Glasgow Film Festival gets underway tomorrow and brings together some terrific film talent from around the work - both in front of and behind the camera.
The Wonders
There are a whole host of exciting female filmmakers on show in the 2015 programme, and we take a look at some of the directors and their latest film projects that you cannot miss over the next week.
- Alice Rohrwacher - The Wonders
The Wonders will screen as part of the Pioneer section of the festival and will be in the running for the Audience Award at this year's festival.
The movie marks the return of Alice Rohrwacher to the director's chair for the second feature film of her filmmaking career - she made her debut back in 2011 with Heavenly Body.
The Wonders has already won the Grand Prix at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival and it is exciting to see it as part of the programme in Glasgow this year.
The movie is a coming of age drama that sees Maria Alexandra Lungu take on the central role of Gelsomina, a young girl caught between adolescence and adulthood, who is beginning to realise the world is not what it seems.
- Sophie Hyde - 52 Tuesdays
Sophie Hyde makes the leap into live action feature film for the first time as she presents her new film 52 Tuesdays at the festival. During her career, Hyde has been behind shorts such as Elephantiasis and Necessary Games and documentaries Live in Movement and now she is making the transition into the feature film.
52 Tuesdays plays as part of the Strewth! The Film of Oz section and will compete for the Audience Award this year. This is a movie that played to critical acclaim at the Sundance Film Festival last year, and is set to be one of the movies not to miss in Glasgow.
The movie follows sixteen-year-old Billie who has just fifty-two Tuesdays left with her mother before her gender transition. 52 Tuesdays promises to explore some interesting themes and ideas and introduce us to some new acting talent.
Tilda Cobham-Hervey takes on the central role of Billie in the film, in what was her first movie project.
- Desiree Akhavan - Appropriate Behaviour
Desiree Akhavan is another female filmmaker who will be making her feature film directorial debut with Appropriate Behaviour. Not only has Akhavan directed the film, she has also penned the screenplay and will take on the central role.
Akhavan is no stranger to being in front of and behind the camera, having directed short film Nose Job, and directed and starred in The Slope and is currently in Girls.
Shirin is struggling to become an ideal Persian daughter, politically correct bisexual and hip young Brooklynite but fails miserably in her attempt at all identities. Being without a cliché to hold onto can be a lonely experience.
Akhavan will take on the central role of Shirin and is joined on the cast list by Rebecca Henderson, Halley Feiffer, and Ryan Fitzsimmons.
- Lynette Wallworth - Tender
Tender is one of the documentaries that I am looking forward to at the festival as director Lynette Wallworth explores the final taboo... death.
The movie will mark the feature film directorial debut for Wallworth, as she follows a community group in Port Kembla who have sent up a charity funeral service for the town's struggling residents.
Tender looks set to be a funny look at life and mortality, as well being a movie that explores some interesting themes and ideas that you don't see on the big screen very often.
- Ana Lily Amirpour - A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night
A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night is another interesting film on the programme at Glasgow Film Festival as it is the first Iranian vampire Western.
The movie sees Ana Lily Amirpour make the leap from shorts into features for the first time, and has also penned the screenplay for the film.
In the Iranian ghost-town Bad City, a place that reeks of death and loneliness, the townspeople are unaware they are being stalked by a lonesome vampire.
A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, where it was one of the horror highlights of the festival.
- Carol Morley - The Falling
Carole Morley is one of the British filmmakers on the programme at the festival as she returns to the director's chair with The Falling.
Morley maked her debut with documentary The Alcohol Years in 2000, before making her live action debut in 2010 with Edge. The Falling is her first film since she returned to the documentary genre with Dreams of a Life.
The Falling sees Morley on directing and writing duties, and has brought together a cast that includes Maisie Williams, Maxine Peake, Monica Dolan, and Florence Pugh.
Set in 1969, the movie focuses on the character of Lydia, a troubled teen who is at the centre of a mysterious fainting epidemic at her school. Williams is best known for her role in Game of Thrones, and I can't wait to see her breakout with this very different role.
Other female filmmakers to watch out for include Debbie Tucker Green (Second Coming), Jeanne Herry (Elle l'adore), and July Jung (A Girl at My Door).
