The Glasgow Film Festival‘s 2025 Audience Award, sponsored by Mubi, went to Brian Durnin’s drama Spilt Milk, wrapping up a star-studded 21st edition that attracted the likes of James McAvoy, Toni Collette, Tim Roth, Jessica Lange and Ed Harris.
Among other big names visiting Scotland were Japanese musician and actress Koki and Shogun star Takehiro Hira, who came to Glasgow for the world premiere of Scottish survival thriller Tornado, while Formula 1 world champion Damon Hill attended the world premiere of sporting documentary Hill. Collette was a surprise special guest for a 30th anniversary showing of her breakthrough film Muriel’s Wedding.
Scotland’s largest annual celebration of cinema, which this year also put a spotlight on Austrian films, from satirical looks at rent-a-friend agencies and the power of billionaires to an exploration of generational poverty and a climate crisis mockumentary, wrapped with the world premiere of Scottish documentary-maker Martyn Robertson’s Make It to Munich, shot in the run-up to the Euro 2024 soccer tournament.
The movie follows Ethan Walker, “a promising teenage footballer from Aberdeenshire who, just months into a (soccer) scholarship at a USA university, suffers life-threatening injuries (including multiple fractures, two brain hemorrhages and the complete dislocation of his right knee) in a road traffic accident,” according to a synopsis. “Aided in his recovery by pioneering Glasgow surgeon … Professor Gordon Mackay, Ethan decides to cycle from Hampden to Munich for Scotland’s opening match against Germany in Euro 2024 – just nine months after his accident.”
Audience Award winner Spilt Milk is set in 1980s Dublin where 11-year-old Bobby (Cillian Sullivan) dreams of being a detective, just like his TV idol Kojak. “Offering to hunt down lost items on his housing estate with the help of his pal Nell (Naoise Kelly), the pair begin their biggest case after Bobby’s brother Oisin (Lewis Brophy) goes missing,” notes a synopsis. “Their hunt takes them into the dangerous underbelly of the housing estate where they live, as the harsh realities of addiction are presented through a child’s eyes.”
The runner-up was Natja Brunckhorst’s German comedy Two to One, starring Sandra Hüller.
The 2025 edition of the Glasgow Film Festival was the final one for departing Glasgow Film CEO and festival director Allison Gardner. “Being part of Glasgow Film Festival has been the most fun, rewarding and brilliant time over the last 21 years,” she said. “From co-directing alongside the wonderful Allan Hunter to going solo the last couple of years, I have had the most fabulous support and friendship from the exceptional teams in our organization. I have met some wonderful filmmakers and guests over the years and witnessed audiences fall in love with films that have changed their lives for the better.”
