# Edinburgh International Film Festival

The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF), established in 1947, is the world's oldest continually running film festival. EIFF presents both UK and international films (all titles are World, International, European, UK or Scottish Premieres), in all genres and lengths. It also presents themed retrospectives and other specialized programming strands.

## History
### Early years

The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) originated as the International Festival of Documentary Films and was opened by John Grierson, founder of the British documentary movement. The International Festival of Documentary Films was presented by the Edinburgh Film Guild alongside the 1947 Edinburgh International Festival. Key figures in this initiative were the Guild's Norman Wilson and the film journalist and wartime civil servant, Forsyth Hardy. The second Festival, in 1948, opened with Robert J. Flaherty's Louisiana Story. In 1949, The Festival planned to screen the double Academy Award winner Bicycle Thieves as the highlight of the third Festival but the film was given UK distribution and the distributors pulled it from the Festival.
1952 marked a shift from documentary programming and the festival included Le Plaisir and Death of a Salesman, and the Duke of Edinburgh attended the opening of this sixth Festival. The Festival was expanded in 1954 and showcased films and events at the Cameo cinema and other cinemas around Edinburgh, and John Huston also agreed to serve as Honorary President.

### 1960s and 1970s

The late Sixties saw Hollywood films showcased, mainly from independent studios, for example AIP. Film critic John Russell, reviewed these changes for the London Times and wrote:
   Last year the Edinburgh Film Festival was radically remade: out with drably conservative features and solid documentary, in with Roger Corman, international underground and the young idea. The idea was not only young, but good. By choosing to lay the festival’s main accent on specialist weeks devoted to a particular country or school and on retrospectives of the sort of film-maker rarely so honoured over here, the organizers immediately gave it a new twist, and removed it from the regular rat race, in which too many festivals chase too few films of any real merit
Director Murray Grigor recruited two undergraduates at University of Edinburgh, Lynda Myles and David Will, who had written an article published in The Scotsman criticising the Festival's programming as conservative. Wills and Myles were credited bringing influence from French film theory and American cinema. They worked with British theorist and filmmaker Peter Wollen and introduced film retrospectives, educational and publishing events to the festival. Peter Stanfield writes that this changed the festival saying "as of 1968-69 the Festival was no longer a purveyor of middlebrow film fare; from the onwards it would assume an innovative, oppositional face, offering a platform for cultish directors and a window for some of the most exciting developments in international filmmaking." The EIFF was funded by grants from the Scottish Film Council and Edinburgh Cooperation and, at the time, had no industry sponsorship.
In 1970 the Festival continued to show international films from Eastern and Western Europe including The Rain People and Five Easy Pieces. Cult films were also screened including the work of Monte Hellman, whose work the EIFF called "self-conscious" and "schematic" in the 1970 programme. In 1975, the EIFF showcased the work of Jonathan Demme, screening The Hot Box, Caged Heat and Crazy Mama because "Demme sought to subvert the traditional conservative values of the genre! (written in the EIFF 1975 programme). However, the decision of the EIFF to screen exploitation films was met with criticism and local magistrates responsible for passing films as suitable for public screening took offence to the violence in Bloody Mama, for example, and allowed it only one screening.
The EIFF, under the guidance of Lynda Myles, Laura Mulvey and Claire Johnston, championed the screening of female directors and was the first of its kind in Europe to screen a variety of different films showcasing the lives, histories and work of women. This was known as "The Women's Event" organised by Myles, Johnston and Mulvey at the 1972 Festival.
In 1977 the EIFF founded the Edinburgh International Television Festival as a five-day event including the MacTaggart Memorial Lecture presented by Max Ophuls.

