Scottish Screenings: September

We’re gearing up for a buzzing September of screenings, with festivals, venues and community cinemas hosting a melting pot of film events for you to choose from:

National Cinema Day

Saturday 2 September | Various Venues | £3 tickets

Samizdat Film Festival 2023

12 – 16 September, CCA Glasgow / 12 September – 5 October, Klassiki (online) | Pay What You Can tickets

Samizdat – Scotland’s first festival of cinema from Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Caucasus – is back for its second edition at CCA Glasgow, and online.

The 2023 programme‘s headline event is a unique Collection of Surrealist Eastern European Animation (1965-2022), co-curated with Manipulate Festival. Plus, they will show Soviet Armenian classic House on the Volcano (1928) with an original new score mixed live by its composer Juliet Merchant, and a special strand of Central Asian cinema co-curated with filmmaker Anisa Sabiri.

View the programme here. Get tickets here.

Cinemaattic: Chile 50

14, 16 & 21 September | Glasgow & Edinburgh

Cinemaattic returns in September with a brand new programme of Chilean films. They mark the 50th anniversary of General Augusto Pinochet’s military coup, which left an indelible impact on the lives of countless Chileans.

• 1976 (dir. Manuela Martelli) | 14 September, Central Library | Edinburgh
• Chilean Short Films, Food & Live Music – Intro by Carlos Arrendondo | 16 September, St. Peter’s Episcopal Church Hall
• Chilean Short Film Programme | 21 September | Centre for Contemporary Arts

Get tickets here.

Montrose LandxSea Film Festival

15 – 17 September | Montrose Playhouse

Montrose Playhouse presents LandxSea, Scotland’s first climate-focused film festival. Over the course of three days, they will present a rich selection of 20 feature films and shorts, plus guest speakers, discussions, and special events that explore our relationship with land and sea.

The UK premiere of The Golden Thread, exploring Bengal’s jute industry, will open the festival, alongside features including The Oil Machine and Ice Mile. Free events beyond the cinema include an Eco Fair, interactive workshops and even a pop-up restaurant!

View the programme and get tickets here.

Short Com Film and Animation Festival 2023

Glasgow & Edinburgh | 16 – 23 Sept

This BIFA-qualifying comedy film and animation festival returns with a focus on Asian performing and filmmaking talent, plus a host of UK and European premieres.

Screenings are in Glasgow (16 & 17 September) and Edinburgh (20, 22, 23 September) across a range of venues, including The Glad Cafe, Glasgow Film Theatre and The Cameo.

Programme information and tickets here.

Sea Change Film Festival 2023

Tiree | 22 – 24 September

Experience films, workshops and special guests in spectacular scenery at Sea Change 2023. Sea Change celebrates women behind the camera and aims to support women and non-binary people working in the screen industries. This year’s theme is ‘a sense of place’, with a special celebration of 100 years of 16mm film. Plus, screenings of UK, Irish and international feature films, documentaries and animation looking at how seas, shores and landscapes can shape our lives.

Tiree will welcome a host of talent for the festival, including director Carol Morley (Typist, Pirate, Artist, King), Emma Davie (The Oil Machine), artist-filmmakers Mairéad McClean and Julia Parks, plus special online Q&As with directors Emily Atef (More Than Ever) and Alison Millar (Lyra) and the producer of Brain Washed: Sex-Camera-Power, Maria Giese.

Alongside this, specialist coaching and industry networking will take place. Get tickets here.

Glasgow Youth Film Festival 2023

22 – 24 September | Glasgow Film Theatre | Tickets £6

GYFF will open its 2023 programme with Clement Virgo’s powerful sibling drama Brother (2023) and closes with an immersive screening of The Matrix (1999) (for which dress-up is encouraged!).

The festival is co-programmed by Glasgow Film and a group of 18 Young Programmers aged 15-19. It features international films reflecting the realities of growing up in areas of ongoing conflict alongside Scottish-made films exploring themes as diverse as grief, medical misogyny and South Asian Scottish heritage. GYFF will also host four Behind the Scenes workshops for young people interested in pursuing film as career.

Scottish Queer International Film Festival 2023

26 – 30 September | Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow

SQIFF is back! The festival returns to the Centre for Contemporary Arts in Glasgow from 26 – 30 September. The 5-day festival is packed with a curation of the best international Queer films, art installations, a craft fair and more.

The festival will open with the ever-popular Scottish Shorts, celebrating local filmmakers’ home-grown film projects. This year’s festival will host a mixture of Queer classics and new releases, with a focus on new filmmaking talent.

Learn more.

Harbour Film Nights

Fittie and Torrie, Aberdeen | Monthly, beginning 29 September

Open Road is bringing independent cinema to the heart of communities in Aberdeen with the return of its monthly film nights. Screenings take place once a month in the Fittie and Torry harbourside communities and operate on a ‘Pay What You Feel’ basis. The first film of the programme is Elvis at Fittie Community Hall on  29 September, followed by The Hermit of Treig on 27 October.

Full programme and tickets here.

London Film Festival at Glasgow Film Theatre

4 – 15 October | Tickets on sale 12 September

The 67th BFI London Film Festival is coming to Glasgow Film Theatre! From 4 – 15 October, delight in the undiscovered with a line-up of the most exciting new films screening at LFF 2023.

From Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget to All of Us Strangers – starring Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal – this is your chance to see highly-anticipated feature films shown in the UK for the first (and sometimes only) time. Other screenings include Emerald Fennel’s Saltburn and May December, Todd Hayne’s new feature starring Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore.

Tickets on sale 12 September. Check out the programme here.