David Farnor | On 22, Feb 2021

This week sees the launch of the 2021 Glasgow Film Festival. Now in its 17th year, the festival will go online for two weeks, showcasing 10 world premieres, 3 European premieres and 49 UK premieres via its new digital platform, Glasgow Film At Home.

It begins on 24th February with the UK premiere of Lee Isaac Chung’s Minari and closes on 7th March with the UK premiere of Suzanne Lindon’s Spring Blossom, with many festival Q&As in between featuring guests such as Jodie Foster, Ewen Bremner, Ben Whishaw and Kevin Macdonald. FrightFest will also return to Glasgow Film Festival with a special online event running in March – you can see the full line-up for that here.

All Glasgow Film Festival films will cost £9.99 each, but there will be bundles available for certain themed groups. Titles will be available to rent for a specified, limited time window – and another variable window to finish watching (or rewatching) a film once you’ve started to play it.

For our guide to how it all works and the full streaming schedule, click here. In the meantime, we’ve rummaged through the whole line-up to pick out 21 films to put on your watchlist:

Minari

Available to stream: 24th to 27th February

Glasgow Film Festival 2021 opens with Lee Isaac Chung’s highly anticipated Minari, starring Steven Yeun, a semi-autobiographical drama about a Korean American family weathering all of life’s joys and sorrows in the 1980s.
Read our review

Creation Stories

Available to stream: 24th to 27th February

Written by Irvine Welsh, Creation Stories charts the rise of one young Glaswegian who went on to change the face of British culture while navigating a sea of obstacles. Read our review

The Mauritanian

Available to stream: 25th to 28th February

Justice seems an impossible dream in The Mauritanian, Kevin Macdonald’s powerful adaptation of Mohamedou Ould Slahi’s bestselling memoir starring Tahar Rahim, Jodie Foster and Benedict Cumberbatch. Read our review

Riders of Justice

Available to stream: 26th February to 1st March

Anders Thomas Jensen and Mads Mikkelsen reunite for this tale of black comedy and shocking violence. Read our review

Jumbo

Available to stream: 27th February to 2nd March

A quirky debut from Zoé Wittock, inspired by a true story about love and understanding.

Da Capo

Available to stream: 27th February to 2nd March

For fans of Sing Street and School of Rock, Da Capo is a tale full of warmth and hope that music lovers of all kinds will connect with.

Redemption of a Rogue

Available to stream: 27th February to 2nd March

The first feature from award-winning playwright Philip Doherty squeezes tar-black comedy from a Groundhog Day-style premise.

Black Bear

Available to stream: 27th February to 2nd March

Lawrence Michael Levine’s disturbing, darkly comic thriller starring Aubrey Plaza constantly surprises as it brutally blurs the boundaries between life and art. Read our review

Handsome

Available to stream: 28th February to 3rd March

A moving, sometimes uncomfortable documentary that takes an honest look at the brother’s relationship.

Truman & Tennessee

Available to stream: 1st to 4th March

This poignant documentary captures the relationship between two literary giants that journeyed from fond regard to bitchy disdain and back again.

Limbo

Available to stream: 3rd to 6th March

Ben Sharrock’s critically adored Limbo is a wry, funny and poignant cross-cultural satire.

First Cow

Available to stream: 5th to 8th March

The latest from Kelly Reichardt follows loner and skilled cook (John Magaro) as he travels west and joins a group of fur trappers in Oregon Territory, but he only finds true connection with a Chinese immigrant (Orion Lee) also seeking his fortune. Soon, the two collaborate on a successful business, although its longevity is reliant upon the clandestine participation of a nearby wealthy landowner’s prized milking cow. Co-starring Toby Jones.

City Hall

Available to stream: 5th to 8th March

Fred Wiseman’s portrait of Boston’s city government is a love letter to civic responsibility and democratic values.

Tina

Available to stream: 5th to 8th March

The ultimate celebration of a global superstar and an intimate portrait of a woman who overcame extreme adversity to define her career, her identity and her legacy on her own terms. Directed by Academy Dan Lindsay and TJ Martin (Undefeated, LA 92), Tina is the ultimate story of survival.

Leopard Shoes

Available to stream: 5th to 8th March

Alexis Bruchon’s inventive low-budget noir thriller twists, turns and twists again. Part of Glasgow FrightFest – for the full line-up click here

Surge

Available to stream: 5th to 8th March

​B​en Whishaw gives an award-winning performance as a man careering towards a breakdown in Surge.

American Badger

Available to stream: 6th to 9th March

Meet Badger, because his real name is Dean, and that’s the lamest ever for a hitman. Like all American Badgers, he prefers to be alone, and has hardly spoken a word to anyone except his Handler. But all that is about to change with his latest assignment, which puts him in the path of a dangerous criminal gang. Part of Glasgow FrightFest – for the full line-up click here

The Dissident

Available to stream: 6th to 9th March

The murder of Saudi Arabia-born Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 is the focus of this new documentary from Icarus director Bryan Fogel.

Gunda

Available to stream: 7th to 10th March

Aquarela director Viktor Kossakovsky turns his eye from water to pigs in this immersive farmyard documentary.

There is No Evil

Available to stream: 7th to 10th March

​Winner of the Berlin Golden Bear, Mohammad Rasoulof’s brilliant anthology powerfully confronts the realities of life under an autocratic regime.

Spring Blossom

Available to stream: 7th to 10th March

Suzanne Lindon revisits elements of her life in her directorial debut, which stars her as a gawky, awkward teenager who never seems to quite fit in. She only has eyes for 30-something actor Raphael (Arnaud Valois) who works at the theatre she passes each day. Curiosity gradually turns to infatuation in a tale of first love in sun-kissed Montmartre.

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