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Glasgow Film Festival · 2014

Glasgow Film Festival 2014

Youth

The Glasgow Youth Film Festival has its entire line-up selected by young people for young people, with something for every youth age group. It will also involve special events.

Programme

22 films · 14 reviews

Jump to a film

Aya Of Yop City

An adaptation of a popular Ivory Coast-set comic book featuring studious Aya and her carefree friends Bintou and Adjoua.

(Country: France; Year: 2013; Director: Marguerite Abouet, Clément Oubrerie; Writer: Marguerite Abouet; Stars: Aïssa Maïga, Tella Kpomahou, Tatiana Rojo)

Beetlejuice (Beetle Juice)

Review preview for Beetlejuice

Drawing on the grand guignol horror that its creator had loved since his own childhood, Beetlejuice combines gleefully gory special effects with high camp, sharp wit and irreverent humour.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A recently deceased couple turn to a sleazy ghost to try and get an obnoxious living family evicted from their beloved home.

(Country: US; Year: 1988; Director: Tim Burton; Writer: Michael McDowell, Larry Wilson; Stars: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Annie McEnroe)

Full review

Blue Exorcist: The Movie (Blue Exorcist The Movie)

A pair of twins are recruited to help protect their city from invading demons.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2012; Director: Atsushi Takahashi; Writer: Reiko Yoshida; Stars: Nobuhiko Okamoto, Jun Fukuyama, Kana Hanazawa, Kazuya Nakai, Kôji Yusa, Yûki Kaji)

Concrete Night (Betoniyö)

Review preview for Concrete Night

A powerful piece of work, beautifully depicted.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
A youngster receives bad advice from his soon-to-be-jailed older brother.

(Country: Finland, Sweden, Denmark; Year: 2013; Director: Pirjo Honkasalo; Writer: Pirjo Honkasalo, Pirkko Saisio; Stars: Alex Anton, Johannes Brotherus, Teijo Eloranta, Anneli Karppinen, Iida Kuningas, Rea Mauranen, Hannele Nieminen, Mauno Paajanen, Pauli Poranen, Juhan Ulfsak, Jari Virman)

Full review

The Dirties

Review preview for The Dirties

The Dirties... has two leads who work well with each other and whose naturalism and likeability draws us in

Owen Van Spall · 3.5 out of 5
Two best friends are filming a comedy about getting revenge on the bullies at their high school. One of them isn't joking.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2013; Director: Matthew Johnson; Writer: Josh Boles, Matthew Johnson, Matthew Miller, Evan Morgan; Stars: Matthew Johnson, Owen Williams, Krista Madison, Brandon Wickens, Jay McCarrol, Josh Boles, Shailene Garnett, Alen Delain, Paul Daniel Ayotte)

Full review See: Interview with Matt Johnson about The Dirties

Fame High

The drama, competition, heartbreak, and triumph among a group of struggling students at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts.

(Country: US; Year: 2012; Director: Scott Hamilton Kennedy)

Felix

Review preview for Felix

Mabasa is delightful in the lead.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
A family story of determination, dreams and jazz.

(Country: South Africa; Year: 2013; Director: Roberta Durrant; Writer: Shirley Johnson; Stars: Hlayani Junior Mabasa, Linda Sokhulu, Okwethu Banisi, Andrea Dondolo, Nicholas Ellenbogen, Wonga Fasi, Adrian Galley, Joseph Hughes, Andre Jacobs, Langley Kirkwood, Mlamli Lalapantsi, Wesley Lerwill, Elvis Mahomba)

Full review

It Felt Like Love

On the outskirts of Brooklyn, a 14-year-old girl’s sexual quest takes a dangerous turn when she pursues an older guy and tests the boundaries between obsession and love.

(Country: US; Year: 2013; Director: Eliza Hittman; Writer: Eliza Hittman; Stars: Gina Piersanti, Giovanna Salimeni, Ronen Rubinstein, Jesse Cordasco, Nick Rosen, Case Prime)

I Feel Like Disco

A teenage boy obsessed with disco develops a crush on a man who doesn't want people thinking he's gay.

(Year: 2013; Director: Axel Ranisch; Writer: Axel Ranisch, Sönke Andresen; Stars: Frithjof Gawenda, Heiko Pinkowski, Christina Große, Robert Alexander Baer)

Leave To Remain

Bruce Goodison conceived of a 3 year project to train cast and crew for a film that would tell the unique stories of teenage asylum seekers, who unlike their adult counterparts often had no choice in their unaccompanied flight to the UK.

(Country: UK; Year: 2014; Director: Bruce Goodison; Writer: Charlotte Colbert, Bruce Goodison; Stars: Toby Jones, Simon Meacock, Jason Newell, Emma N Power, Farshid Rokey, Anusha Prakash, Naoufal Ousellam, Melanie Wilder, Yasmin Mwanza, Zarrien Masieh)

Mr Peabody & Sherman

Review preview for Mr Peabody & Sherman

There's nothing stale, nor been-there about this animated pooch's fizzy brainstorms

Angus Wolfe Murray · 4 out of 5
A genius dog and his adopted son have time travelling adventures with hilarious animated results

(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Rob Minkoff; Writer: Craig Wright; Stars: Ty Burrell, Max Charles, Ariel Winter, Stephen Colbert, Leslie Mann, Stanley Tucci, Lake Bell, Patrick Warburton, Alison Janney, Mel Brooks)

Full review

Playground Chronicles

The story of a Moroccan family in France.

