Michael Palin, Bo Burnham, Simon Amstell and more

Michael Palin, Bo Burnham, Simon Amstell and Alice Lowe  are all set to attend this year’s Glasgow Film Festival, it was announced last night.

Palin – who this week announced a one-man tour of England – will be attending as he appears in Glasgow director Robbie Fraser’s Final Ascent about legendary Scottish mountaineer Hamish MacInnes.

Burnham will be introducing his acclaimed directorial debut, Eighth Grade, about a teenage girl struggling with anxieties, on February 28 and March 1.

And fellow comic Amstell will be introducing his rom-com Benjamin,  in which the semi-autobiographical lead character is wracked with self-doubt and seemingly determined to sabotage his own love life. 

Stephen Merchant’s solo feature film directorial debut, Fighting With My Family also gets its UK debut at the festival. The movie  tells the true story of British WWE star Paige and her wrestling family,  and stars Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and Florence Pugh

Other comedy-related films being screened include Being Frank - The Chris Sievey Story and The Ghost of Peter Sellers, about the star’s ill-fated pirate movie Ghost In The Noonday Sun  – which Chortle has previously written about here.

Greg Hemphill and Ford Kiernan will be talking about their sitcom Still Game at an event on February 26, two days after the last series airs on the new BBC Scotland channel. The event will include a screening of episode two before its TV broadcast. 

As previously announced, Garth Marenghi star and Revenge director Alice Lowe will will participate in a horror film panel as part of the festival’s industry programme.

The 15th Glasgow Film Festival runs from February 20 to March 3, boasting films from 54 countries. including seven world premieres, 102 UK premieres, 49 Scottish premieres.

See the official website for more details.

Published: 24 Jan 2019