Burning an Illusion, Glasgow Film Theatre
22 – 25 August, 2022
Pat Williams, played by the award-winning Cassie McFarlane, is a London girl with a caring family, her own flat and a job that she enjoys, who looks forward to settling down to a comfortable married life. Her dream is shattered when she meets Del (Victor Romero), a charming but vaguely discontented toolmaker, who soon moves in and then loses his job causing them both to challenge their assumptions about each other and their aspirations.
Menelik Shabazz’s pioneering first feature, shot around the communities of Notting Hill and Ladbroke Grove, marked a coming-of-age for Black British cinema. A love story that traces the emotional and political growth of a young Black couple in Thatcher’s London, it was the first British film to give a central voice to a Black woman, charting her journey to emotional maturity, emancipation and political awakening.
(1981)
GFT, 12 Rose Street, Glasgow G3 6RB

This section: Cinema, What's On Glasgow West End: cinema, clubs, theatre, music, events, festivals, community and more
Related Pages
- Dragonfly at GFT
- The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
- The Magnificent Ambersons + introduction
- ‘That famed place of aquatic gamboling’ : Swimming in Victorian Glasgow
- Take 2: Grand Prix of Europe
- Havana Film Festival Glasgow 2025
- Taiwan Film Festival in Scotland 2025
- Carlton Jug Band Residency – Avant Garde
- Still Glasgow at GoMA
- French Film Festival 2025 at GFT
- Scottish Open Badminton Championships 2025
- Martin McAloon – Steve McQueen 40th Anniversary
- Andy Irvine at Cottiers
- Penelope Trappes and Run at Cottiers
- Marginalia – The Stand Comedy Club
- Nationhood: Memory and Hope – Street Level Photoworks
- Cottiers – Bar, Restaurant, Theatre, Glasgow West End
- Chiels and Quines – A Tribute to Sheila Templeton
- Come and Sing Traditional Carols at Christmas
- Outi Karhu – Let The Light In album launch