THE music and youth culture of the 1990s are to feature in the opening and closing gala films at the Glasgow Film Festival (GFF).
The 15th edition of the festival will open on February 20 with the UK premiere of Jonah Hill’s directorial debut Mid90s. The coming-of-age comedy-drama, which was also written by Hill, stars Sunny Suljic, Lucas Hedges and Katherine Waterston and follows a 13-year-old boy who starts to hang out with an older group of skateboarders while living in 1990s Los Angeles.
The soundtrack features an original score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross alongside original hip-hop from the era.
More music from the 1990s and beyond features in Beats, the GFF’s closing gala film on March 3.
Directed by Brian Welsh (Black Mirror) and executive produced by Steven Soderbergh, Beats is adapted from the hit play by acclaimed Scottish playwright Kieran Hurley.
The film, which was largely shot in Glasgow, is set in 1994, just as John Major’s government was attempting to suffocate Scotland’s rave culture and the free party movement with a Criminal Justice Bill that specifically singled out the “repetitive beats” of dance music.
Beats sees the feature film debuts of Royal Conservatoire of Scotland graduates Cristian Ortega and Lorn Macdonald, one of the co-stars of Hurley’s excellent recent play Mouthpiece.
With tickets for both galas on sale now ahead of the full GFF programme being announced on January 23, the Beats soundtrack alone is likely cause for celebration – it’s from Scottish club legend JD Twitch (Optimo), a man at the centre of the scene at the time.
Allan Hunter said he and fellow festival co-director Allison Gardner are “thrilled” to close GFF 2019 with the film.
Buy tickets and sign up for updates at glasgowfilm.org/festival
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