18/08/2023 - A slimmed-down version of the historic UK festival is about to take place after the gathering’s organiser went into administration in 2022

The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) has long proudly proclaimed itself the longest continually running film festival in the world (while Venice holds the claim as the oldest, there are many years during its history when the festival did not happen). However, it appeared that the 76-year history of the Scottish-based festival would finally come to an end when it was announced in October 2022 – a scant few months after the 2022 edition held under creative director Kirsty Matheson – that the festival’s organiser, the Centre for the Moving Image (CMI), had gone into administration, citing “a 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”. These events also saw the closure of the Edinburgh Filmhouse, the festival’s main venue for many years, as well as one of the most recognisable arthouse cinemas in the UK, alongside the Aberdeen-based Belmont Filmhouse, resulting in the loss of 102 jobs across the CMI’s interests. As the country’s industry reacted with shock, it seemed that one of the most internationally recognised UK-based film festivals was gone for good.

But out of the chaos of its collapse, some hope began to seep through. In December 2022, it was announced that Screen Scotland had bought the intellectual property of the EIFF from the CMI’s administrators and an appraisal, led by Matheson, was occurring to assess the viability of the festival moving forward. In March, it was announced that the gathering would return for a special “one-off” edition under the auspices of new programme director Kate Taylor (with Matheson moving on to the London Film Festival as its new director). This special edition will take place from 18-23 August, showcasing 24 films, of which five are feature premieres, and taking place at various venues around the city. While the Edinburgh Filmhouse will not be one of them, recent good news suggests that the venue will re-open as an independent entity, run by former Filmhouse staff.

The festival will get under way with the world premiere of Silent Roar [+see also:
film review
film profile], the debut feature by Scottish writer-director Johnny Barrington. The film is a teenage tale of surfing, sex and hellfire set in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides. It stars newcomer Louis McCartney as Dondo, a young surfer struggling to accept his father’s recent disappearance at sea. Caught up in grief, he is brought to his senses by rebellious crush Sas (Ella Lily Hyland), a high achiever who dreams of escaping the island. When an oddly behaved new minister arrives on the island, Dondo begins to have cosmic visions.

Other world premieres include Chuck Chuck Baby [+see also:
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trailer
film profile], written and directed by Janis Pugh, which is described as “a film of love, loss and music set amongst the falling feathers of a chicken factory”, and Ian Jefferies’ documentary Choose Irvine Welsh, exploring the life of the titular Scottish writer of such books as Trainspotting and Filth. Also screening as world premieres will be a retelling of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, directed by Hope Dickson Leach and presented as a live, hybrid performance with the National Theatre of Scotland, and the Scottish thriller Kill by Rodger Griffiths.

Other films will include Christian Petzold’s Silver Bear-winning Afire [+see also:
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trailer
interview: Christian Petzold
film profile], a retrospective screening of Shane Meadows’ classic revenge thriller Dead Man’s Shoes (which premiered at Edinburgh in 2004) and the closing title Fremont by UK-Iranian director Babak Jalali.

While the festival has no formal industry strand at this one-off edition, Saturday 19 August will see Talent Assemble take place. This event will invite along industry professionals who have taken part in previous EIFF Talent Development programmes alongside those who have previously screened their work at the festival. Attendees include Johnny Barrington, author Irvine Welsh and Charlotte Regan, director of the Sundance winner Scrapper [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], which the festival will also showcase at an outdoor screening.

While the future of the EIFF is still in flux, this year’s edition at least offers some hope that the festival will regain prominence on the international circuit and re-shape its future as it strives to support the UK film industry.