Glasgow Film Festival chief to step down after 15 years

A figurehead of the Glasgow Film Festival is to step down after overseeing all but two years of the event’s lifetime.

Allan Hunter, GFF’s co-director since 2007, has announced he will bow out after its 19th edition in 2023.

He has led the event with Allison Gardner, who has been involved with the festival since its inception.

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However it is not yet known if the festival will appoint a replacement in the role after the next event in March.

Allan Hunter and Allison Gardner have been co-directors of the Glasgow Film Festival since 2007.Allan Hunter and Allison Gardner have been co-directors of the Glasgow Film Festival since 2007.
Allan Hunter and Allison Gardner have been co-directors of the Glasgow Film Festival since 2007.

Mr Hunter’s departure was announced as first details of the 2023 festival were announced, weeks after the Edinburgh International Film Festival ceased trading as its parent charity went into administration.

Next year’s GFF will include a retrospective season of films where women take charge of their lives, including The Piano, Roman Holiday, Bonnie and Clyde and It Happened One Night, along with a celebration of American actress and director Lee Grant, and a showcase of Spanish filmmaking.

Mr Hunter, an experienced film critic, was brought on board to help lead the event with Ms Gardner, then programme manager at the Glasgow Film Theatre, which launched the festival in 2005.

The pair have since overseen the gradual expansion of the event, which attracted a record attendance of more than 43,000 to nearly 400 screenings and events in 2020.Stars guests have included Richard Gere, Alan Rickman, John C Reilly, Saoirse Ronan, George MacKay, Richard Dreyfuss, Karen Gillan, Jessie Buckley, Simon Pegg, Sir Michael Palin, Josh O'Connor, Ben Wheatley, Armando Iannucci, Jack O’Connell, Peter Mullan, David Tennant and Peter Capaldi.Mr Hunter said: “It’s been one of the great privileges of my career to be part of the festival for the past 15 years.

Allan Hunter has been co-director of the Glasgow Film Festival since 2007. Picture: Eoin CareyAllan Hunter has been co-director of the Glasgow Film Festival since 2007. Picture: Eoin Carey
Allan Hunter has been co-director of the Glasgow Film Festival since 2007. Picture: Eoin Carey

"It’s been humbling to witness how the festival has grown and discover just how much is it cherished by our incredible audiences.

“Everything has its season and it’s time to move along. It’s time for someone with fresh ideas and energy to assist the festival on the next stage of its journey.

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"I will miss wonderful colleagues and the best audiences in the world, but I look forward to watching the festival continue to grow and prosper.”

Ms Gardner said: “We’ve got a whole range of programmers who work on the festival for us so my job will be to lead that team into a new sphere.

Allan Hunter with actress Jessie Buckley at the Glasgow Film Festival. Picture: Eoin CareyAllan Hunter with actress Jessie Buckley at the Glasgow Film Festival. Picture: Eoin Carey
Allan Hunter with actress Jessie Buckley at the Glasgow Film Festival. Picture: Eoin Carey

"We’ve always been really good at developing new, exciting filmmaking talent. Now we need to turn that to our programmers.

"I’ve not really decided the shape of things. I want to get 2023 under our belts and see how it goes.

"Obviously budgets are tight. We’ve always run the festival on a very small budget.

"We are an extra well-managed organisation and have super-loyal audiences. We’re doing really well. Audiences are still coming back to us because they love what we’re putting on and are supporting us.“There will be tough hills to climb but we are in a good position to climb those hills.”

Allan Hunter has been co-director of the Glasgow Film Festival since 2007. Picture: Ingrid MurAllan Hunter has been co-director of the Glasgow Film Festival since 2007. Picture: Ingrid Mur
Allan Hunter has been co-director of the Glasgow Film Festival since 2007. Picture: Ingrid Mur

Ms Gardener, was appointed chief executive of Glasgow Film, which runs both the GFT and the festival, said: "Allan and I have always worked really well together.

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"We started off looking at other festivals to see what we would like to bring to audiences to Glasgow.

"But as the festival grew over the years, we found that films, directors, distributors and sales agents came to us more and more.

“We decided that we didn’t want to make rules, so if a great film had been screened at the London Film Festival we would still show it in Glasgow as we knew not many people would have seen it.

"Our films didn’t have to be UK premieres, but the number of the UK and world premieres has grown over the years as the stature of the festival has grown to become Scotland’s premier film festival, which I felt we had become by 2020.

“We’ve always wanted to make sure that the festival’s ethos is ‘cinema for all.’ We had free retrospectives, we did really cheap tickets and took events out to communities.

"It was really important to make sure that it wasn’t an elitist film festival in any way.“Our audience was also really young and diverse, and we also had a really diverse team of programmers working with us. It should never just be about the tastes of one person.”

Isabel Davis, executive director of the Scottish Screen agency, one of the festival’s main backers, said: “The festival’s tireless commitment to finding great work and introducing it to new audiences has seen it grow in strength and reputation.

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“As Allan delivers his final edition, we owe him huge thanks for his dedication, hard-work and careful curation. The festival’s friendly and welcoming nature is reflective of Allan himself. He’ll be much missed, and we wish him well for the future.”

Annette Christie, chair of Glasgow Life, which also supports the festival, said: “The Glasgow Film Festival is one of the most popular annual highlights of the city’s rich cultural calendar.

"Its outstanding international reputation as a carefully curated showcase of the best of world cinema, on-screen talent and off-camera creative craft ensures the event always attracts audiences in their thousands, making it a significant contributor to our visitor economy.

‘The first titles announced for 2023 set the tone for what promises to be another superb festival offering a hugely varied choice of contemporary and retrospective screenings across a great range of genres and other exciting events.’

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