Spotlight On: Allison Gardner, Glasgow Film Festival Director and Glasgow Film Chief Executive

This year marks Allison Gardner’s last year at the helm of the Glasgow Film Festival (GFF) after more than 30 years involved with the festival and Glasgow Film.

Supported through our International Programme, the 21st edition of the Glasgow Film Festival will open today (26 February) with the World premiere of Scottish director John Maclean’s survival thriller Tornado, kicking off 12 packed days of cinema with 91 World, UK and Scottish premieres from 39 countries in the programme. The festival will close on 9 March with the World premiere of Scottish documentary filmmaker Martyn Robertson’s Make It To Munich.

A well-known cultural leader, Allison first joined Glasgow Film Theatre in 1993 as a Duty Manager, and, in the three decades since, has progressed through the organisation in several roles including Glasgow Film Theatre’s Head of Cinemas, then on to the Programme Director of Glasgow Film Theatre and Glasgow Film Festival, before becoming CEO in 2020. She will retire in October from her dual role as Chief Executive of Glasgow Film and Director of Glasgow Film Festival.

Ahead of the start of this year’s festival tonight, we caught up with Allison to find out more about her career, how the festival has evolved, and some of her most memorable moments.

Looking back on your time at Glasgow Film Festival, how has the festival evolved over the years to reflect Scotland’s changing cultural landscape and what aspects of its growth have been most meaningful to you?

Glasgow Film Festival started in 2005 as an audience development initiative and to reflect our ethos of ‘Cinema For All’. As the festival has grown, we have adapted elements to become the ‘broad church’ festival we are now. The addition of the Industry Focus, a programme of panel discussions, workshops, screenings and networking, has been one of the more exciting elements as we realised that GFF is a national meeting point for not only the Scottish Industry professionals but those from the UK and internationally.

Your motto is ‘Cinema For All’, championing diversity and inclusivity both during the festival and throughout the year at the theatre. Why is it important to ensure arts and culture is available to everyone and what should event organisers consider to ensure meaningful and authentic engagement?

Our ‘Cinema For All’ ethos is embedded in our DNA, and one of the key elements to ensure we are accessible to everyone is to look at barriers and how we can mitigate these. Another key element is to work with our communities to co-create events and screenings so they are involved from the beginning. I think always being open-minded and listening is a good place to start but that you need to work to deliver to ensure those audiences trust your vision and organisation.

The festival has always championed Scottish based films. With the growing global visitor trend of screen tourism or ‘set-jetting’, what role do film festivals have in showcasing the destinations and local communities that viewers are seeing on screen?

We at Glasgow Film Festival are immensely proud of the work we have done over the years to champion the brilliant work being produced here in Scotland by both homegrown talent and talent coming to Scotland to film. We have a duty to present our homegrown films to our audience so they can be inspired by the work and see their lives reflected in the breadth of stories we have to tell in across the country. It’s always a thrill to see Glasgow and Scotland on the big screen.

As you step away from your role, what advice would you give to those considering a career in events and festivals?

I think getting involved in any way you can with a festival or event lets you discover if this something you really want to do. All jobs have downsides and it’s a good idea to discover what these are before you fully commit. I have been incredibly lucky (and also worked extremely hard!) to be able to take on the jobs I have over the course of my career and I would say to someone 'take a chance and do something out with your comfort zone and see if you can surprise yourself’.

Finally, what have been some of your standout moments of the last 21 years with the Glasgow Film Festival?

I think that seeing the audiences grow and the festival becoming an unmissable event in the film calendar year has been so wonderful, not to mention the brilliant staff and volunteers over the years. Also we have hosted some incredible and lovely guests over the years and nothing beats the love for a film and the filmmaker after a screening at Glasgow Film Theatre – it’s truly magical.

To find out more about this year's Glasgow Film Festival and see the programme, visit www.glasgowfilmfest.org