natalie Portman stars as a former teen pop star and school shooting survivor on the comeback trail in this meditation on fame and trauma from Childhood of a Leader director Brady Corbet.

Beats, 3 March: Drawing the festival to close is another 90s throwback, this one set in Scotland against the backdrop of the illegal rave scene. - Alistair Harkness

The Glasgow Film Festival runs from 20 February until 3 March. For more information and tickets see www.glasgowfilm.org/festival