Edinburgh International Film Festival

Save the dates! We're excited to return for our 78th edition, running from 14 - 20 August 2025 🧡 Building on EIFF’s invigorated vision under new leadership from CEO and Festival Director Paul Ridd and Festival Producer Emma Boa, EIFF will continue to accelerate the discovery of new film talent and engage with audiences, industry members and local, national and international media. "Our reborn Film Festival is now a major part of the excitement of August in Edinburgh when the city hosts the biggest and best Arts Festival in the world. We are delighted to announce our next edition in August 2025 and cannot wait to see the submissions that will come our way for potential selection in the new year. For my team there is no feeling greater than discovering something truly great for audiences, and knowing so many of our 2024 films have had lives well beyond our Festival is truly invigorating. Bring it on again!" – Paul Ridd, CEO and Festival Director The festival team is supported by an expanding Board, including Teresa Moneo, Director of UK Film, Netflix; Isla Macgillivray, Partner at Saffrey; and Romana Ramzan, Producer at No Code Studio; Peter Rice, former Chairman of General Entertainment at Disney and President of 21st Century Fox; Chair Andrew Macdonald of DNA Films, producer of the iconic Edinburgh-based film Trainspotting; and Vice Chair Amy Jackson, producer of BAFTA award-winning indie, Aftersun. Submissions for EIFF 2025 will open on 6 January 2025. For more information on submissions visit: edfilmfest.org/submissions

That’s almost a wrap on 2024! 🧡 To mark the occasion, we'd like to share a special message from our CEO & Festival Director Paul Ridd: "It has been a very busy, fulfilling and beautiful year for the EIFF team. Our edition in August went off brilliantly, and we were absolutely delighted to welcome audiences and industry to venues across the city for seven days of film, events and celebrations. Collaborating with new partners across Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society and the August Festivals on cinemas and pop-up spaces, screenings, panels and events has been a thrill, and welcoming great guests like Saoirse Ronan, Brian Cox, Thelma Schoonmaker, Alex Garland and Alice Lowe to our Festival was a total joy. Our two headline Competitions across Features and Shorts, as well as our Out of Competition premieres and exciting new strands proved once again what an exciting international film culture is out there, waiting to be discovered, platformed and celebrated in the beautiful city of Edinburgh. I could not be prouder of our amazing team and our supporters across Scotland and globally. Merry Christmas to you all. And as for the 2025 edition (14-20 August)...bring it on!"

Congratulations to our Festival Producer Emma Boa and CEO & Festival Director Paul Ridd for making The List Hot 100! 🎉 This countdown celebrates those who made their mark on Scotland’s cultural scene over the last 12 months. "With limited funding, reviving the Edinburgh International Film Festival has been no easy task, yet the new production team of Boa and Ridd still managed to deliver a significant programme, from gritty opener The Outrun to a popular closing film, girl-band documentary Since Yesterday." 🔗 bit.ly/3Z6EJIF #ListHot100

Excellent to see familiar EIFF faces! Congratulations to all nominees 🧡

Nora Fingscheidt's beautiful, immersive new film THE OUTRUN is on UK release today. We were honoured to have the UK premiere as our Opening Film at EIFF a few weeks back. Plays so well with an audience, a truly cathartic cinema experience. Get on it! https://theoutrun.co.uk

🍿 This Saturday is National Cinema Day! On 31 August, cinemas across the UK will once again offer everyone the opportunity to experience the joy of cinema from just £4 at participating venues 📽️ Cinemas including the Highland Cinema, Dundee Contemporary Arts, Glasgow Film Theatre are taking part in 2024. Developed by the cross-industry body Cinema First, with the support of the Film Distributors’ Association and the UK Cinema Association, National Cinema Day was launched in 2022. This year Cinema First is also delighted to welcome a host of brands on board in 2024, including Coca-Cola, Millie’s Cookies, Bolt, Open Table and Day Out With The Kids. Find out which cinemas near you are taking part and get your tickets now at https://lnkd.in/enfwxgNC

It has been one week since our Closing Night, but it feels like it was just yesterday. We love this Highlight video from Daysix recapping EIFF 2024 🎥 Tell us about your time at #EIFF2024 here: https://lnkd.in/ekVVwXP7

This year's Edinburgh International Film Festival has come to a close, following a seven-day programme of sold out premieres, talks, retrospectives and well-received industry events: https://lnkd.in/eHbFyAKw Screen Scotland-supported film The Outrun opened the festival, with star Saoirse Ronan, writer Amy Liptrot, director Nora Fingscheidt, and the films producers (including Screen Scotland's Kieran Hannigan) walked the red carpet before introducing the film. Find out more about The Outrun, which will be released in cinemas across the UK and Ireland on 27 September 2024 at https://lnkd.in/eUj4CvkR 📷 Photo credit Kat Gollock / Edinburgh International Film Festival

"It has been a tremendous pleasure working with my incredible team these past months to shape and reinvent the Festival. Their phenomenal passion, diligence and hard work made it all possible and I’m so proud of what we’ve achieved together. 2025, bring it on." - Paul Ridd, Festival Director & CEO Still celebrating our week of world-class cinema 🧡 P.s our audience survey is now open! Let us know what you thought of EIFF 2024 here: https://lnkd.in/ekVVwXP7 📸 Kat Gollock

We are ecstatic to announce the winners of our two Competition strands: 🏆 The winner of the inaugural Sean Connery Prize for Feature Filmmaking Excellence, decided on by an audience vote and funded by The Connery Foundation is: The Ceremony, directed by Jack King. 🏆 The winner of The Thelma Schoonmaker Prize for Short Filmmaking Excellence Competition is Manny Wolfe, directed by Trevor Neuhoff. Both films were selected through an audience vote and awarded £50,000 and £15,000, respectively, to support their future projects.