Glasgow Film Festival’s 2026 attendance grew by 12%, attracting new audiences and filmmakers from around the UK

Cinema admissions up 5% with new daily admissions records set across both weekends of the festival

Opening and Closing Gala titles, Everybody to Kenmure Street and California Schemin’, received global coverage following their UK premieres at Scotland’s flagship film festival

Glasgow Film Festival (GFF) attendance grew by 12% this year, reaching 37,215 across the 2026 programme of premieres, special pop-up screenings, youth and community initiatives, and Press and Industry events.

The 22nd edition of Scotland’s largest film festival brought film talent and audiences together in a celebration of cinema, earlier this year. Guests included James McAvoy, Alice Winocour, George MacKay, Peter Mullan, Felipe Bustos Sierra and Lynne Ramsay. Cinema admissions increased by 5% with more sold-out film screenings at the festival’s largest capacity screening venue, Cinema 1 at Glasgow Film Theatre (GFT), plus the addition of Odeon LUXE at the Quay, giving audiences a new location outside of the city centre to watch this year’s programme.

In total, 11 venues across Glasgow took part including Berlinky’s on Sauchiehall Street (the festival’s new after-hours home), The Pyramid at Anderston and Glasgow University Union, which both hosted special events including anniversary screenings of Carrie and Moulin Rouge! Audiences at the latter were treated to a surprise video message from Ewan McGregor on location in New York. 22 hotels, restaurants and bars also partnered with the festival to welcome audiences and filmmakers from across the UK and beyond, boosting the city’s crucial hospitality and leisure sector.

GFF welcomed 745 Press and Industry delegates, doubling international participation over the last two years. Industry Focus returned to The Social Hub in Merchant City for a second year with admissions increasing to 4,155 across the five-day programme of panel discussions, live pitches and networking, designed to cover topics critical to the screen sector whilst also serving as a vital hub for film professionals across the UK.

The festival’s new strand for the conference this year, ‘Made in Glasgow’, showcased the strength of the filmmaking sector in Scotland’s biggest city, with the full day sponsored by Blazing Griffin. Award-winning filmmaker Lynne Ramsay, whose celebrated career began in Glasgow, was this year’s recipient of GFF’s Cinema City Honorary Award, receiving the accolade at a sold out ‘In Conversation’ event during the festival.

GFF welcomed international delegations from France and Austria, who attended the festival’s Talent Dinner Awards Ceremony to celebrate the work of the 50 writers, directors and producers taking part in festival talent labs: Animatic, Funny Features, and the New Talent Mentorship Scheme. This year’s cohort brings the total number of filmmakers supported by the festival across all three initiatives to 117.

GFF’s year-round talent labs have delivered rapid progress with several projects advancing into further development following their live pitch during the festival. Across Funny Features, multiple projects have already secured finance, sales agents and executive producers. Through Animatic, several projects have attached producers, and this year’s winner will attend the world’s most prestigious platform for animation professionals, Annecy’s MIFA, to find additional development and financing.

This year’s GFF programme contained 127 titles hailing from 45 countries, featuring 43 languages including Gaelic, Arabic, Icelandic, Swedish, Afrikaans, Tagalog, Welsh, Japanese and Korean. Audiences were also treated to 10 world premieres, giving them the opportunity to be at the films’ first ever screenings, plus 66 UK premieres, 3 European and 18 Scottish premieres. Programme highlights this year included Gaelic-language documentary Sailm nan Daoine (Psalms of the People) directed by Glasgow-based Jack Archer, and Effi o Blaenau, a Welsh drama directed by BAFTA Cymru-winning Marc Evans. GFF also secured the European premiere of the instant cult classic Nirvanna – the Band the Show the Movie, with two sold out shows in the festival’s largest venue.

The GFF Audience Award is exclusively dedicated to recognising outstanding feature films for first or second-time directors and was presented to French director Mélisa Godet for her debut feature, A Place For Her. Based on La Maison des femmes de Saint-Denis, a women’s shelter outside of Paris, and inspired by the centre’s founder Dr Ghada Hatem, the film has been sold for release in Spain, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Canada, Hungry and Austria following its UK premiere at the festival.

Cinemas participating in GFF’s UK-wide screenings enjoyed an exclusive preview of Dead Man’s Wire, starring Bill Skaarsgard, Dacre Montgomery and Al Pacino, bringing the festival to audiences in Birmingham, Bo’ness, Bristol, Campbeltown, Cardiff, Dumfries, Dundee, Edinburgh, Fort William, Inverness, London, Newcastle and Sheffield.

Living up to its reputation as the world’s friendliest film festival, GFF welcomed 134 filmmakers in 2026; 169 accredited Press delegates were able to meet them on GFF’s red carpet; and film fans had the opportunity to put their own questions to world class film talent at dozens of post-film Q&As.

Our commitment to affordable Cinema For All continued with total attendance across the free programme of events increasing by 24%. Free screenings included GFF’s ever-popular retrospective series, this year programmed on a theme of ‘Truth to Power’, which featured 10 classic titles spanning the 1930s to 2014. Other free events included pop-up youth and community driven initiatives at GFT, Adelaide Place and Glasgow Women’s Library, attracting younger and more diverse audiences to the festival.

GFF is Scotland’s flagship film festival and is run by Glasgow Film, a charity which also runs Glasgow Film Theatre (GFT). The festival is made possible by support from Screen Scotland and the BFI Audience Projects Fund, both awarding National Lottery funding, and Glasgow Life, the charity which delivers culture, events and active living in Glasgow.

Chair of Glasgow Life, Baillie Annette Christie, said: “Glasgow Film Festival’s continued growth is a powerful reflection of its energy, ambition, and enduring appeal. This year’s increase in attendance, alongside rising cinema admissions, and packed screenings across the city, shows just how strongly audiences connected with the festival’s world-class programme. From major premieres and international guests to community initiatives and industry activity, the festival continues to bring people together in celebration of cinema.  

“Once again the festival demonstrated a unique ability to showcase an extraordinary breadth of storytelling from across the globe, while championing homegrown talent and strengthening Glasgow’s reputation as a leading screen city. The expansion of venues and partnerships across the city highlights the festival’s growing impact not only culturally, but economically. 

“Building on a remarkable legacy, the refreshed team have delivered an outstanding edition, ensuring Glasgow Film Festival continues to thrive as one of the world’s most welcoming and respected film festivals, and a vital part of the city’s cultural calendar.”

Glasgow Film Festival will return from 24 February to 7 March 2027.