Reels keep rolling for Southside Film Festival

The Southside Film Festival Club — trialled in October last year — returns to Shawlands venue The Glad Café this month, offering regular film screenings for fans to meet and mingle at ahead of the film festival in May.

The season kicks off with a celebration of St Patrick’s Day weekend, and a double bill of films rescheduled from last year’s festival line-up.

The first is A Million Bricks — the story of Belfast’s biggest peace line — followed by Bernadette: Notes on a Political Journey, which documents Britain’s youngest female MP.

Co-director of A Million Bricks Frank Martin will be travelling from Belfast for a Q&A after the films, shown on March 15 from 7pm.

Beasts of the Southern Wild follows on March 19 (8pm), followed by Arrietty — a Japanese take on The Borrowers — on April 13.

The pre-festival season is rounded off by The Reader, starring Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes — the adaptation of Bernard Schlink’s bestselling novel has been chosen to celebrate World Book Night on April 23.

Southside Film Festival director Karen O’Hare is happy to be back at the up-and-coming southside arts venue, and describes it as offering “an opportunity for people to see different films in a different, more intimate environment, providing a quality cinematic experience in the southside of Glasgow.”

Rachel Smillie, business manager at the Glad Café, added: “We’ve been really pleased with the positive response to the film club.

“All the showings have been sell-outs, which is a tribute to the excellent choices that Karen and the film festival team have made.”

The third annual Southside Film Festival will run May 17-19 this year, and organisers are on the lookout for submissions and for volunteers — anyone interested should contact [email protected], or talk to the team at film club screenings.

Tickets for the film club showings are available from www.tickets-scotland.com, at the Glad Cafe or on the door up to 30 minutes before screenings.