Glasgow Film Festival will celebrate its 20th anniversary with a special programme of events coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the city’s arthouse cinema.

The famous Glasgow Film Theatre opened in 1974 after it developed from its first incarnation as Scotland’s first-ever purpose-built arthouse cinema – which opened in 1939.

Glasgow Film Festival (GFF), the cinema’s celebration of independent filmmaking from around the world, launched in 2005.

The festival will run from 28 February to 10 March and will feature 11 international premieres, 69 UK premieres and 15 Scottish premieres.

It will open with the UK premiere of Love Lies Bleeding, starring Hollywood actress Kristen Stewart as Lou – a reclusive gym owner who falls for an ambitious bodybuilder from a criminal family.

Highlights include The Teachers’ Lounge, shortlisted for an Oscar for Best International Film, about an idealistic young teacher in Germany who gets involved when one of her students is suspected of theft.

Special screenings will include The Wizard Of Oz at Cottiers Theatre in Glasgow’s West End, and Quentin Tarantino’s cult classic Pulp Fiction in 35mm, as well as Female Trouble, from 1974, with a live drag show, at Barras Art and Design.

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Retrospectives of films from throughout the history of the GFT are free and are screened at 10.30am.

This year’s festival will also feature a special focus on films from the Czech Republic, including Daisies, a radical feminist film once banned for its stance on communism and patriarchy.

The festival will close with the world premiere of Janey, a documentary about Glaswegian comedian Janey Godley, interweaving stories from her life with footage from her Not Dead Yet tour in the wake of her terminal cancer diagnosis which came after a scandal involving offensive language.

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Allison Gardner, chief executive of Glasgow Film and director of GFF, said: “I am extremely proud to have been here for every one of Glasgow Film Festival’s 20 editions.

“Our motto is ‘cinema for all’ and we strive to bring the best films from around the world to Glasgow.

“My advice is to choose films you know nothing about and take a chance, you might discover a hidden gem that will stay with you forever.”

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