Everybody To Kenmure Street To Open GFF26

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GFF26 to open with UK Gala Premiere of Everybody To Kenmure Street

BAFTA-winner Felipe Bustos Sierra’s documentary about one of Scotland’s most spontaneous and successful acts of civil resistance in recent memory will open the festival’s 22nd edition on 25th February.

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In May 2021, a UK Home Office dawn raid in the Glasgow district of Pollokshields, one of Scotland’s most diverse neighbourhoods, prompted local residents to rush to the streets to stop the deportation of their neighbours.

As word spread in the early morning of what was Eid celebrations for many locals, a handful of protestors swelled to hundreds of people, flooding Kenmure Street and making it impassable to the immigration enforcement van. The eight-hour stand-off made international headlines as the community organised itself in an extraordinary act of peaceful solidarity.

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Local Residents from Glasgow District Pollokshields gather in protest. — Residents of Glasgow district Pollokshields gather in protest in Everybody To Kenmure Street. The film will have its UK Premiere as the Opening Gala at GFF26.

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Executive Produced by two-time Oscar® winner Emma Thompson, Everybody To Kenmure Street paints a multifaceted picture of one of the most memorable moments in Glasgow’s recent history. Directed by BAFTA-winning Glasgow filmmaker Felipe Bustos Sierra, the film uses crowd-sourced footage from the day along with archive film and set-designed scenes captured by cinematographer Kirstin McMahon, featuring actors relaying verbatim the testimonies of contributors who wished to remain anonymous.

Felipe’s hit debut documentary Nae Pasaran told the story of how the boycott of East Kilbride Rolls Royce factory workers helped end Pinochet’s regime in 1970s Chile and had its World Premiere as the closing gala of Glasgow Film Festival 2018.

Everybody To Kenmure Street will open our 22nd edition of GFF with a gala UK premiere at Glasgow Film Theatre (GFT) on 25 February.

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Everybody to Kenmure Street is produced by Ciara Barry of Glasgow-based production company barry crerar, in association with Bustos Sierra through Debasers Films. The film was supported by the National Lottery through Screen Scotland. Mark Thomas for Screen Scotland is Executive Producer alongside Thompson. The film features an original score by Barry Burns of Mogwai. Everybody to Kenmure Street will be in UK and Irish cinemas from 13 March 2026, released by Conic.

BAFTA-winner Felipe Bustos Sierra said:

"This film is a snapshot of a day, of a neighbourhood, and of gestures repeated through time, for the right to have a voice and to live in peace. Glasgow's long history of civil disobedience and meaningful change has been a barometer throughout the making of this film. I cannot wait to watch it at the GFT with its hometown audience, for whom we can only hope it'll be a joyful reminder of what a beacon they can be in uncertain times."

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GFF26 will close with the Gala UK Premiere of James McAvoy’s directorial debut California Schemin’ on 8 March, making it the second year in a row that our festival has opened and closed with a Scottish feature film, following GFF25’s World Premieres of Tornado and Make It To Munich.

Tickets for both opening and closing galas will go on sale 10am Monday 19 January at glasgowfilm.org.

At Glasgow Film, we are a charity that runs GFF, one of the leading film festivals in the UK, and also operates Glasgow Film Theatre. Glasgow Film Festival is made possible by support from Screen Scotland and the BFI Audience Projects Fund, both awarding National Lottery funding, and Glasgow Life, the charity which delivers culture, events and active living in Glasgow. GFF26 will run from 25 February to 8 March, with our full programme announced on 21 January.