### 1980s

Director Jim Hickey took over the Festival in 1981 and inherited a financial deficit, meaning his budget was £31,000 instead of the £75,000 the previous year, and the 1981 Festival was to run for nine days instead of a fortnight. Hickey decided that he would screen Abel Gance's five-hour long film Napoleon, and this was shown as the 1981 Festival's closing performance to drum up interest and publicity.
The Edinburgh Filmhouse was under reconstruction and when opened, the main auditorium would make a 285 seating capacity venue available for the EIFF. On the 15th February 1982, the main auditorium was opened to the public. The Filmhouse and the EIFF were financially linked for administration purposes, and the Scottish Film Council said it could not bail out the Filmhouse and that other sources of financial aid would need to be found.
The 1982 Festival opening film was E.T. The Extra Terrestrial screening at the Playhouse. The first week of this Festival also included the Scotch Reels event in which there were discussions and screenings of Scottish films, and the programmes were selected by Colin McArthur, who also convened the organising group. This event, discussing Scottish film, continued at the 1983 Festival but was renamed New Images of Scotland.
The 1984 Festival opened with the premiere of the film Comfort and Joy screened at The Playhouse. The EIFF executive was now made up of Professor Colin Young as Chairman, Murray Grigor as Vice-Chair, Film, Jane Cousins, Vice-Chair, Television, and others. Jim Hickey remained Director of the Festival, as well as director of the Filmhouse. Financial negotiations for the Filmhouse development were ongoing and the Duke of Edinburgh agreed to open the completed Filmhouse in July 1985.
The 1986 Festival marked the EIFF's 40th anniversary and the Scottish Television produced a film Hooray for Holyrood which included archival footage and interviews from those who had been associated with the EIFF. The main event at this Festival was a three-day conference on Cultural Theories and Practices associated with the Notion of a Third World Cinema, organised in association with the British Film Institute.
In 1988, the financial situation regarding the co-administration of the EIFF and the Filmhouse was ongoing and an outcome was eventually reached. The two bodies would separate by the end of the year but each would share the debt of both organisations. Being separate organisations required separate administration and therefore different directors. Jim Hickey was made Chairman of the Filmhouse, John Crichton remained Director of the Filmhouse. David Robinson was appointed Director of the EIFF, and Colin Young remained the Festival's chairman. Robinson explained, in an interview with The Times, that his aim was "the promotion of young film-makers and new talents." In a change with tradition, Robinson hosted prizes and competitions including the Charles Chaplin New Directors Award and the Young Film-maker of the Year prize offered by the BBC and Virgin at the 1989 Festival.

### 1990-2020

Robinson introduced two new awards for the 1990 Festival; a prize for the best animated film financed by the Post Office and the Michael Powell Prize for the best British film of the year sponsored by BAFTA/Shell. There was also a return to hosting a Celebrity Lecture, which has been initiated by Orson Welles in 1953, and David Puttnam spoke at the Cameo.
At the 1991 Festival it was announced that Sean Connery would become Patron of the EIFF and he attended the closing performance of that year's Festival with his wife at the Cameo. Changes to the EIFF's administration were also made, including Murray Grigor becoming chairman of the festival, succeeding Colin Young who became chairman of the Edinburgh International Film and Television Festivals Council.
In the spring of 1992, Penny Thompson took on the role of Director of the EIFF and she stated in an interview that her aim was to combine "a bit of analysis with a bit of fun." Thompson introduced a new award for European Script Writing.
The artistic director from September 2006 to 2010 was Hannah McGill, previously a film critic and cinema columnist for The Herald newspaper. Her predecessor, Shane Danielsen, served from 2002 to 2006. Tilda Swinton, Robert Carlyle and Seamus McGarvey were honorary patrons. In December 2009, Hannah McGill collected the prestigious Talkback Thames New Talent Award at the Women in Film and Television Awards.
The 60th Festival in 2006 saw American actress Sigourney Weaver attend and receive the first EIFF Diamond Award for outstanding contribution to world cinema. In 2010, Patrick Stewart chaired the Michael Powell Award Jury and attended an In Person: BAFTA Scotland interview.
Following McGill's departure, a new format was announced in December 2010 with no artistic director and a series of guest curators led by producer James Mullighan. The Festival returned to a more conventional format in 2012 under artistic director Chris Fujiwara, who stepped down in 2014.
In 2014, the film critic/programmer Mark Adams – who had been Chief Film Critic for Screen International; Director of Cinema at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), and Head of Programme Planning at the National Film Theatre – took over as Artistic Director. He decided to step down in late 2019 after heading five editions. The festival was cancelled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

