Glasgow's arthouse cinema celebrates 85 years of movie magic

It was the year Judy Garland realised there was no place like home and Clark Gable told Vivien Leigh that he didn’t give a damn.

But for Scottish cinema aficionados, 1939 was also the year the Glasgow Film Theatre opened its doors on Rose Street as the Cosmo.

It was Scotland’s first arthouse cinema and 85 years later, the GFT is still bringing obscure, weird and wonderful films to the city.

Allison Gardner, who has worked at the not-for-profit venue for more than 30 years, said: "I think Glasgow Film Theatre is an essential part of Scottish culture."

Now the venue’s CEO, Ms Gardner described herself as a "caretaker" at the celebrated cinema.

And she told BBC Scotland News that, despite a number of challenges, she wants it to be enjoyed by future generations.

Ms Gardner said: "Martin Scorsese always said you cannot make great films without watching great films, and if you watch his films, and what he talked about as a young man, he was inspired by so many things and then created something unique out of it.

“That’s what we want to be for the next generation – no disrespect to the multiplexes, but watching a constant diet of Marvel will only regurgitate Marvel films.

"We’re there to give people a smorgasbord of stuff."

That has been the ethos of both the Cosmo and the GFT since the building opened on 18 May 1939 with a screening of the French drama, Un Carnet De Bal.

Since then it has welcomed famous faces including Hollywood superstar Richard Gere, Lord of the Rings actor Viggo Mortensen and a rising young hotshot director called Quentin Tarantino.

A host of Scottish talent has spoken of the impact of seeing a film at the GFT, including director Lynne Ramsay and Doctor Who star David Tennant, who recalled seeing Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs at the cinema.

After decades as the Cosmo, the Scottish Film Council purchased it in 1973 and the venue was reborn as the GFT the following year.

So this year marks both the building’s 85th anniversary and the GFT’s 50th year.

It opened with just one screen but the venue, which became a registered charity in 1986, now has three.

The cinema has a community element at its heart, with screenings for students, dementia sufferers, and tickets available on a pay-what-you-want basis.

A special programme of films is being screened at the cinema to mark the anniversary, from the first film the GFT showed, Italian drama Roma, to Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window.

At the other end of the spectrum, cult classic The Room - a low budget drama often considered one of the worst films ever made - will also feature.

However the venue faces a number of challenges if it is to reach its centenary and beyond.

Cinema audience numbers have declined since the Covid pandemic despite recent box office successes, such as Barbie and Oppenheimer.

Other arthouse cinemas, such as the Belmont in Aberdeen and the Filmhouse in Edinburgh, have closed - although both are subject to revival efforts.

Ms Gardner took over the CEO role in April 2020, which she wryly describes as the "worst possible time to be running a cinema".

She estimated utility bills for the building have increased by around 200% in the past decade.

"We are nearly back to 2020 admissions but the cost base has jumped up enormously while we have hardly put up prices," she said.

"It’s things we are not in control of, like heating, the projectors and things like that.

"It’s a fine balancing act, to not put that cost onto ticket prices and then deter audiences who are going through a cost of living crisis."

Yet Ms Gardner - who lists South Korean zombie horror Train to Busan as one of her personal GFT favourites - is still upbeat about the future.

She added the cinema was in a "strong position" before the pandemic, thanks to attracting younger and more diverse audiences.

Ms Gardner has similar enthusiasm for what she sees as the GFT’s overall purpose, and the influence she thinks cinema can have.

She said: “We need to be able to walk in people’s shoes, and understand what they are going through in order to be able to help. How can I do that?

"Well, I’m not working at the UN, I run a cinema, so I can show films from across the world that can open people’s eyes to other people’s lives, their religions, their cultural mores, their eating habits.

“All these things create empathy, and that’s why cinema is so important.”

She also highlighted the educational value of the art.

Ms Gardner said: “We can say that a film uses language that we wouldn’t use nowadays, and give people context, but I don’t believe you shouldn’t show it, as otherwise it’s difficult for young people to access things that show them how issues were handled in a certain time period."

She singled out a Lee Grant season which featured a hard-hitting documentary about trans rights in the 1980s.

The GFT CEO said: "That’s decades ago now, and there’s words we wouldn’t use now, but the documentary itself is very interesting, and language isn’t a reason in itself not to show it."

Despite times changing in so many ways, Ms Gardner is adamant that people’s love for going to the movies will survive and thrive for decades to come.

"I’ve been hearing since the 1970s that cinema is going to die," she said.

"It’s not going to die because people love the communal, shared experience you have in a cinema. It cannot be replicated in your home.

"No matter how much big kit you’ve got, it’s not the same at home as sitting in Cinema 1 watching It’s A Wonderful Life every Christmas with people sniffling and crying next to you."