Globetrotter Palin heading for Glasgow

Published 23rd Jan 2019

Sir Michael Palin among the stars who will be in the city for this year's Glasgow Film Festival.

The Monty Python comic turned TV globetrotter will discuss his varied career in a special podcast for Empire magazine in front of a live audience.

He will also attend the UK premiere of Final Ascent, a film by Glasgow director Robbie Fraser about the life of Scottish mountaineer Hamish MacInnes, which features testimonies from Sir Michael and British mountaineer Sir Chris Bonington.

In total, the festival will also host seven world premieres and 102 UK premieres over 12 days beginning next month.

Comedian Simon Amstell will be bringing his bittersweet comedy Benjamin to the festival - one of 49 films making their Scottish debut in the 2019 programme.

They will include Prophecy, a new insight into the mind of acclaimed artist Peter Howson as he works on his latest masterpiece, and an immersive documentary about the raw power of water, Aquarela.

Overall, the city's 15th annual celebration of cinema will host 337 individual screenings, talks and events, with films from 54 countries featured.

Allan Hunter, GFF co-director, said: "It is a real pleasure to be able to share the programme for Glasgow Film Festival 2019.

"The festival is peppered with exciting discoveries from around the world.''

The seven world premieres include some made in Scotland, such as Bafta-winning director Matt Pinder's new feature documentary Harry Birrell: Films of Love and War, which uses the archives of the Scottish amateur film-maker Birrell to present one man's view of the 20th century.

Do No Harm is director Stephen Bennett's exploration of the legacy of Scottish-born psychiatrist Dr Ewen Cameron and the experiments that contributed to systems of modern-day torture across the globe.

Scotland's own Hollywood A-lister Karen Gillan delivers another star turn in the international premiere of US drama All Creatures Here Below.

UK premiere highlights on the festival programme include Gerard Butler and Peter Mullan in the eerie retelling of a real-life mystery in The Vanishing.

Six out of the 10 nominees for the Glasgow Film Festival Audience Award are new features directed by women.

It will close with another film set in the 1990s, the UK premiere of the big-screen adaptation of Scottish playwright Kieran Hurley's stage show Beats.

This year's GFF runs from February 20 to March 3.

Tickets go on sale on Thursday January 24 at noon for GFF members and on general sale on Monday January 28 at 10am