### The EIFF today

As of June 2021, the festival board introduced its newest creative director, Kristy Matheson, who formerly served as Director of Film at Australia's national museum of screen culture, ACMI.
In October 2022, the festival's organiser, the Centre for the Moving Image, went into administration. The festival’s main venue, Edinburgh’s celebrated Filmhouse cinema, also closed in 2022. CMI released a statement explaining that: “The charity is facing the perfect storm of sharply rising costs, in particular energy costs, alongside reduced trade due to the ongoing impacts of the pandemic and the cost of living crisis. The combination and scale of these challenges is unprecedented and means that there was no option but to take immediate action.”
In March 2023, it was announced that the festival would return in a special one-year iteration as part of the Edinburgh International Festival, running from 18–23 August 2024. Screen Scotland also supported the festival, who took on the festival brand after the administration of the Centre for the Moving Image. The 2023 programme was led by Programme Director Kate Taylor, with Kristy Matheson leaving the role. Details of the programme, which included 36 features films, of which 24 were new, were published in July 2023.
In July 2023, Screen Scotland facilitated the recruitment of Chairperson Andrew Macdonald to lead the establishment of a new company to run the festival.
In November 2023, Paul Ridd, a long-term acquisitions executive at Picturehouse Cinemas, was named as the new Director of the festival.
In January 2024, it was announced that the festival would return from 15–21 August 2024.

