A Discover trains Reunion, Michael Sheen’s UFO conspiracy drama, and Greg Araki I want your sex All are on view at this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival.
The festival has revealed the full line-up for its 79th edition, taking place from August 13 to 19 in the Scottish capital, which includes sessions with Ewan McGregor, Kenneth Branagh, prolific American producer Christine Vachon, and documentary filmmaker Ken Burns. In total, 38 new feature films will be screened in Edinburgh, and 21 will have their world premiere – 10 of which are in the running for the Sean Connery Award for Excellence in Feature Filmmaking.
Following the previously announced opening night screening of Lewis Paxton’s first feature film from Sundance newcomerEdinburgh director Paul Reid and festival producer Emma Boa continue to pride themselves on balancing emerging voices in cinema with established stars through their world premieres, international and UK premieres, and out-of-competition screenings. Closing Night, the world premiere of Louise Lockwood’s documentary, has also been confirmed Billabout the Kenyan-Scottish musician Beldina Odiño.
This year’s competition includes ten feature films being shown for the first time in the world, with the winning director receiving a prize of £50,000 to support his future projects. They are: Lindsay Ryan’s comedy debut He turned overstarring Rhys Ifans, about a houseboat vacation that turns into chaos; First appearance of Tom Longshoff The first area Where a woman navigates a flooded and desolate post-apocalyptic landscape; Psychological portrait of Paul Wright a task With George MacKay; Simon Rennink Collection 1999 there Starring Michael Sheen, who joins a gang of misfits to uncover a UFO conspiracy in a sleepy Welsh town.
They’re joined by an exciting feature from Tyler Marie Evans, Beautiful childrenfollows two young girls who embark on a journey to the dark side of Hollywood; Frieda Locke Holy creaturesin which three sisters reunite at a rural resort in Italy; Kieron J. Walsh Skintown About best friends Vinny and Jonty as they plan to escape small-town life in Northern Ireland in the 1990s; Joseph Archer is alarming Snapshotwhich features newly discovered pinhole camera footage from the 19th century that reveals disturbing secrets; Our condition From Ollie Gardner and Jake Harvey, as his boisterous best friend takes his best friend out of nursing care for one last night of fun around Yorkshire; And Bart Simpson The Mad World of Harvey Kurtzman Which sees contributors Terry Gilliam, the late Stan Lee and Robert Crumb provide a compelling look at the rise of satirical publications. crazy magazine.
Elsewhere, more interesting titles out of competition include Molly Manners. Additional geographyPremiere of Nicolas Winding Refn’s film at Cannes Her own hellAnd Greg Araki I want your sex With Olivia Wilde, Daveed Diggs and Charli XCX, which will be shown alongside Olivia Kidd’s short film. Lesbian trench day. They’ve been joined by the likes of Finlay Pretsell Douglas Gordon Written by Douglas GordonWilliam Scholar Heading north With Bruce Dern, and Lance Hammer’s Berlinale thriller Queen at sea With Juliette Binoche. Hirokazu Kore-eda’s film at Cannes Film Festival Sheep in the box will premiere, as will Sophie Heldmann Teaching Jane Canning and Noah Stratton’s horror comedy Twain Danger at Pliers Point.
Special retrospective screenings at this year’s Edinburgh Film Festival include a 30th anniversary screening of Kenneth Branagh’s film adaptation villageshowing a 4K restoration on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Little Miss SunshineJonathan Glazer’s debut Sexy beast And Hal Ashby Go home With Bruce Dern, Jane Fonda and Jon Voight. The film will be presented by Dern.
EIFF is also scheduled to present a 30th anniversary screening of director Michael Bay’s action film The rockpresented by Jason Connery, and the 25th anniversary screening of Takeshi Miike’s film Visitor S. A 1995 Martin Scorsese documentary A personal journey with Martin Scorsese through American filmsproduced in association with the BFI, will be screened in full with a special introduction from producer Bob Last.
The Thelma Schoonmaker Award for Excellence in Short Filmmaking competition is back again, with world premieres of stunts from around the world, including Scotland, Lithuania, Iran and France, all vying for a £15,000 cash prize in honor of the legendary film editor. Among them is Katie McGuinness Proface With Ben Whishaw, Sanda Agha’s black comedy Sadness room Starring Emily Beecham and Mark Chapman A woman with good abilities.
See the full list of world premieres, UK premieres, Midnight Madness films, live-action shorts and animated shorts on the Edinburgh Film Festival website.
This year, the festival’s industry program will center around the inaugural UK Film Conference, a one-day event on 15 August that aims to bring together filmmakers, producers, exhibitors, distributors and film professionals from all areas of the local and international film industry to engage with the future of independent film in the UK. The conference will begin with a keynote discussion with BFI Chief Executive Ben Roberts, in conversation with Picturehouse Creative Director Claire Baines.
“Heading into a revamped, reimagined and revitalized third edition of the Edinburgh International Film Festival feels like it has achieved a step we have been working towards since the start of 2024,” said festival director Reid. “With fantastic competitions, fantastically diverse and essential new films from Scotland, the UK more widely and from the rest of the world, and more world premieres than we’ve ever shown before, this year’s line-up offers a panoramic view of cinema at its most exciting, dynamic and full of potential. Edinburgh is quite simply the only place you can be in August. Attend it.”
