In The Loop, a feature film penned by Armando Iannucci, the Scots comedy writer behind political satire The Thick Of It, will open the fifth Glasgow Film Festival next month.
The film festival, running from 12 -22 February in venues across the city, will close with Last Chance Harvey, a romantic comedy with the improbable partnering of Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson.
The UK premiere of In The Loop has similar political themes to Iannucci's television hit, with its spoof of backroom political intrigue and Anglo-American relations in the run up to Iraq war. Tom Hollander plays the central role as a fresh-faced, gaffe-prone Minister of International Development who is at the centre of a media maelstrom over the rights and wrongs of the war. Peter Calpaldi plays a foul-mouthed spin-doctor, with "Soprano" James Gandolfini as a US General, and Gina McKee as a cool-headed communications director.
The GFF 2009 includes a retrospective of Audrey Hepburn films, a
showcase of Mexican cinema, a FrightFest mini festival within the
festival, and a showcase of Scots short films curated by The Magic Lantern.
New work by Edinburgh filmmakers in the "Great Scots" strand includes Richard Jobson's Edinburgh thriller New Town Killers (see earlier story), former Edinburgh Film Festival director Murray Grigor's documentary Infinite Space about the modernist American architect John Lautner (watch trailer), and former Filmhouse director Jim Hickey's horror The Dungeon Moor Killings.
Among the festival's international galas is the Palme d'Or
winner The Class (Entre Les Murs), a documentary about heavyweight boxer Frank Tyson Is There Anybody There?, and Spinal Tap like rock doc Anvil! The Story of Anvil. Glasgow audiences will also get a chance to see Clint Eastwood playing a racist pensioner in Gran Torino and Jennifer Aniston's Marley and Me.
There's also another chance to see memorable Norwegian chiller Let the Right One In which appeared at the Edinburgh International Film Festival last June.
The GFF has been largely overshadowed by its east coast counterpart, but has been growing in stature. Last year saw audience numbers of some 20,000 say fest organisers.
Ticketing problems
The GFF was experiencing online ticketing problems following the launch of its programme yesterday. A notice on the festival web site says:
"When checking our online ticketing systems just after midnight we have discovered that things aren't working as planned...We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause and we hope to have it all up and running as soon as possible."