## Films
### Notable screenings

The first films shown at The International Festival of Documentary Films were The Cumberland Story, The Seventh Age and The Festival of Youth. The closing film for the Festival was Roberto Rosellini's Paisa, six documentary episodes about the liberation of Italy at the end of the Second World War. The second Festival in 1948 opened with Louisiana Story. In 1949, the Festival opened with a screening of Berliner Ballade and closed with Jour de Fete. The EIFF shifted from only screening documentaries and in 1950 opened with The Wooden Horse. In 1951, the EIFF screened The Man in The White Suit as the opening film, a sci-fi comedy. Gene Kelly opened the 1956 Festival with a screening of his film Invitation to Dance, and the same Festival also introduced the work of Satyajit Ray with a screening of Pather Pancahli. The 1957 Festival introduced the first Midnight Matinee and screened A Face in the Crowd at 11.30pm at the Regal cinema. The 1958 Festival was opened with a screening of Wild Strawberries and a popular film at this Festival was Roman Polanski's Two Men and a Wardrobe. Bert Haanstra's first feature film Fanfare opened the 1959 Festival.
In 1960, I Aim At the Stars was shown at the Opening Gala and the films main actors Curt Jurgens and Gia Scala attended. The Pleasure of His Company had its European Premiere at the ABC cinema on Lothian Road as part of the EIFF in 1961. The 1962 Festival celebrated literature and the theme was The Film and the Literature and featured literary adaptions including A Streetcar Named Desire, The Innocents, Last year at Marienbad, Wuthering Heights, and The Quiet American. The theme of the 1963 Festival was The Film and the Drama with a special opening screening of An Evening with the Royal Ballet. The 1964 celebrated the work of Ingmar Bergman with a Retrospective screening films including The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, The Face, Virgin Spring and The Devil's Eye. The 1965 Festival screened the work of Fred Zinnemann including From Here to Eternity and The Nun's Story. The 20th EIFF in 1966 opened with the UK premiere of Dr Zhivago. The 1967 Festival celebrated the work of Carol Reed and screened films including: Odd Man Out, The Fallen Idol, The Third Man, An Outcast of the Islands, The Man Between and Our Man in Havana. The 1968 presented a Samuel Fuller Retrospective and screened the complete works of Fuller. Country Dance was screened at the 1970 Festival and its star Susannah York attended. The 1971 Festival presented a Norman McLaren Retrospective and screened films including New York Lightboard and Korean Alphabet. The 1973 Retrospective celebrated the work of Werner Herzog. The 1974 Festival screened Football as Never Before which followed George Best in close-up for the match between Manchester United and Coventry City. The 1978 Festival screened Long Shot. Director Ridley Scott attended the midnight screening of Alien at the New Victoria cinema at the 1979 Festival.
In 1980 Tess was screened as the closing film, and it was the final 70mm film to ever be screened at the Caley Picture House. The Draughtsman's Contract premiered at the 1982 Festival and Peter Greenaway and Michael Nyman attended. The 1983 Festival presented a Japanese Cinema Perspective. Streets of Fire was screened at the Filmhouse in 1984 and Walter Hill attended. The 1986 Festival screened Betty Blue at the Playhouse as the opening film and Jean-Jacques Beineix attended. Bill Forsyth arranged for a special screening of his film Housekeeping at the 1987 Festival. John Cleese attended the 1988 Festival for a screening of A Fish Called Wanda. The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover was screened as a surprise film at the 1989 Festival, and was not revealed to the audience until they had sat down in their seats. In 1990, Clint Eastwood and Quincy Jones attended the Festival for a screening of White Hunter Black Heart. The 1991 Festival premiered Jungle Fever, Life is Sweet, Truly Madly Deeply, Boyz In The Hood and Pump Up The Volume, and Barton Fink closed the Festival. Reservoir Dogs, Glengarry Glen Ross, Man Bites Dog and Les Amants du Pont Neuf were all screened at the 1992 Festival. The Piano was screened at the opening of the 1993 Festival. The 1994 Festival premiered Shallow Grave, and Danny Boyle, Ewan McGregor, Christopher Eccleston and Kerry Fox attended. Clerks, Dazed & Confused, Killing Zoe, Muriel's Wedding and The Last of England were also screened at the Festival. The Usual Suspects premiered at the 1995 Festival. Sean Connery attended the 1996 Festival for a screening of Dragonheart at the Odeon cinema which opened the Festival. Mrs Brown premiered at the Dominion cinema for the 1997 Festival and both Billy Connolly and Judi Dench attended. The 1998 Festival premiered Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas and director Terry Gilliam attended. The Thomas Crown Affair premiered at the 1999 Festival and Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo attended.
The 2000 Festival opened with a screening of Dancer in the Dark and also premiered Beautiful Creatures, Amores Perros, Audition and Billy Elliot. The Pledge was screened at the 2001 Festival and Sean Penn attended. The 2002 Festival opened with the premiere of Morven Callar and Samantha Morton attended. Young Adam opened the 2003 Festival. The world premiere of My Summer of Love was part of the 2004 Festival. Guy X premiered at the 2005 Festival and Alassandro Nivola, Natascha McElhone and Jason Briggs attended. Sigourney Weaver attended the 60th EIFF in 2006 and attended the premiere of her film Snow Cake. The Edge of Love premiered at the 2008 Festival and Keira Knightley and Sienna Miller attended. Robert Carlyle's directorial debut The Legend of Barney Thompson opened the 2015 Festival. Story of a Girl was premiered at the 2017 Festival and Andrew Herr and Kevin Bacon attended. The UK premiere of Puzzle opened the 2018 Festival and closed with the UK premiere of Swimming with Men. Mrs Lowry and Son premiered and closed the 2018 Festival and Timothy Spall attended. Yesterday and Astronaut were also screened and Danny Boyle and Richard Dreyfuss attended.
The 2021 Festival premiered Annette, and screened a special preview of Everybody's Talking about Jamie. PIG opened the Festival and premiered Here Today as the closing film. The 75th EIFF in 2022 opened with a screening of Aftersun and closed with After Yang. The 2023 Festival presented a Retrospective screening of Shane Meadow's Dead Men's Shoes. The Festival also screened Choose Irvine Welsh and Fremont as the closing films.

