Edinburgh International Film Festival


The Edinburgh International Film Festival is an annual fortnight of cinema screenings and related events taking place each June. Established in 1947, it is the world's oldest continually running film festival. EIFF presents both UK and international films, in all genres and lengths. It also presents themed retrospectives and other specialised programming strands. The 2016 edition was the Festival's 70th. Spain was the country focus in 2019. The 73rd edition of EIFF ran from 19 – 30 June 2019. The full programme was announced on 29 May 2019.

Origin and scope

The International Festival of Documentary Films, a programme of documentaries, was presented by the Edinburgh Film Guild alongside the 1947 Edinburgh International Festival. At the time, Cannes and Venice were the most significant annual film festivals. Over the subsequent years, the programme expanded to include fiction films and experimental work in addition to documentary. In 2008, the film festival moved from its traditional August slot to June.
The film festival shows a range of feature-length films and documentaries as well as short films, animations and music videos. A jury awards The Michael Powell Award for Best New British Feature Film while the audience can vote for the Audience Award, and a panel of judges adjudicates the Best International Feature Award. There are also several awards given for short films.
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 2002–2006. Tilda Swinton, Robert Carlyle and Seamus McGarvey are honorary patrons. In December 2009 Hannah McGill collected the prestigious Talkback Thames New Talent Award at the Women in Film and Television Awards.
Following McGill's departure a new format was announced 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 Mark Adams was announced as Fujiwara's successor.
Other key figures are CEO Ken Hay, Deputy Artistic Director Diane Henderson; Head of Industry and Talent Development Holly Daniel, Animation Programmer Iain Gardner, Shorts Programmer Lydia Beilby and Senior Programmer Niall Fulton.
Edinburgh International Film Festival is delighted to announce its latest collaboration with world-renowned jazz musician Tommy Smith OBE and the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra.

Venues

is the festival's home. The festival uses a range of other cinemas and venues across the city including Fountainpark Cineworld, Edinburgh Festival Theatre and the Odeon.

Film categories

The 68th edition of the festival in 2014 also contained the following country focus and retrospective strands: