Film festival highlights

Mid90s

Glasgow Film Theatre, Wed, Thur

IN the space of 15 years, the Glasgow Film Festival has become one of the UK’S biggest annual movie events.

This year’s festival begins on Wednesday and, across 12 days, there will be 337 screenings, talks and events, with seven world premieres, 102 UK premieres and 49 Scottish premieres from 54 countries.

As always, there are also lots of classic movies and retro strands.

This year there is a spotlight on the films of writer, director and performer Elaine May, whose comedy has been entertaining audiences for more than 60 years.

All four of the films she has directed will be shown – A New Leaf, The Heartbreak Kid, Mikey And Nicky, and her notorious flop, Ishtar.

The free retrospective, with no charge for tickets, is 1969: The End Of Innocence, which showcases ten films made at a time of great social change which was reflected on screen. The movies include Easy Rider, Midnight Cowboy and True Grit.

There is also a look at Belgian cinema and a selection of new documentaries as well as Frightfest, a weekend of horror.

The festival isn’t just confined to traditional cinemas – pop-up screenings include Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure in Buchanan Galleries shopping centre to mark the film’s 30th anniversary, two showings of Ghostbusters (one for kids and one for adults) in Argyle Street Arches, and Alien at the Parkhouse Business Park, with a game of Laser Tag thrown in.

Perhaps as a sign of the changing times, six of the ten films nominated for the Audience Award, given for a feature by a new director, are directed by women.

This year’s Opening Gala is the UK premiere of Jonah Hill’s directorial debut, Mid90s.

The coming-of-age comedy-drama, also written by the Moneyball star, captures the sound and feel of 1990s Los Angeles, where 13-year-old Stevie is a punch-bag for his older brother while his lonely mother has other things on her mind.

In a bid to be seen as one of the cool kids, Stevie starts hanging out with an older group of skateboarders.

Festival co-director Allan Hunter said: “The festival is peppered with exciting discoveries from around the world.

“The cherry on the cake is our tribute to the great Elaine May, which is guaranteed to bring a smile to your face.”