Hollywood stars set to light up Glasgow Film Festival

James McAvoy, Tim Roth, Jessica Lange and Ed Harris are among a raft of Hollywood stars set to tread the red carpet at this year's Glasgow Film Festival.

The event - scheduled to take place between 26 February and 9 March - will feature 13 world and European premieres, 66 UK premieres and 12 Scottish premieres from 38 countries.

Glasgow Film Festival (GFF) will open with the world premiere of thriller Tornado, with Pulp Fiction actor Roth set to be joined by Scottish director John Maclean and Japanese co-stars Koki and Takehiro Hira.

Harris and Lange will attend the UK premiere of Long Day's Journey Into Night, the big-screen adaptation of Eugene O'Neill's seminal American play.

Academy Award-winner Lange will also appear in a special In Conversation event where she will reflect on her career, which kickstarted with the 1976 movie King Kong.

Lange has picked up numerous awards over the years, including two Oscars for Tootsie and Blue Sky.

She also has eight Emmy and Golden Globe awards, some of which were won due to her performances in TV anthology American Horror Story.

Meanwhile, Formula One champion Damon Hill will attend the world premiere of Sky's new documentary Hill.

The film, featuring intimate interviews with the sportsman and his family, will tell the story of how he overcame losing his legendary father Graham Hill in a plane crash to follow in his footsteps to become a world champion driver himself.

A host of homegrown talent will also light up the festival.

X-Men: First Class star McAvoy will introduce a special screening of his breakthrough role in 2006 film The Last King Of Scotland, while 1917 actor George MacKay returns to the festival with the Scottish premiere of the post-apocalyptic musical The End.

In addition, Line Of Duty star Martin Compston will be joined by James Cosmo and Solly McLeod at the world premiere of the first episode of new Amazon Studios-produced thriller Fear, which was shot in Glasgow's West End.

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Meanwhile, Martyn Robertson's Make It To Munich will have its world premiere as part of the closing gala.

The inspiring documentary tells the tale of Scottish teenager Ethan Walker, who just months after nearly losing his life in a traffic accident, embarked on a charity cycle from Glasgow's Hampden Park to Munich for Scotland's opening game of Euro 2024 against Germany.

Allison Gardner, chief executive of organiser Glasgow Film and director of GFF, said: "I cannot begin to say how excited I am by the brilliant programme we have curated, the breadth of films on offer genuinely has something for everyone.

"We're also thrilled to bring a host of well-known faces to Scotland, to tread the red carpet outside the city's iconic Glasgow Film Theatre."

Ms Gardner plans to retire after the festival, following more than 30 years at Glasgow Film.

She added: "Everyone across Glasgow Film works very hard to make the magic happen and I cannot thank all my colleagues enough for their hard work, enthusiasm and sheer brilliance in making this not only a great festival to attend, but a friendly and supportive environment to work in.

"I shall be sad that this is my last festival as I've had so many magical moments over the years, but I know the great work we have done will ensure that audiences, filmmakers and industry colleagues will continue to support what I consider to be the best film festival in the world."

(c) Sky News 2025: Hollywood stars set to light up Glasgow Film Festival