UK

Edinburgh International Film Festival to collaborate with Festival Fringe

The 77th edition of the EIFF will take place in August with ‘non-traditional’ venues among those being used to show films.

The EIFF will run from August 15 to August 21
People in a cinema The EIFF will run from August 15 to August 21 (David Cheskin/PA)
By Sarah Ward, PA Scotland

The Edinburgh International Film Festival has announced it will collaborate with the Edinburgh Festival Fringe to “tap into creative energy” with new venues.

The 77th edition of the Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) will take place between August 15 and 21 this year, with “non-traditional” venues among those being used to show films.

The film festival’s future was in jeopardy in 2022 when organiser Centre for the Moving Image (CMI) went into administration, along with the Filmhouse cinema, which has now been granted £1.5 million funding from the UK Government to reopen.

EIFF went ahead last year as part of the Edinburgh International Festival, and a new organisation was established to lead a “revitalised” future for the world’s oldest continually running film festival.

An image projected onto the Filmhouse in Edinburgh, during a bid to save the EIFF in 2022
Campaign to save the Filmhouse and EIFF An image projected onto the Filmhouse in Edinburgh, during a bid to save the EIFF in 2022 (Jane Barlow/PA)

The locations will include Summerhall, an arts venue which hosts Fringe performances, as well as Cameo Cinema on Home Street, one of the original venues for EIFF and home to some of its most iconic moments, including a speech from Orson Welles as part of the festival in 1953.

EIFF director Paul Ridd said: “We are so excited by the possibilities of August in Edinburgh and the shape of our programme as it comes together.

“Our collaboration with the Fringe will grow a powerful relationship between audiences across artistic forms.

“We will tap into the creative energy that is everywhere in the city, encouraging critics, tastemakers and above all audiences to engage with each other and all that is on show.”

A late-night slot, Midnight Madness, will showcase international cinema, while a Repertory strand will show retrospectives and restored films.

The programme will include a strand of Out Of Competition films including international premieres, UK premieres and additional world premieres.

A prize of £50,000 will be awarded to a filmmaker in a competition between 10 world-premiere features hoping to win The Sean Connery Prize for Feature Filmmaking Excellence, which will be chosen by an audience vote.

The board of EIFF includes Trainspotting producer Andrew Macdonald and Amy Jackson, producer of Bafta award-winning film Aftersun.

A short film programmes will also run alongside this year’s EIFF Short Film Competition, which will award a cash prize of £15,000.

Submissions to the 77th EIFF are open, with a final deadline of April 19.