(Country: France; Year: 2012; Director: Brahim Fritah)

ParaNorman

Review preview for ParaNorman

Overall the characters fail to transcend their archetypes, despite Kodi Smit-McPhee anchoring the film with real emotion.

David Graham · 3 out of 5
A misunderstood boy is the only one who can save his town from an ancient curse.

(Country: US; Year: 2012; Director: Chris Butler, Sam Fell; Writer: Chris Butler; Stars: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Anna Kendrick, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Casey Affleck, John Goodman)

Full review

The Rocket

Review preview for The Rocket

The spirit of childhood skips and giggles through The Rocket even though Kim Mordaunt's debut fiction feature touches on deeply disturbing humanitarian issues.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
A youngster and his family try to forge a new life after being displaced by a dam.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2013; Director: Kim Mordaunt; Writer: Kim Mordaunt; Stars: Sitthiphon Disamoe, Loungnam Kaosainam, Alice Keohavong, Thep Phongam, Sumrit Warin)

Full review

Stand Clear Of The Closing Doors

Review preview for Stand Clear Of The Closing Doors

Few portrayals of autism spectrum disorders in film have ever had the authenticity of this.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
A boy with Asperger's syndrome goes riding on the New York subway for days as his distraught mother searches for him.

(Country: US; Year: 2013; Director: Sam Fleischner; Writer: Micah Bloomberg, Rose Lichter-Marck)

Full review

A Story Of Children And Film

Review preview for A Story Of Children And Film

We're transported into a world of cinema; some of it is known, much of it unknown, which surely fires the imagination of any viewing cinephile.

Robert Munro · 4.5 out of 5
A look at the way children have been represented in film from around the world.

(Country: UK; Year: 2012; Director: Mark Cousins; Writer: Mark Cousins)

Full review

Talea

Review preview for Talea

A slow, mature film from first time director Mückstein, Talea showcases a rare talent in Epply.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
Jasmin wants to bond with her mother, Eva, recently released from prison, but Eva’s love life interferes.

(Country: Austria; Year: 2013; Director: Katharina Mückstein; Writer: Selina Gnos, Katharina Mückstein; Stars: Lili Epply, Eva-Maria Gintsberg, Philipp Hochmair)

Full review

They Will Return (Eles Voltam)

Review preview for They Will Return

Riding along on the strength of its central mystery, They Will Return just about gets away with its unevenly paced story and variable acting.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
Two children are mysteriously abandoned by their parents.

(Country: Brazil; Year: 2012; Director: Marcelo Lordello; Writer: Marcelo Lordello; Stars: Maria Luiza Tavares, Geórgio Kokkosi, Elayne de Moura, Mauricéia Conceição, Jéssica Gomes de Brito, Irma Brown, Germano Haiut, Teresa Costa Rêgo, Clara Oliveira, Georgio Kokkosi)

Full review

Teenage

Review preview for Teenage

With impressively sourced archive footage, much of it in colour, the film presents a fair overview of its subject and finds time for laughs even in stories with tragic endings.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A social history of the teenager.

(Country: US, Germany; Year: 2013; Director: Matt Wolf; Writer: Jon Savage, Matt Wolf; Stars: Narrated by actors Jena Malone, Ben Whishaw, Julia Hummer and Jesse Usher)

Full review See: Teenage interview with Matt Wolf and Jon Savage , Tribeca Film Festival - Gore Vidal: The United States of America, Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me, Kiss The Water and Teenage

We Are The Best! (Vi är bäst!)

Review preview for We Are The Best!

We Are The Best! is a rebel yell of positivism - with exclamation mark - that brings a fuzzy warmth to all the wintry Stockholm locations.

Anton Bitel · 4 out of 5
Coming of age tale about three teenage girls in Stockholm forming a punk band.

(Country: Sweden; Year: 2013; Director: Lukas Moodysson; Writer: Lukas Moodysson, from the graphic novel by Coco Moodysson; Stars: Mira Barkhammar, Mira Grosin, Liv LeMoyne)

Full review

The White Balloon (Badkonake Sefid)

A small girl struggles to hold onto the money that she has been given to buy a goldfish with.

(Country: Iran; Year: 1995; Director: Jafar Panahi; Writer: Abbas Kiarostami, Jafar Panahi; Stars: Aida Mohammadkhani, Mohsen Kafili, Fereshteh Sadre Orafaiy, Anna Borkowska, Mohammad Shahani)

The Wind Rises

Review preview for The Wind Rises

Miyazaki's films linger for a long time, they can't be pinned down, their meaning won't dissolve on the horizon.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 5 out of 5
Hayao Miyazaki brings together the engineer Jiro Horikoshi and the author Tatsuo Hori in a fictional epic tale of love.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2013; Director: Hayao Miyazaki; Writer: Hayao Miyazaki; Stars: Hideaki Anno, Mirai Shida, Jun Kunimura, Hidetoshi Nishijima, Miori Takimoto, Mansai Nomura, Steve Alpert, Masahiko Nishimura, Shinobu Ôtake, Morio Kazama, Keiko Takeshita)

Full review