## People
### Direction

The current Director of the EIFF is Paul Ridd who was appointed in 2024. Below is a list of previous directors:
| Years | Director | Notes |
| 1967-1973 | Murray Grigor | |
| 1973-1980 | Linda Myles | |
| 1981-1988 | Jim Hickey | |
| 1988-1992 | David Robinson | |
| 1992-2002 | Shane Danielsen | |
| 2006-2010 | Hannah McGill | After McGill's departure, the EIFF appointed a series of guest curators led by producer James Mullighan from 2010 to 2012 |
| 2012-2014 | Chris Fujiwara | |
| 2014-2019 | Mark Adams | 2020 EIFF was cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic |
| 2021-2023 | Kirsty Matheson | |
| 2023-2024 | Kate Taylor | |
| 2024-present | Paul Ridd | |

### Patrons

Current patrons of the EIFF are Scottish actor Robert Carlyle, Scottish actor James Cosmo, Irish-Scottish director Mark Counsins, Scottish actress Karen Gillan, Irish cinematographer Seamus McGarvey, and Scottish actress Tilda Swinton. Sean Connery was a previous patron.

## Entries

The EIFF accepts submissions of short films (30 minutes or less runtime) and feature films (over 31 minutes runtime), and each incurs a submission fee for entry. Submissions normally open in the January of a year and the deadline will be the April of the same year, with the Festival taking place that August.

## Festival programme

As of 2024 the festival is composed of different sections including:
* Feature Films: screenings of feature-length films both in and out of competition for several prizes
* World Premiers: screenings of a number of world premiers for films, some of which compete for the Sean Connery Prize for Feature Filmmaking Excellence
* Retrospectives: dedicated to screening a selection of films from a specific filmmaker, genre or narrative, For example, the 2024 Retrospective was screenings of the work of Brian De Palma
* Short Films: screenings of short-films both in and out of competition for several prizes
* In Conversation: an in-depth interview with a filmmaker discussing their career. For example, the 2024 In Conversation was with Gaspar Noe
* Midnight Madness: screenings of the best of genre cinema
* Lynda Myles Celebrates: a new screening showcase for 2024 for visionary new work of cinema in the memory of former EIFF director Lynda Myles

## Venues

During the festival's early years, screenings took place at various cinemas and other venues across the city, including the New Victoria in Clerk Street, the Playhouse in Leith Walk, the Odeon in Lothian Road and the Central Hall, Tollcross. In 1958, it acquired its own base at 3 Randolph Crescent, a Georgian town house with its own cinema. In 1979, it moved to the Edinburgh Filmhouse, which remained its base until its closure in 2022. Other recent venues have included Fountainpark Cineworld, Edinburgh Festival Theatre, and the VUE Cinema at the Omni Centre.

## EIFF Awards (historic and present)

* The Michael Powell Award for Best British Feature Film, with a £20,000 cash prize
* The Award for Best Performance in a British Feature Film
* The Award for Best International Feature Film, with a £10,000 cash prize
* The Award for Best Documentary Feature Film, with a £10,000 cash prize
* The McLaren Award for Best New British Animation
* The Award for Best Short Film
* The Award for Creative Innovation in a Short Film
* The Award for Outstanding Individual Contribution to a Short Film
* The Audience Award
* The Sean Connery Prize for Feature Filmmaking Excellence (2024-)
* Best Short Film (2024-)

## Gallery

* Justin Edgar at the EIFF in 2017
* Samantha Morton at the EIFF
* Actress and patron Tilda Swinton at the EIFF
* David Hare at the EIFF in 2018