Scottish Film Events: March 2026

Scottish film fans, get ready to part with all your money this month. Not only does Glasgow Film Festival continue until 8 March, but two more Scottish film festival gems happen later in the month: HippFest in Bo’ness and the Glasgow Short Film Festival. From the former, expect an eclectic mix of movies from the silent era paired with musicians who’ll perform new music live at each screening. For example, on 18 March, Jean Epstein’s 1929 film Finis Terræ will have a live score from guitarist Dan Abrahams and drummer Philippe Boudot (find out more in our interview in the March issue). And at GSFF, you’ll find a sharply curated selection of short films from around the world, and a particularly fantastic-looking Scottish shorts competition this year. One of those contenders is James Ley’s inventive queer comedy Sleazy Tiger (we talk to Ley in the March issue, out this week). My only complaint is that these festivals take place at the same time. Both run 18 to 22 March.

If you blow all your disposable income on those festivals, you can see some films for free at Glasgow School of Art's new cinema programme, which takes place in the GSA library’s screening room. The March lineup is ace, featuring the likes of Víctor Erice’s The Spirit of the Beehive (4 Mar), Juzo Itami’s Tampopo (11 Mar) and Jan Švankmajer’s Faust (24 Mar), as well as Jonas Mekas’s epic As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty, which is screening all day on a loop on the 16th. For the full lineup, the GSA library on Instagram @gsalibrary

Despite helping define the British New Wave in the '60s, winning Best Director for Midnight Cowboy and having a long and varied career, John Schlesinger is one of those directors who’s perhaps not appreciated enough by cinephiles. That’s about to change with the UK-wide season The Consummate Professional: John Schlesinger, which comes to GFT as a mini-season of four of his best films: Sunday Bloody Sunday (14 & 17 Mar), Midnight Cowboy (22 & 24 Mar), The Innocent (28 Mar & 1 Apr) and Marathon Man (4 & 8 Apr).

Other highlights this month include Kinoteka Polish Film Festival, which tours to Edinburgh’s Filmhouse with a retrospective celebrating Andrzej Wajda, with films from across his career – including Ashes and Diamonds (7 Mar), Man of Iron (8 Mar) and Man of Marble (24 Mar) – screening. On 11 March, Edgar Wright comes to GFT for two Q&A screenings of The Running Man, in which he creates a dystopian future via an inventive use of Glasgow locations. And finally, Dundead have teamed up with SQIFF for Sleepaway Camp (14 Mar, DCA), a problematic 80s slasher whodunit that has been embraced by queer film fans in recent years.