Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow, Bezoekersgids & wat te doen in de buurt

The Glasgow Film Theatre, usually called the GFT, is an independent cinema at 12 Rose Street in Glasgow, just off Sauchiehall Street. Opened in 1939 as the Cosmo, it is one of the city's most loved places to see foreign-language, independent and classic film, and it is a main venue for the Glasgow Film Festival.

The story behind it

The cinema opened in 1939 as the Cosmo and was designed by the Glasgow architect Jack Coia. It is often described as Scotland's first purpose-built art-house cinema, created for films from beyond the Hollywood mainstream at a time when most picture houses showed little else.

It later became the Glasgow Film Theatre and has kept that independent spirit ever since. Today it is run by the charity Glasgow Film, and it anchors the annual Glasgow Film Festival, when the streets around Rose Street fill with film fans between screenings.

What to look for

• The streamlined frontage on Rose Street, a reminder that this was designed as a cinema in the late 1930s rather than adapted from another building.
• The vertical GFT lettering and the posters outside, which show at a glance what is currently on.
• The foyer and café bar, where audiences gather before and after a screening and where the programme leaflets are laid out.
• The mix of streets around it, with Sauchiehall Street's shops and the sloping terraces of Garnethill within a few minutes on foot.

Tips for your visit

• You can see the outside in a few minutes, but the best way to experience the building is to watch a film. Check the current programme and opening hours before you go.
• Evenings are lively, with the foyer busy ahead of screenings. Earlier in the day is quieter if you only want to look around.
• It sits close to Sauchiehall Street, so it combines easily with a walk to the Glasgow School of Art area and the Mitchell Library.
• Festival time brings crowds and sold-out shows, so book ahead if you plan to visit then.

Explore it on a quest

The streets around Rose Street reward slow walking, and a self-guided quest is a good way to do it. Questo quests lead you on foot from place to place, tell you about each stop as you arrive and set a puzzle in what is in front of you, with no guide and no group to join. Find your next route among the quests in Glasgow.