Glasgow Short Film Festival

This March, Glasgow Short Film Festival is back with a packed programme featuring a deep dive into the archives with unseen, live-scored short films from Bill Douglas, rediscovered work by Mexican feminist group Cine Mujer and experimental reappropriation of archive footage by Jyoti Mistry; a retrospective screening and installation by Moroccan filmmaker Randa Maroufi, complemented by contemporary Moroccan artist films; and Towards Liberation, a thematic strand in defiance of oppression, with live performance by British-Palestinian sound artist Kareem Samara and screenings at HMP & YOI Polmont.

For our 17th edition, Glasgow Short Film Festival (GSFF) will provoke audiences to reflect on collectivity, liberation and archives, with a special four-programme strand entitled Towards Liberation. Towards Liberation will utilise archive, documentary and fictional short films from across the globe to examine threads around imprisonment, imperialism, representation and resistance. The strand will include a programme of Palestinian short films (Weapons of criticism and dedicated consciousness), which will be followed by a live performance by British-Palestinian musician and sound artist Kareem Samara, whose joining of traditional and contemporary genres explores threads of decolonial possibilities and diasporic identity. 50% of ticket sales from this screening will be donated to Medical Aid for Palestinians.

Glasgow Short Film Festival has two annual competitions, awarded at the close of the festival. The Scottish Short Film Award, sponsored by Blazing Griffin (cash prize of £1500), honours inspiration and innovation in new Scottish cinema, with twenty new films selected. Named in honour of the legendary Scottish filmmaker, the Bill Douglas Award for International Short Film (cash prize of £1000) promotes cinematic storytelling that places sound and image centre stage, and this year includes twenty eight documentary, animation, fiction and experimental shorts from Haiti, Sudan, Kosovo, Brazil, Egypt, Thailand, and more.

The GSFF24 audience will have the opportunity to choose their favourites to win the International Audience Award, sponsored by Shorts TV+ (cash prize of £1000) and the Scottish Audience Award, sponsored by Savalas (in kind prize of studio time) whilst the Bill Douglas Award is selected by an international jury including Céline Roustan, programmer and film critic for SXSW and Short of the Week; Jonathan Ali, programming director at Third Horizon Film Festival and programme consultant for Locarno Open Doors, Alchemy Film & Arts, and others; and Randa Maroufi, the subject of our filmmaker focus. The Scottish Short Film Award, sponsored by Blazing Griffin, is awarded by a jury consisting of Jason Anderson, international short film programmer at Toronto International Film Festival and programme director at Aspen Shortsfest; Niels Putman, artistic director of Kortfilm.be, co-founder/chief editor of Talking Shorts and freelance curator; and Glasgow-based screenwriter/director Raisah Ahmed.

Tying in with this year’s programme, we’ve also invited several population groups at HMP & YOI Polmont to watch the 2024 Scottish Competition titles and add their votes to the Scottish Audience Award. The winner of this award will be announced at the award ceremony on the last day of the festival (24 March 2024). They will also be given the opportunity to participate in workshops run by award-winning animator, Ross Hogg, and watch several other festival highlights programmes during the festival week. This programme is delivered in partnership with Glass Performance, with support from the National Lottery Community Fund.