The Glasgow Short Film Festival (GSFF), the largest competitive short film festival in Scotland, announces the competition selection for its 14th edition, that will run from 22nd to 28th March 2021. Following the success of GSFF20 Online and due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions, this year’s Glasgow Short Film Festival will take place entirely online at the festival hub and is available to audiences across the UK.
The launch also takes place of the GSFF 2021 festival trailer directed by James Price, winner of the GSFF Scottish Audience Award in 2020 for Boys Night. The trailer, that revisits the mural created for the 2020 festival trailer, stars Glasgow comedy legend and TV star, Jonathan Watson
GSFF has two annual competitions: the Scottish Short Film Award that honours inspiration and innovation in new Scottish cinema, and the Bill Douglas Award for International Short Film that showcases new cinema from around the world. Across the two competitions, GSFF21 will present 7 World Premieres, 14 UK Premieres and 2 European Premieres.
The GSFF21 audience will have the opportunity to choose their favourites to win the Scottish and International Audience Awards, whilst international juries of filmmakers and curators select the winners of the Bill Douglas Award and the Scottish Short Film Award. Each jury award carries a cash prize of £1,000. The GSFF21 Scottish Audience Award winner will receive a commission to make the GSFF 2022 trailer.
Named in honour of the acclaimed Scottish filmmaker Bill Douglas, the eponymous award for International Short Film, now in its 10th year, was inaugurated by his lifelong friend and collaborator Peter Jewell. Each year a film is awarded that best reflects the qualities found in the work of Bill Douglas.
To mark its tenth year, nine previous winning films will be revisited along with new interviews between each filmmaker and a member of the jury that selected their film. These interviews will be available on Glasgow Short Film Festival’s brand new podcast available from March and are produced by Halina Rifai from Glasgow Podcart and A Sonic Hug.
Matt Lloyd, GSFF Director, said “Contrary to expectations, we were overwhelmed by a massive 4,500 submissions this year, an almost 50% increase on last year. We’re thrilled to be showcasing urgent, searching, moving works from across the world, and whilst we’re sad that yet again we can’t introduce these filmmakers to our audience in person, we can at least ensure that their work reaches a wide audience in Scotland and across the UK. The selection was our most democratic decision to date, with a fantastic team of viewers involving themselves at every stage of the process.
Further programme announcements for GSFF21 will be made on Wednesday 10 March.
Public registration for the GSFF online festival hub opens on Wednesday 17 February with festival passes on sale to the public from midday. Industry accreditation is free and now available on the GSFF website.
All GSFF21 programmes, including Q&As, will be captioned for D/deaf and Hard of Hearing audiences. This year’s edition will continue to implement a pay-what-you-can sliding scale for passes with the aim of improving access and inclusion.
The 14th edition of GSFF runs from 22nd to 28th March 2021
Irene Brown
Radio Summerhall Arts 