IN a nod to the heyday of the Barrowland Ballroom and the Barras market, the East End landmark is taking a step back in time.

A swing band will provide the music for dancers, while actors playing market traders will sell their wares at the Barras Art and Design Centre – all to the accompaniment of previously unseen film footage from the 1960s.

The event on the evening of September 27 opens Scotland's Britain on Film autumn season, the chance to see rare local film in a rather unique setting.

The inspiration came from the BFI archive, according to Megan Mitchell, programme co-ordinator of the City as a Movie Screen night at the Barras.

"The films capture the character of Glasgow, even the most everyday occurrences have a very notable charm about them and the Barras for me has always been the epitome of this, from the shouting stallholders to my grandparents reminiscing about dancing in the ballroom," she says.

"On the night we'll be recreating the market in all its glory – expect some real Barras patter."

Much of the archive film features well-known locations in the East End, including the ballroom and the Barras, as well as notable city landscapes.

"When I started to programme the event I didn't go in with any particular decade in mind. When I started to look at what people had been capturing on film, a lot of it was from the 1960s, there was just something about the characters and street scenes, there is just something so authentic and genuinely Glaswegian about them," says Megan, 20, who grew up in the East End.

The BFI autumn season continues at Southside Film Festival, from October 8-11, with a programme reflecting the lives of Glaswegians on screen.

David Lean's 1950s film Madeleine, starring his wife Ann Todd, tells the real-life story of Madeleine Smith, the 19th century Glasgow socialite accused in a sensational murder trial in 1867 of killing her French lover.

Festival goers can watch the movie in the grand surroundings of Pollok House and eat a rustic French meal in the restaurant in the servants' quarters before the curtain goes up.

Meanwhile, another 1950 film, The Gorbals Story, will be shown at the A-listed St Francis Centre in Cumberland Street. The adaptation of the successful 1946 play written by Robert McLeish, it is a fitting portrait of a working class Glasgow community.

"Southside Film Festival started in 2011 in response to the lack of a local cinema in the area, which we still don't have. This year the theme is cinema heritage and the local film archive," says founder Karen O'Hare, 41.

"We thought Britain on Film would be a great tie in to that theme and give us a chance to show some archives from the BFI that related to Glasgow."

She adds: "We think this is the first time The Gorbals Story has been shown in the Gorbals since its release.

"We are screening it in a beautiful 1861 A-listed building, a former church. It's a great setting to reintroduce it to the local audience."

Another highlight is a rare chance to see Bill Forsyth's directorial debut That Sinking Feeling at Govanhill Baths, introduced by the film's producer Paddy Higson and attended by cast members Douglas Sannachan, John Hughes, Robert Buchanan, Gerry Clark and Margaret Hughes.

The 1980s comedy follows unemployed Ronnie, played by Robert Buchanan, and his pals as they hang around the rainy parks and dingy cafes of Glasgow until he hatches a plan to make them all rich by stealing 90 stainless steel sinks.

Govanhill Baths is also the venue for a Making in the Movies afternoon, a free drop-in event in partnership with Rags to Riches and Sew La Tea Dough focusing on fashion, craft making and style, past and present.

Alongside the workshops, there will be the chance to see craft-themed shorts from Scottish Screen Archive and a craft market.

Julia Bohlmann of the University of Glasgow will host an informal talk at the Glad Institute – Making Films Work: the Scottish Co-op and Early Cinema, exploring how the Co-operative movement took cinema out of high street picture houses and commissioned its own educational municipals films in the 1920s.

"We have a very diverse range of films, so attract a wide audience. We show kids' films, classics that attract an older audience, music films, artist films, local films from Southside filmmakers," says Karen.

"We cater for a diverse audience, young and old, and try and attract people from all over Glasgow."

The freelance film and TV production manager and producer, who has volunteered at film festivals in the UK and overseas, says they play an important part in the life of a city.

"This year is probably our biggest yet, working with new venues, new partners and being part of Britain on Film," she says.

"It's a volunteer run festival, we have loads of people really excited and wanting to get involved. It's a festival the community really gets behind and appreciates it being there.

"People still want to go to the cinema. That community aspect of the festival is really important and that's all part of our ethos: the value in watching films together, not just at home."

City as a Movie Screen, Barras Art and Design Centre, 54 Calton Entry. Visit www.glasgowfilm.org or GFT to book.

Visit www.southsidefilm.co.uk for full listings and to book tickets.