YOU would think Glasgow Film Festival firmly focuses on one thing:

what is up there on the big screen.

But after a few minutes in the company of co-directors Allison Gardener and Allan Hunter, it is clear that it's all about people.

From the directors and actors who make guest appearances during the 10-day event to the audiences, they are passionate about cinema and everyone involved in the film world - especially you.

"The audience is really important because people have paid their money and taken the chance to see a film," explains Allison.

"And film-makers like to see how people respond. The brilliant thing about our audience is they are critically aware - Glasgow has the best cinema-going population in the UK."

The festival, now celebrating its 10th year, has created the Glasgow effect: with the press sitting in the audience alongside the ticket-buying public, they get an immediate reaction.

"Film-makers love that because it's a much more real experience for them," adds Allison.

"That's why we are getting more films because distributors can see who is coming, the demographics, whether they like it and if they laugh at the funny bits.

"Last year Joss Whedon [the director of Much Ado About Nothing] was in and out that cinema every 10 minutes, he was so nervous. When people were laughing he came out really happy.

"They don't let us down, we have a really attuned audience."

With a record-breaking more than 60 UK premieres this year, the programme is jam-packed. It kicks off on February 20 with the gala screening of Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel, starring Ralph Fiennes, Tilda Swinton, Jude Law, Jeff Goldblum and Bill Murray.

What are the factors in deciding the big opener? It's all about the quality.

"It has to be about the greatness of the film," says Allison.

"The opening film has to set the tone for the festival so I like it to be upbeat and fun. It has to be about the quality, that is the most important factor."

The first film displays the inclusiveness of the festival - everyone who buys a ticket to the opening gala can go to the party - this is an access-all-areas festival and everyone is a VIP.

This ethos has grown with the festival as the years have progressed.

"A lot of the film-makers who have come here have become really good ambassadors for the festival," says Allan. "They have had a nice time, they like the audiences and there are a couple of films this year from people who have said, 'so and so said this would be a good place to show my film', so there are people spreading the word."

Director, actor and writer Richard Ayoade, left, is back this year to talk about his new film The Double after success-fully launching Submarine at the festival in 2011.

And Scottish actor Sean Biggerstaff, who was at the first gala and is in Mary Queen of Scots, which has its UK premiere this year, has been back every year.

"The first couple of years you were almost just launching into the ether and then you had people coming to say, 'when is the programme launched, I'm taking a few days off?' And you are thinking, people have expectations they didn't have before, this is great," says Allan.

From the 6000 who attended the first festival, the event now attracts more than 39,000 people, including visitors from overseas, as well as the rest of the UK.

This year they can celebrate three anniversaries - as well as the 10th festival, it is 75 years since the opening of the Cosmo, Scotland's first purpose-built arthouse cinema, and 40 years since that cinema became the GFT.

The Hooray for Hollywood! strand showcases 1939, the greatest year in the history of Hollywood, with screenings of Goodbye, Mr Chips, Mr Smith Goes to Washington, Of Mice and Men and the Wizard of Oz.

"For me, the highlights are the guests," says Allan. "George Sluizer, who people will know from directing the original Vanishing is coming with Dark Blood, which was the film River Phoenix was making when he died and they have now completed.

"John Sessions is coming to talk about his career.

"He is an amazing Scottish performer - he has been directed by Martin Scorsese and Robert de Niro, he was in Merchant of Venice with Al Pacino and he's such a good teller of tales."

This is one of the Festival for a Fiver events, which opens the festival to everyone. There are also free events and collaborations with artists, DJs, musicians, fashion designers, comic book icons and gaming experts which tap into the city's vibrant live music and visual arts scene.

Members of the audience might even appear in the closing gala, Jonathan Glazer's Under the Skin, starring Scarlett Johansson, shot in and around Glasgow.

Semi-improvised, scenes were filmed with hidden cameras in the adaptation of the Michel Faber novel, bringing cinema and film-goers together as they have never been seen before.

angela.mcmanus@ eveningtimes.co.uk

Look out for pop-up cinema events, including a screening of Young Frankenstein at Kelvin-grove Art Gallery and Museum and 1980s classic Tron, in the lo-fi surroundings of The Glue Factory, which will be transformed into retro-futurist gaming arcade.

There will be a potholing expedition for intrepid film fans for a mysterious cinematic descent beneath Central Station.

And there is a tie-in with Street Food Cartel at the Briggait, with a chance to eat and watch favourites including When Harry Met Sally, Goodfellas and Withnail & I, above.