Glasgow Short Film Festival 2024: Archive, community and folklore
GSFF is back with a sparkling programme including newly-unearthed Bill Douglas shorts, little-seen work from a Mexican feminist group, some subversive folklore films and a strand in defiance of oppression
One of the most imaginatively curated festivals on Scotland's festival calendar is the Glasgow Short Film Festival, and this year’s programme looks to be another winner. As previously announced, proceedings will kick off with archive screenings of some rarely-screened 8mm films by the great Bill Douglas. These silent shorts get the live score treatment from Scottish musician Gerard Black, plus an introduction from Douglas’s lifelong friend, confidante and collaborator Peter Jewell.
Film collective Invisible Women have also been delving into the archives, teaming up with GSFF to present some of the boundary-pushing films made in the 1970s by Mexican feminist collective Cine Mujer. These films are little-seen – some are screening in the UK for the first time – and take a hard look at gender roles and domestic labour in 70s Mexico.
Archive is also key to the work of Durban-born, Sweden-based researcher and filmmaker Jyoti Mistry. She’s coming to Glasgow with a trio of films that reappropriate archive film to unearth and celebrate representations of and narratives by those who have been historically marginalised and brutalised.
Elements of archive will also be scattered among Towards Liberation, a strand that’s at the very heart of this year's festival. Blending archive as well as documentary and fiction films, the programme explores ideas around imprisonment, imperialism, representation and resistance. Among the work is a programme of Palestinian short films, which will be followed by a live performance by British-Palestinian musician and sound artist Kareem Samara. Half of the ticket sales from this sure-to-be-moving screening will be donated to Medical Aid for Palestinians.
GSFF will also be taking some of this year’s films out of the festival space and into an actual prison, with screenings taking place at HMP & YOI Polmont, the largest young offender institution in Scotland. As well as watching films from the Scottish Competition, the inmates will get to add their vote to the Scottish Audience Award and to take part in a filmmaking workshop with crackerjack animator Ross Hogg.
We’re also looking forward to the new film from Nae Pasaran director Felipe Bustos Sierra, who’s been commissioned by Govanhill Baths Community Trust to make a film about Govanhill, the most diverse community in Scotland. We're told it takes the form of a portmanteau film capturing the different communities of this vibrant Southside neighbourhood; this world premiere screening will also feature an intro from Bustos Sierra as well as a post-film discussion with some guest speakers who live or work in Govanhill.
For some after-dark excitement, look out for late-night strand Følkøric. Over two programmes, GSFF will be diving into the folk horror canon. In the first programme, called Sticks and Stones, classic BBC Ghost Story for Christmas Stigma rubs shoulders with some folk horror by local filmmakers. The second, titled What a Shame She Went Mad, subverts traditional folk horror through a feminist lens.
Other highlights include a retrospective on French-Moroccan filmmaker Randa Maroufi, short comedy strand Shorts & Giggles and family-friendly fun at Family Shorts. In sadder news, this is the last programme from GSFF's programme director Sanne Jehoul, who's moving on to new pastures after working on ten lively and creative editions of the festival, but we're glad to see her go out with a bang.
The 17th edition of Glasgow Short Film Festival runs 20-24 Mar at GFT, CCA and Civic House, Glasgow. Tickets and full details at glasgowshort.org