Glasgow Film Festival (GFF) attendance grew by 12% this year, reaching 37,215 across the 2026 programme of premieres, special pop-up screenings, youth and community initiatives, and Press and Industry events.
The 22nd edition of Scotland’s largest film festival brought film talent and audiences together in a celebration of cinema, earlier this year. Guests included James McAvoy, Alice Winocour, George Mackay, Peter Mullan, Felipe Bustos Sierra and Lynne Ramsay.
Cinema admissions increased by 5% with more sold-out film screenings at the festival's largest capacity screening venue, Cinema 1 at Glasgow Film Theatre (GFT), plus the addition of Odeon LUXE at the Quay, giving audiences more screens to watch across the 12 days of the festival.
In total, 11 venues across Glasgow took part including Berlinky’s on Sauchiehall Street (the festival’s new after-hours home), The Pyramid at Anderston and Glasgow University Union, which both hosted special events including anniversary screenings of Carrie and Moulin Rouge! Audiences at the latter were treated to a surprise video message from Ewan McGregor on location in New York.
GFF welcomed 745 Press and Industry delegates, doubling international participation over the last two years. Industry Focus returned to The Social Hub in Merchant City for a second year with admissions increasing to 4,155 across the five-day programme of panel discussions, live pitches and networking, designed to cover topics critical to the screen sector whilst also serving as a vital hub for film professionals across the UK.
The festival’s new strand for the conference this year, ‘Made in Glasgow’, showcased the strength of the filmmaking sector in Scotland’s biggest city, with the full day sponsored by Blazing Griffin. Award-winning filmmaker Lynne Ramsay, whose celebrated career began in Glasgow, was this year’s recipient of GFF’s Cinema City Honorary Award, receiving the accolade at a sold out ‘In Conversation’ event during the festival.
This year’s GFF programme contained 127 titles hailing from 45 countries, featuring 43 languages including Gaelic, Arabic, Icelandic, Swedish, Afrikaans, Tagalog, Welsh, Japanese and Korean. Audiences were also treated to 10 world premieres, giving them the opportunity to be at the films’ first ever screenings, plus 66 UK premieres, 3 European and 18 Scottish premieres.
Programme highlights this year included Gaelic-language documentary Sailm nan Daoine (Psalms of the People) directed by Glasgow-based Jack Archer, and Effi o Blaenau, a Welsh drama directed by BAFTA Cymru-winning Marc Evans. GFF also secured the European premiere of the instant cult classic Nirvanna - the Band the Show the Movie, with two sold out shows in the festival’s largest venue.
Living up to its reputation as the world’s friendliest film festival, GFF welcomed 134 filmmakers in 2026; 169 accredited Press delegates were able to meet them on GFF’s red carpet; and film fans had the opportunity to put their own questions to world class film talent at dozens of post-film Q&As.
GFF's commitment to affordable Cinema For All continued with total attendance across the free programme of events increasing by 24%. Free screenings included GFF’s ever-popular retrospective series, this year programmed on a theme of ‘Truth to Power’, which featured 10 classic titles spanning the 1930s to 2014. Other free events included pop-up youth and community driven initiatives at GFT, Adelaide Place and Glasgow Women’s Library, attracting younger and more diverse audiences to the festival.
Glasgow Film Festival will return from 24 February to 7 March 2027.
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Image credits: L-R California Schemin' cast members Rebekah Murrell, Gavin Bain, Samuel Bottomley, James McAvoy, Lucy Halliday, Producer Danny Page and Seamus McLean Ross on the GFF red carpet, credit Eoin Carey.