Hollywood duos to be celebrated at Glasgow film festival

HOLLYWOOD “dream teams” are to be celebrated by Glasgow’s annual film festival next year as it undergoes a major shake-up by targeting industry delegates for the first time.
Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton at the 1970 Academy Awards. Picture: GettyElizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton at the 1970 Academy Awards. Picture: Getty
Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton at the 1970 Academy Awards. Picture: Getty

Classics starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, Doris Day and Rock Hudson, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers, and Robert Redford and Paul Newman will all be revived on the big screen at February’s event.

International movie-makers, film funding bodies and other experts are all being invited to the Glasgow Film Festival for a two-day seminar expected to attract hundreds of delegates from outwith the city.

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The move comes 12 months after the festival, which is run by the historic Glasgow Film Theatre cinema, launched its first award, decided by audiences.

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers on set in Hollywood in August 1948. Picture: APFred Astaire and Ginger Rogers on set in Hollywood in August 1948. Picture: AP
Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers on set in Hollywood in August 1948. Picture: AP

Different silver screen partnerships will be celebrated on each day of the Glasgow Film Festival, which is holding “cross-generational” free-screenings by encouraging regular ticket-buyers to bring along old friends or their relatives.

The 2016 festival will also feature a celebration of Argentinian cinema and a mini-retrospective on the work of the French film-maker Julien Duvivier.

The festival will be launching a membership scheme for the first time to allow its regular followers to snap up tickets for the most sought-after events ahead of their public sale.

It is hoped the addition of a major industry strand will help raise the profile of the event, which has attracted the likes of Alan Rickman, Terry Gilliam, John C Reilly, Richard Dreyfuss, Gemma Arterton and Peter Capaldi. Organisers say the new industry element is “a major step forward for the festival,” which only launched a decade ago and now attracts more than 40,000 film fans each winter, making it the third biggest event of its kind in the UK, after London and Edinburgh’s film festivals.

Co-director Allison Gardner said: “It is a significant move for us. We usually do behind the scenes events and free talks, which are usually attended by a lot of young people, but the new industry focus will be a lot more structured and formalised.

“There will be a delegate fee to cover all the events. We’re probably talking about several hundred delegates, but it is more about attracting the right sort of people so they all get something from it.

“We will always be an audience-based festival, our focus will not change from that. Bringing this sort of industry presence to Scotland will hopefully feed into and strengthen the Scottish film industry, creating connections and opportunities, and offering international insight.

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“This sort of industry presence to Scotland will hopefully feed into and strengthen the Scottish film industry, creating connections and opportunities, and offering international insight.”

The GFF is backed by Creative Scotland, EventScotland, the Glasgow City Marketing Bureau and the British Film Institute.

Ben Luxford, the BFI’s head of UK audiences said: “We’re proud supporters of GFF’s vibrant public programme as well as the inaugural GFF Industry Focus, which will bring together industry leaders from around the world to gather in Glasgow with the aim of forging exciting new collaborations that will benefit film in Scotland and the UK more widely.”

• The 2016 Glasgow Film Festival runs from 17-28 February. The full programme will be announced on 20 January.

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