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Glasgow Film Theatre Wins Cinema of the Year at the 2015 Screen Award

Glasgow Film Theatre is proud to announce it is the winner of Cinema of the Year (24 screens or less) at this year’s Screen Awards.

The sixth Screen International Screen Awards took place last night (Oct 22) at a glamorous ceremony at the Brewery in London. Hosted by broadcaster Edith Bowman, the Awards recognise excellence in film distribution, exhibition, marketing, publicity and brand partnerships in the UK market.

The Cinema of the Year Award (24 screens or less) category honours the cinema (single site) that showed solid performance with ticket sales and also engaged in new and improved ways to serve both audiences and distributors.

Judges who voted for this year’s winners were industry experts Baz Bamigboye, Edith Bowman, Sean Clarke, Christina De Rienzo, Finola Dwyer, Charles Gant, Christine Langan, Sarah Lewthwaite, Crispin Lilly, Ben Luxford, Charles McDonald, Martin Myers, Jonathan Olsberg, Nikki Parker, Bridget Pedgrift, Luc Roeg, Philip Rose and Jezz Vernon.

The judges highlighted GFT’s ‘exceptional audience development to all sectors of community’. As well as hosting live satellite events, in-person appearances and partaking in nationwide seasons such as the BFI’s Sci-Fi: Days of Fear and Wonder with an immersive Escape From New York treasure hunt, GFT again hosted Glasgow Film Festival, where attendance rose 7% to more than 40,000 admissions. It also introduced an audience award, won by Tom Browne’s Radiator, which went on to secure a deal for UK distribution. With screenings of 663 films from 43 countries, this year admissions rose 8.3% to more than 190,000.

Praised by the judges for its ‘very impressive connection to its local community’, Glasgow Film Theatre was recognised for its work with Scottish Autism to provide Access Film Club, which is aimed at young people and adults aged 15-plus with autism spectrum disorders. GFT has also collaborated with Solar Bear and Film Hub Scotland on Visible Cinema, a new programme of film screenings for deaf and hard of hearing audiences.

The judges said:
‘You can always rely on them to do something special. GFT consistently punches above its weight and strives to support and popularize indie film.’

Allison Gardner, GFT Programme Director, said:
‘We are incredibly honoured to receive this award. At Glasgow Film we are dedicated and passionate about offering a breadth of work to our audience, and deepening our audience’s engagement with film. Our ethos of ‘Cinema for all’ reflects our vision and this award represents our unwavering investment in audiences, film and engagement.’

Jaki McDougall, GFT Chief Executive, said:
‘We are thrilled to be crowned Cinema of the Year. Over the past few years, GFT has gone from strength to strength; with our third cinema screen opening in 2013, and with Glasgow Film Festival’s steady growth over the past 11 years to become the third largest film festival in the UK, we are continually seeking new ways to build upon our achievements. The redevelopment of the foyer is the next stage in GFT’s journey, a project that we hope to get underway next year.

This section: Cinema