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Adura Onashile’s ‘Girl’ to open Glasgow Film Festival 2023

Glasgow Film Festival 2023 will open with the UK premiere of Adura Onashile’s Glasgow-shot debut feature Girl on 1 March

Also announced are first events for Glasgow Film Festival’s Industry Focus programme, running 6 – 9 March, 2023.

Live pitching event featuring panel of commissioners and distributors, including Film4 development and production executive Alice Whittemore.  Delegates can apply to perfect their pitch at the Festival in advance with help from creative platform My SMASH Media.

Women in animation panel featuring Lauren Castro, Senior Director of Adult Animation for the MTV Entertainment Group at Paramount, will explore the future of adult animation, feature filmmaking, and celebrate women working to further the genre.

UK Premiere of  Girl

Adura Onashile

Glasgow Film Festival (GFF) 2023 will open on 1 March with the UK premiere of Adura Onashile’s Glasgow-shot debut feature Girl, following its World premiere at Sundance in January 2023.

Grace (Déborah Lukumuena) and her 11 year-old daughter Ama (Le’Shantey Bonsu) are trying to build a new life in Glasgow,  a city where everything feels strange and hostile. Traumatised by her past, Grace just wants to keep her daughter safe from harm. Ama is told to trust nobody. When Ama makes friends with a classmate, it only adds to Grace’s anxiety and fear that their special bond is under threat. This atmospheric and poignant tale of what it takes to escape the legacy of violence and trust in the future marks Glasgow-based writer-director Onashile as an exciting new voice in Scottish cinema. Girl is a barry crerar production, supported in production by the BFI (awarding National Lottery funding), BBC Film and Screen Scotland, in association with Great Point Media.

Tickets to Girl will go on sale at noon on Monday 16 January at glasgowfilm.org.

First Names Annual Industry Focus

GFF is delighted to welcome Lauren Castro, Senior Director of Adult Animation for the MTV Entertainment Group at Paramount.  Castro oversees the development of adult animated projects for Paramount + and Comedy Central. Prior to this, she worked as a Development Executive at Paramount TV, DreamWorks Animation, and Marvel Television. The panel will be hosted by film critic and author Hanna Ines Flint.

Industry Delegates will have the opportunity to receive pitch training from the co-founders of My SMASH Media, a new creative platform designed to connect innovative content creators with decision-makers in film and TV, Fiona Gillies and Christine Hartland, who are both producers.  Successful applicants to the training will then have the opportunity to pitch their film or TV project to a panel of industry experts at GFF, including Film4 development and production executive Alice Whittemore. The training will take place on International Women’s Day, Wednesday 8 March, with the live pitching event taking place the following day.

Allison Gardner, Co-Director of Glasgow Film Festival, said:

“I am delighted and honoured that we will open Glasgow Film Festival with Adura Onashile’s Girl, a powerful and poignant feature debut set in Glasgow. I’m also very proud of the Glasgow Film Festival team who have put together a brilliant and inspiring programme of events for the Industry Focus. Whilst I always knew that Glasgow Film Festival was the place to see great films, now it is also the place for Industry professionals to come and listen, participate and network with their peers”.

Isabel Davis, Executive Director at Screen Scotland said:

“Adura Onashile’s debut feature is an exceptionally fine choice to open this year’s GFF.  Set and made in Glasgow, this evocative and poignant examination of a mother-daughter relationship establishes Adura as a hugely exciting film talent.  Screen Scotland is very glad to have been part of her journey, including through our support of Girl.  We congratulate Adura, along with her producers, Rosie Crerar and Ciara Barry, on being selected as Glasgow’s opening film.”

Glasgow Film Festival 2023

The 19th annual Glasgow Film Festival will run from 1 -12 March at Glasgow Film Theatre (GFT) and other venues across the city. The full programme will be announced on 25 January. GFF is one of the leading film festivals in the UK and run by Glasgow Film, a charity which also runs Glasgow Film Theatre (GFT). GFF is made possible by support from Screen Scotland, BFI Audience Fund (awarding funds from the National Lottery), Glasgow Life and EventScotland, part of VisitScotland’s Events Directorate.

Running from 6 – 9 March, GFF Industry Focus brings together Film and TV professionals from across the UK, Europe and further afield for four days of panel discussions, workshops, screenings and networking. With a range of topics geared towards all levels and sectors of the industry, our programme provides a platform for professional development and a meeting place to help connect creative and business delegates.

Industry Focus Passes

Industry Focus passes will be available to purchase at the Earlybird rate until Tuesday 24 January, after which they will be available at the standard price; passes will be taken fully off-sale Sunday 19 February. To purchase and further  information  GFF IndustryFocus

This section: Cinema, Glasgow Film Festival 2023