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| It Follows |
Innovative horror film It Follows has won the Glasgow Film Festival's inaugural Critics' Choice Award. Selected by 40 journalists who were each asked to consider their three favourite films of the festival, it beat Clouds Of Sils Maria and A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night to get to the top. It's rare for horror films to win general competitions as this usually requires impressing people who actively dislike the genre. The film's reception in Glasgow reflects the huge amount of support it receved last year in Cannes.
"‘I'm really honored by this," said the film's director, David Robert Mitchell. "Even though my visit to Glasgow for the film festival was short, it was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed the city and I look forward to coming back someday. And again, thank you!"
The full top ten list of critics' choices is as follows:-
- It Follows (US, dir. David Robert Mitchell) An intelligent take on the teen horror genre that works on a number of levels and has already enjoyed great success at Cannes Film Festival. Mitchell visited the festival this year.
- Clouds Of Sils Maria (France/Switzerland/Germany, dir. Olivier Assayas) Kristen Stewart became the first American actor in history to win a Cesar Awards for her role in this complex, compelling drama, which had its UK Premiere at the festival.
- A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night (US/Iran, dir. Ana Lily Amirpour), lushly shot in black and white, this unusual film follows a lonely, hijab-wearing vampire who stalks her prey around a fictional Iranian ghost town on a skateboard.
- While We’re Young (US, dir. Noah Baumbach) Baumbach’s inter-generational hipster comedy, starring Ben Stiller, Naomi Watts and Adam Driver, had its European Premiere at the Festival, as the Opening Gala.
- Girlhood (France, dir. Céline Sciamma) A beautiful coming of age story following a girl gang growing up in the Parisian banlieues. Lead actresses Assa Sylla and Karidja Toure took part in a Q&A following the festival screening.
- Mommy (Canada 2014, dir. Xavier Dolan) Audacious, emotionally captivating and packed with brilliant performances, Xavier Dolan’s latest, Cannes prize-winning feature was also a big hit with the GFF audience on social media.
- Theeb (Jordan/Qatar/UAE/UK 2014, dir. Naji Abu Nowar) A drama reflecting on colonialism from the point of view of a young Bedouin Arab boy, Naji Abu Nowar’s directorial debut was also nominated for the inaugural GFF Audience Award.
- =JOINT: Eden (France 2014, dir. Mia Hansen-Løve) and Wild Tales(Argentina/Spain 2014, dir. Damián Szifrón). Charting the rise of the French electronic dance music scene in 1990s Paris, Hansen-Løve’s Daft Punk-inspired film Eden formed part of GFF15’s Sound & Vision strand. Wild Tales, Damián Szifrón’s biting black comedy built upon six short, masterfully interwoven tales, was shortlisted for the 2015 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
- Jodorowsky’s Dune (USA/France 2014, dir. Frank Pavich) Delving into the history behind Alejandro Jodorowsky’s vision for an adaptation of Frank Herbert’s epic novel Dune, this fascinating documentary pays homage to one of the great lost projects of cinematic history.
