Established in 2005, the Glasgow Film Festival has grown in strength and reputation. Now considered a highlight of the cultural calendar, the GFF10 programme runs from 18th-28th of February in various venues throughout the city and should not be missed. Digital Marketing Manager Jen Davies gave us a brief run-down of her input and what the event is all about.

How important is the Glasgow Film Festival in terms of Scottish culture?

I’d say it’s massively important. Glasgow is the country’s centre for broadcasting, film and TV production and the festival brings new innovative cinema and moving image work into the city, making this work available to the people of Glasgow and the city’s industry professionals.

How does the GFF supports the Scottish film industry?

The festival supports the Scottish film industry with premieres and galas of new Scottish cinema, with guest speakers and discussions during the festival; giving these filmmakers a platform to present their work to a local audience. We also celebrate the work of Scottish masters in our Great Scots strand (with talking heads from Last King of Scotland director Kevin MacDonald and Peter Mullen lined up as part of GFF10) and for the last few years we have had brilliant reunion events for some legendary Scottish films, this year we’ve got an event lined up for Gregory’s Girl and we’ve invited members of the cast and crew to join us. The Shorts Film Festival serves as the ‘Industry’ side to Glasgow Film Festival, with masterclasses, networking events and panel discussions.

What does your role involve and how did you first get started?

I joined the GFT as a Designer and Marketing Officer in 2007 and my role has developed from there. I now deal with the tangible aspects of marketing – the print, publicity materials, websites and advertising for both GFT and Glasgow Film Festival. I jointly lead the marketing team with my colleague Seonaid Daly and together we’ve developed the festival attendances by growing audiences about 30% each year… we’re hoping to manage this again with GFF10.

What personal highlights have you experienced during this time?

Well… we’ve been raking in the awards for both the film fest and GFT over the last year which is nice, with a Scottish Events Award, an audience development award and most recently the Herald Digital Business Awards for GFT and the festival’s development using digital technology. Also, I’ve met a lot of very interesting filmmakers and people along the way and I’ve seen some amazing films.

What are you looking forward to in particular?

There’s some great stuff in this year’s programme. Looking forward to a couple of things in particular - This is Not a Boat – a unique opportunity to see some amazing short films made in America since the 70s. This is a first for the UK and is part of the Short Film Festival. Also, Comrade Couture looks like it’s going to be a great night down at SWG3 with a film about fashionable East Berliners before the fall of the wall followed by a fashion show and warehouse party. And the opening gala is always a great night.

The programme runs Festivals within the Festival - tell us a bit more about the format?

It’s a great way of developing the festival for more niche audiences. All three of the festivals within the fest developed out of strands within the main programme but have developed to take on more partners and have bigger and better programmes. The Music and Film Festival is now co-programmed with the boys at The Arches and celebrates the relationship between sound and the moving image and has events covering everything from Chopin to Zombie Zombie. The Short Film Festival is curated by short film programmers The Magic Lantern and takes place from 19 – 21 Feb and the Youth Film Festival is programmed by GFT’s learning team and a group of 15-18 year olds. They’ve got some great guests and events lined up this year with Mighty Boosh and Skins events, and premieres of some great new films for young people.

Can we get involved with this year’s event?

Yes… Glasgow Film Festival needs your help! We’ve got over 200 films screening at 17 venues across the city, loads of guests, events and parties and we’re looking for volunteers to help us make everything run smoothly. We’ve got roles from events assistants to photographers and picture desk editors. It’s a great opportunity to get some valuable work experience, meet interesting folks and see some amazing films. More info at www.glasgowfilmfestival.org.uk/volunteering

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This article was published in Scotcampus (Feb 2010)
www.scotcampus.com