Actors and iconic Scottish movie Gregory’s Girl launch Lochgelly film programme

Two of the original cast members from iconic 80s hit film Gregory’s Girl will help launch an exciting new film programme at Lochgelly Centre this week.

Lochgelly Film Nights, which celebrates films from Scotland and around the world, kicks off on Thursday 1 October and for the first screening, the audience will have the bonus of a question-and-answer session with Robert Buchanan and Caroline Guthrie aka Andy and Caroline from the film, which was shot in Cumbernauld.

Gregory’s Girl was directed by Bill Forsyth, one of Scotland’s best-loved directors who went on to make the classics Local Hero and Comfort and Joy, and Robert and Caroline will tell what it was like to work with him.

Then on Thursday nights throughout October and November, film buffs will have the opportunity to alternate between top Scottish and international films. The film programme is courtesy of Spotlight, a partnership between OnFife and Film Hub Scotland which aims to bring cinema to areas where it might not be on offer.

Films coming up include: Shoplifters (Japan) – 8 October; Everybody to Kenmure Street (Scotland) – 15 October; Portrait of a Lady on Fire (France) – 22 October; Death of a Vlogger (Scotland) – 29 October; My Childhood and My Ain Folk double bill – 12 November and Tangerine (USA) – 19 November, all at 7pm.

And over the course of the programme, more special guests will take part in the film evenings such as director Graham Hughes for the Halloween screening of Death of a Vlogger, and filmmaker Luca Kerr who will be showing his short film Cowboy before the screening of Sean Baker’s Tangerine on 19 November.

David Hume-Smith, Spotlight Co-ordinator for Film Hub Scotland, explained: “Over the next three years the Spotlight project in Scotland will be focusing its attention on Fife and Clackmannanshire and I’ve been delighted to be working with the team at Lochgelly Centre to develop our new Lochgelly Film Nights season.

“It’s really got a bit of everything, and we hope people will join us on this journey and perhaps dip their toes in and see films they may not otherwise have had the chance to watch.

“I’m incredibly excited to bring this packed film programme to Lochgelly, and we would love the community to turn out, get involved, and let us know what they would like to see going forward. The whole ethos of Spotlight is to be community-driven, so I really hope this will be the start of a great, affordable community cinema project for Lochgelly.”

Mandie La-Bell, OnFife Assistant Manager at the Lochgelly Centre, added: “We've been looking at ways to use of our theatre space and provide more cultural opportunities for the local community.

“While audiences have access to mainstream cinema elsewhere in Fife, there are fewer opportunities to experience independent films, documentaries, archive screenings and international cinema close to home.”