Over 150 films screen in fifty-three events over four days -

9-12 February 2012

Glasgow Short Film Festival 2012 (9-12 February) is proud to announce the programme for the Festival's fifth edition; four heady days of competition screenings, retrospectives, masterclasses, live performances and parties. Based at the Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA), and this year branching out to The Berkeley Suite and The Shed, GSFF is a friendly yet feverish celebration of all things short and filmic.

Bill Douglas Award For International Short Film

This year the International Short Film Award has been renamed in honour of Bill Douglas, one of Scotland's most important film talents (The Trilogy, 1972-1978, Comrades, 1986). An international jury of filmmakers, curators and writers will select the film they consider the most innovative and outstanding work from forty-three international titles.

Scottish Short Film Award

For the first time this year, GSFF introduces a second competition dedicated to work produced in Scotland or by Scottish filmmakers. This second competition allows the Festival to promote a wider range of local films than ever before. The inaugural Scottish Short Film Award honours inspiration and innovation in new Scottish cinema. The programmes will screen at CCA and The Shed, courtesy of partners Southside Film Festival.

With support from accommodation sponsors Glasgow Film Office, GSFF will be welcoming around forty of the competition filmmakers to the Festival this year. Audiences attending competition programmes will have the opportunity to vote for their favourite in each competition to win the Audience Award. The winner of last year's Audience Award, Glasgow's Stuart Elliott, has made the fantastic GSFF 2012 trailer which can be viewed here: www.glasgowfilm.org/gsff.

Special Programmes

This year's Festival also features an array of unique events and screenings. Founder member of The Jesus and Mary Chain Douglas Hart returns to his home city to present a selection of his music videos for the likes of Primal Scream, My Bloody Valentine and The Horrors. American artist-filmmaker Ben Russell visits the Festival to screen his extraordinary 16mm Trypps series. The festival presents a four-programme focus on recent Icelandic filmmaking, and recently discovered films by Scotland's film poet, Margaret Tait. GSFF has teamed up with Glasgow Youth Film Festival for the European premiere of Slacker 2011, a remake of Richard Linklater's indie classic, directed by twenty-four filmmakers.

Performances

This year's Festival includes several exciting live events in the atmospheric surroundings of The Berkeley Suite. The opening night celebrations feature Iceland-inspired musician Matthew Collings. Glasgow indie pop eight-piece Butcher Boy will present a special night of music and archive film. Theatre collective Flatrate and monthly performance night Words Per Minute join forces for Frames Per Second - a film and live performance extravaganza featuring a selection of Glasgow's finest writers, theatre-makers, artists and musicians. The Festival culminates with a special commission by Hanna Tuulikki; a composition for three voices accompanied by short films from the Scottish Screen Archive.

None of this would be possible without the support of GSFF's funders and partners, particularly Creative Scotland, whose increased funding this year reflects the Festival's growth as a competitive festival of international stature, long-term venue partners CCA, and accommodation sponsor Glasgow Film Office. The Goethe Institut is a vital programme partner, as are the many organisations both local and international who have contributed to this year's Festival.

http://www.glasgowfilm.org/festival