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Glasgow announces country focus and retrospective

Iceland and dystopian futures take centre stage

by Amber Wilkinson

Soylent Green

Glasgow Film Festival has announced its country perspective and retrospective for its 2020 edition - which runs in the city from February 26 to March 8.

Iceland will provide the country focus, while Are We There Yet? - A Retrospective Of The Future will showcase dystopian classics, including Charlton Heston-starrer Planet Of The Apes and Terry Gilliam's Brazil. Other films in the strand - which will be free to attend - include Kathryn Bigelow's Strange Days and older classics like Soylent Green.

Glasgow Film Festival Co-director Allan Hunter said: “The Glasgow Film Festival retrospective for 2020 invites viewers to go back to the future with a collection of dystopian classics that offer bold, distinctive visions of the way ahead for humanity. Are We There Yet? features startlingly prescient films that gazed into a future where artificial intelligence might eclipse human capabilities, resources would become scarce, climate change could threaten our survival and apes might rule the planet. How did filmmakers know all of that? As is traditional, the retrospective is screened free of charge each morning and open to everyone. I look forward to audiences watching firm favourites like Planet Of The Apes and Westworld on the big screen as well as discovering less familiar titles like Soylent Green, Stalker and The Day The Earth Caught Fire.”

The country focus from the land of ice and fire, will include Grímur Hákonarson's follow up to Rams, The County and the experimental Echo from Sparrows director Rúnar Rúnarsson. There will also be a retrospective screening of 2005's Screaming Masterpiece, along with a Björk Club night.

Glasgow Film Festival Co-director Allison Gardner said: “This year we are delighted that our country focus is Iceland, a country that punches well above its weight in making a broad range of fantastic films. We will be hosting a selection of feature films and documentaries including the UK Premieres of The County by Rams director Grímur Hákonarson and Echo by Sparrows director Rúnar Rúnarsson. We are honouring Iceland’s most famous songstress Björk and a host of Icelandic musical talent with a screening of Screaming Masterpiece and a Björk Club night, and hosting a 20th Anniversary screening of the seminal Icelandic film 101 Reykjavik”.

The fifth edition of the festival's Industry Focus has also been announced and will be expanded across five days, from March 2 to 6. It will feature speakers, panel discussions and plenty of potential networking, with special early bird passes on sale now.

Tickets for the Are We There Yet? - A Retrospective of the Future films are free and available on the day of the screening from GFT Box Office. The full programme will be announced on January 29.

Tickets for all Country Focus films go on sale with the full programme on January 30 to GFF members and Cinecard holders, and on 3 February to the general public.

Are We There Yet? A Retrospective of the Future will screen: