The 77th Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) has launched its entire program for the Aug. 15-21 event, where it will screen 37 new feature films and 18 world premieres.
Ten world premieres will compete for the new Sean Connery Prize for Feature Filmmaking Excellence as the fest showcases talent from filmmakers in the U.K., U.S., Canada, Mexico, Norway, China, Kazakhstan, Belgium, Iran and beyond. Screenings will take place in the heart of Scotland‘s picturesque capital at some of the city’s most iconic venues including Cameo Cinema, Summerhall, and 50 George Square.
Nora Fingscheidt’s The Outrun, starring Saoirse Ronan, was previously confirmed as the Fest’s opening night film, with the world premiere of Carla J. Easton and Blair Young’s documentary Since Yesterday: The Untold Story of Scotland’s Girl Bands set to close. Its Midnight Madness strand will close with the body horror The Substance, starring Demi Moore. The U.K. premiere of Fede Álvarez’s Alien: Romulus will open the strand as its feature-length titles include Jack Clark and Jim Weir’s Australian psychological horror Birdeadter and Damian McCarthy’s haunted house film Oddity.
The program features musical odysseys, dystopian worlds, tales from the fringes of society as well as reimagined inner and outer spaces. Those in contention for the Sean Connery Prize for Feature Filmmaking Excellence, decided by an audience vote, include Arash Rakhsha’s documentary All the Mountains Give, Jack King’s Yorkshire-set drama The Ceremony, and Will Seefried’s haunting queer story Lilies Not For Me.
The inaugural Thelma Schoonmaker Prize for Short Filmmaking Excellence Competition Shorts will celebrate the legendary Schoonmaker (Killers of the Flower Moon, Goodfellas), who is attending the Fest, and introduce a retrospective screening of Emeric Pressburger and Michael Powell’s film I Know Where I’m Going! (1945) set on the Isle of Mull. The shorts in competition are Lisa Clarkson’s Paternal Advice, Jamie Di Spirito’s Homework, Gavin Reid documentary My Dad and the Volcano, Liberty Smith’s experimental documentary My Exploding House, Max Olson’s Nico, Trevor Neuhoff’s classic noir spin Manny Wolf, Inés Villanueva’s Argentine comedy Shoal, and Wilma Smith’s live-action stop-motion blend The Jubilee.
“I am thrilled by what the team, our collaborators and our supporters have put together these past months for all sections of the program and across our exciting new festival footprint,” EIFF director Paul Ridd said. “Through a spirit of collaboration, passion and above all teamwork, we have worked to fashion something special out of a shared vision for what we want this historic festival to be going forward, and to offer a platform to an enormous range of film work. Since day one, the audience has always been front and center in our thinking. And I cannot wait to see these formally exciting, thematically rich and unforgettable films to find their audience with us. Bring it on.”
See the full program for this year’s EIFF below.
Opening Films
The Outrun by Nora Fingscheidt, U.K. Premiere
Alien: Romulus by Fede Álvarez, U.K. Premiere, Midnight Madness
Closing Films
Since Yesterday: The Untold Story of Scotland’s Girl Bands by Blair Young, Carla J. Easton, U.K. & World premiere
The Substance by Coralie Fargeat, U.K. Premiere
The Sean Connery Prize for Feature Filmmaking Excellence
All the Mountains Give by Arash Rakhsha, World Premiere
The Ceremony by Jack King, World Premiere
Fuga by Mary Jiménez, Bénédicte Liénard, World Premiere
Lilies Not For Me by Will Seefried, World Premiere
Lollipop by Daisy-May Hudson, World Premiere
A Shrine by Abdolreza Kahani, World Premiere
Smiles and Kisses You by Bryan Carberry, World Premiere
Sunlight by Nina Conti, World Premiere
To Kill A Wolf by Kelsey Taylor, World Premiere
Xibalba Monster by Manuela Irene, World Premiere
Out Of Competition Features
Acting by Sophie Fiennes, World Premiere
And Mrs by Daniel Reisinger, World Premiere
Armand by Halfdan Ullmann Tønde, U.K. Premiere
Between the Temples by Nathan Silver, U.K. Premiere
Black Dog by Guan Hu, U.K. Premiere
Blue Sun Palace by Constance Tsang, U.K. Premiere
Boganloch by Ben Rivers, U.K. Premiere
Joy Dancer by Suzanne Smith, Sylvia Solf, World Premiere
Mongrel by Wei Liang Chiang, You Qiao Yin, U.K. Premiere
My Favourite Cake by Maryam Moghadam, Behtash Sanaeeha, U.K. Premiere
A New Kind of Wilderness by Silje Evensmo Jacobsen
Schirkoa: In Lies We Trust by Ishan Shukla, U.K. Premiere
Sing Sing by Greg Kwedar, European Premiere Presented by We Are Parable and EIFF
Steppenwolf by Adilkhan Yerzhanov, U.K. Premiere
A Sudden Glimpse Into Deeper Things by Mark Cousins, U.K. Premiere
The Mountain Within Me by Polly Steele, U.K. World Premiere
The Radleys by Euros Lyn, World Premiere
Timestalker by Alice Lowe, U.K. Premiere
Screening with short film Don’t Hate Me by Grace Campbell
Midnight Madness
Birdeater by Jack Clark, Jim Weir, U.K. Premiere
Screening with short film Make Me a Pizza by Talia Shea Levin, U.K. Premiere
King Baby by Kit Redstone, Arran Shearing, U.K. Premiere
Screening with short film Duck by Rachel Maclean
Oddity by Damian Mc Carthy, U.K. Premiere
Screening with short film One More Round by Zach Magid, Andrew Tyrell, U.K. Premiere
Sunray: Fallen Soldier by James Clarke, Daniel Shephard, World Premiere
Screening with short film Meat Puppet by Eros V, U.K. Premiere
Lynda Myles Celebrates…
Gala and Kiwi by Axel Cheb Terrab, World Premiere
Screening with short film Siesta by Gustavo Rene Sanabria
Special Events and Retrospectives
I Know Where I’m Going! by Emeric Pressburger, Michael Powell
In Conversation with Gaspar Noe (Guest Speaker)
Suspiria by Dario Argento
The Untouchables by Brian De Palma
Phantom of the Paradise by Brian De Palma
Competition Shorts
Paternal Advice by Lisa Clarkson, World Premiere
Homework by Jamie di Spirito, World Premiere
My Dad and the Volacno by Gavin Reid, World Premiere
My Exploding House by Liberty Smith, World Premiere
Nico by Max Olson, World Premiere
Manny Wolfe by Trevor Neuhoff, World Premiere
Shoal by Inés Villanueva, World Premiere
The Jubilee by Wilma Smith, World Premiere
Out Of Competition Shorts In Association With Screen Academy Scotland
Analog Medium by Tom Campbell, International Premiere
Always Return by Paulina Urreta, International Premiere
Autism Plays Itself by Janet Harbord, U.K. Premiere
Mother Tongue by Vea Mafile’o, European Premiere
Where My Memoru Began by Priscilla Kounkou Hoveyda, U.K. Premiere
The Watergraw by Lewis Cranston, World Premiere
Frater by Valentin Guiod, International Premiere
Stepmother by Negar Naghavi, International Premiere
Animation Shorts
Bug Diner by Phoebe Jane Hart, U.K. Premiere
Bunnyhood by Mansi Maheshwari, U.K. Premiere
Extremely Short by Koji Yamamura, U.K. Premiere
Fairground Fever by Linda Hughes, World Premiere
Liminal Roots by Aliyah Harfoot, U.K. Premiere
On Hold by Delia Hess, U.K. Premiere
Plunge by Ellie Land, World Premiere
Silent Panorama by Nicolas Piret, International Premiere
Tako Tsubo by Sorgo Fanny, Pedroza Eva, U.K. Premiere
The Bleacher by Adam Wilder, Nicole Daddona, U.K. Premiere
Three Birds by Zarja Menart, U.K. Premiere
Experimental Shorts
Kyklop by Telemach Wiesinger, U.K. Premiere
Friedl by Christiana Perschon, U.K Premiere
I Don’t Want Myself To Be Filmed But Rather Shoot Myself by Friedl vom Gröller, U.K. Premiere
Our Cave by Heehyun Choi, International Premiere
Desire Path by Sofia Theodore-Pierce, U.K. Premiere
Terminal Island by Sam Drake, U.K. Premiere
Holographic Will by Mike Stoltz, U.K. Premiere
Light, Noise, Smoke and Light, Noise, Smoke by Tomonari Nishikawa, U.K. Premiere
Bosco by Stefano Canapa, Lucie Leszez, U.K. Premiere
Adrift Potentials by Leonardo Pirondi, U.K. Premiere
Bridging The Gap: Scottish Documentary Institute Shorts
Headland by Mariana Duarte, World Premiere
Roll Down The Window by Lipa Hussain, World Premiere
Seeking by Ciara Fint, World Premiere
The Flowers Stand Silently, Witnessing by Theo Panagopoulos, World Premiere