The newly relaunched Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) has today announced a landmark collaboration with the renowned Edinburgh Festival Fringe which will open up the Film Festival programme in new venues across the city including non-traditional cinema spaces at Summerhall and the heart of the Fringe footprint.
From August 15 to August 21 2024, the 77th edition of EIFF will see film embedded in the August festival ecosystem, allowing audiences to seamlessly experience the best of the Fringe along with the world-class programme of cinema at EIFF.
Spaces in Summerhall and others at the heart of the Fringe will serve as unique and unusual EIFF venues, creating a new EIFF footprint in close proximity to wider Fringe activity including theatre, music and comedy, ensuring audience engagement with Edinburgh’s summer festivals is easier than ever before.
This year’s cinema hub will be the 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.
This year’s EIFF programme will include a strand of Out of Competition films including international premieres, UK premieres and additional world premieres sitting alongside the 10 world-premiere feature films competing for The Sean Connery Prize for Feature Filmmaking Excellence.
A Midnight Madness strand will showcase the best in genre cinema from around the world in a late night slot.
A repertory strand will champion retrospective and restored masterworks.
Innovative short film programmes will also run alongside this year’s EIFF Short Film Competition, which will award a cash prize of £15,000. The title of the Short Film Competition will be revealed soon.
Industry activity will run across the first weekend of the Festival with more announcements to follow in the next few weeks. Submissions to the 77th EIFF are currently open, with a final deadline of 19 April.
EIFF honours 70+ years of film festival history, showcasing the very best talent in filmmaking in a format rooted in a local Scottish context whilst embracing the international diversity of creative expression. The Film Festival encourages general audiences, film fans and industry professionals to make the trip this summer to Edinburgh, which is universally recognised as a place of beauty, history, discovery and adventure.
EIFF Director, Paul Ridd has 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.”
Recently announced, The Sean Connery Prize for Feature Filmmaking Excellence is a £50,000 award given to a single filmmaker as part of a new features competition prize at the centre of the relaunched festival. 10 world-premiere feature films will compete for the cash prize, to be determined by audience vote. EIFF will also inaugurate a short film competition with a cash prize of £15,000. Submissions are now open. Criteria for submitting films to the Festival can be found at www.edfilmfest.org.
Helmed by Festival Director Paul Ridd and Festival Producer Emma Boa, the team aims to create a world-class showcase for independent film and filmmaking talent. Former Acquisitions Executive Ridd is supported by an expanding Board, including Chair Andrew Macdonald of DNA Films, producer of the iconic Edinburgh-based film Trainspotting; Peter Rice, former Chairman of General Entertainment at Disney and President of 21st Century Fox; and Amy Jackson, producer of last year’s BAFTA award-winning indie, Aftersun. EIFF 2024 is supported by Screen Scotland.
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EIFF
Founded in 1947 when it was known as the International Festival of Documentary Films, Edinburgh International Film Festival is the world’s oldest continually running film festival. Following the 2023 edition, a new organisation was established under chairman Andrew Macdonald to lead a revitalised EIFF from 2024 onwards. Paul Ridd was appointed incoming Festival Director in December 2023.
Summerhall - Edinburgh's independent arts venue
Occupying the former University of Edinburgh Royal Dick Veterinary College, Summerhall is both a vibrant arts venue and a cultural hub, home to a diverse community of over a hundred artists and creative businesses, including a pub, coffee shop, radio station, record label, brewery, escape room, distillery and much more.
Now over ten years old and a much loved fixture in the Edinburgh arts scene, Summerhall presents a wide array of year-round exhibitions, festivals and events, and is well known for its award-winning and critically acclaimed Edinburgh Festival programmes. Summerhall Fringe presents innovative international and local work that challenges and entertains from the likes of Ray Young, Tortoise In A Nutshell, Fuel, Sh!t Theatre and Paines Plough.
Summerhall's exhibitions are free and open all year, and the visual arts programme has welcomed world-class artists including Liliane Lijn, Alastair MacLennan, Derrick Guild, Tamsyn Challenger, Haroon Mirza and Pester and Rossi. Its live music programme, Mare Music, programmed by Arusa Qureshi, combines the best new music coming out of Scotland with touring national and international artists, following in the footsteps of its predecessor which hosted acts such as Grandaddy, Sun Kil Moon, Pussy Riot and Charlotte Church’s Pop Dungeon. Summerhall offers student-discount tickets for all Mare Music acts. Summerhall’s artist development programme supports Scottish based artists with showcase opportunities, free rehearsal space and paid development time.
Summerhall won the Dan Crawford Innovation Award at the 2015 Empty Space Peter Brook Awards, was shortlisted for The Stage Fringe Venue of the Year in 2014 and 2017, was awarded a Cycle Friendly Employer Award by Cycle Scotland in 2019 and won The Herald Scottish Culture Award 2019 for Outstanding Venue.
Screen Scotland
Screen Scotland drives development of all aspects of Scotland’s film and TV industry, through funding and strategic support. Screen Scotland is part of Creative Scotland and delivers these services and support with funding from Scottish Government and The National Lottery. Find out more at screen.scot and follow us on Twitter and Instagram