Routes are rarely straight lines. Returns are rarely simple.
In this intimate programme of short films, memory flickers between VHS tapes and imagined futures. Cities are walked and remapped through migrant experience. Bureaucratic spaces become quiet sites of confrontation. A river carries longing and possibility.
Routes & Returns explores the fragments carried across borders including language, loss, queerness, resilience and unfinished conversations with home. These films dwell in the space between departure and arrival, asking what it means to build belonging while history and politics continue to pull us elsewhere.
The programme includes:
Within the Fragments of Gurbet, Dir. Bircan Birol, 2025, 21:38
Go Home, Dir. Razan Madhoon, 2021, 14 mins
Until We Return, Dir. Huss Al-Chokhdar, 2025, 11 mins
Queer Exile, Dir. Madi Awadallah, 2024, 10 mins
With a special introduction by filmmaker, Razan Madhoon.
As part of Refugee Festival Scotland 2026, Southside Open-Air Cinema Day brings together a full day of screenings exploring climate displacement, exile, belonging and collective resistance. Taking place at Queen’s Park Arena in Glasgow Southside, the programme moves from planetary crisis to lived experience to community solidarity in action, culminating in a special screening of Everybody to Kenmure Street returning the film to the neighbourhood where the events it documents took place.
Image Credit: Still from Queer Exile by Ahmad Awdallah
Supported by Film Hub Scotland, part of the BFI’s Film Audience Network, awarding funding on behalf of Screen Scotland and the BFI National Lottery
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Pre-event information for attendees:
• Young people and children under 18 are not permitted on site without a parent, guardian, or responsible adult accompanying them at all times. There is a maximum ratio of 1 adult to 2 children.
• All tickets must be purchased by someone aged 18 or over. All under 18s must attend with a responsible adult. Please note that tickets cannot be cancelled or refunded.
• As this is an unlicensed event with no food vendors onsite, guests are welcome to bring their own snacks and soft drinks. However, alcohol, glass bottles, large picnics, and hot meals are not permitted.
• Free drinking water will be available onsite throughout the event.
• Water bottles are permitted, but they must be emptied before entry and can be refilled at the onsite water station.
• We strongly recommend arriving at least 15 minutes before the scheduled start time to avoid queues at the entrance and missing the beginning of the film.
• Foldable chairs are permitted.
• Dogs are not permitted within the amphitheatre space due to loud music, crowd noise, and sudden sounds during screenings which may distress animals. This policy follows recommendations from the PDSA regarding pets at loud public events. Assistance and guide dogs are exempt from this policy.
• No vehicles are permitted within the event site.
Travelling to the venue:
On Foot
Queen’s Park is in the heart of Glasgow’s Southside. Set within the park, Queen’s Park Arena is best accessed via the entrances on Pollokshaws Road, Balvicar Street or Victoria Road. There are further access points to the park on Langside Avenue and Langside Road.
By Car
Parking is very restricted in and around the Queen’s Park area, we strongly advise travelling by bicycle, foot or by one of the public transport options outlined below.
By Bike
Set within the park, Queen’s Park Arena is best accessed via the entrances on Pollokshaws There is a Nextbike Glasgow bike station at the Pollokshaws Road entrance to the Queen’s Park. There are a further 43 locations city-wide, with bikes being available for hire 24/7.
By Train
Queen’s Park Station is the closest station to Queen’s Park Arena. Trains run direct from Central Station to Queen’s Park Station with travel time being under 10 minutes.
By Bus Buses from the City Centre directly to Victoria Road can be accessed via routes 4, 4A, 5 and 6. Routes 57, 57a & 38e drop off at Shawlands. Services 4a, 38a & the 57 & 57a link the West End to the Southside.
