After a chaotic past few years and a “special edition” in 2023 (see the news), the Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) is looking to re-establish itself as a top-tier gathering with its 2024 edition. While it is still smaller than in its heyday, it is hoped that the 37 new features – of which 18 are world premieres – all assembled under the watchful eye of new EIFF director Paul Ridd, will capture the imagination of audiences and industry members alike.

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The festival, running from 15-21 August, will open with the UK premiere of Nora Fingscheidt's The Outrun [+lire aussi :
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interview : Nora Fingscheidt
fiche film], which previously bowed at Sundance and Berlin. The closing film will be the world premiere of Carla J Easton and Blair Young’s new music documentary Since Yesterday: The Untold Story of Scotland's Girl Bands, a movie that tracks the history of Scottish girl groups from the 1960s to the present day.

The centrepiece of the festival will be the ten world premieres vying for the Sean Connery Prize for Feature Filmmaking Excellence, named after the legendary Scottish actor and longtime patron of the festival, which comes with a prize of £50,000. The winner will be decided by the EIFF audience.

The films will include The Ceremony by Jack King (UK), in which a fight over stolen property and a tragic death bring together two migrant workers as they search for a suitable burial place; Sunlight [+lire aussi :
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fiche film], a darkly comic road movie about a monkey, a man and a dead man’s watch, written and directed by Nina Conti, better known in the UK for her stand-up routines and ventriloquism; and Daisy-May Hudson’s Lollipop, a drama  about a mother desperate to maintain custody of her children, following her release from prison.

Out-of-competition highlights include the world premieres of the unconventional romantic comedy And Mrs by Daniel Reisinger (UK), starring Aisling Bea as a woman who, despite the fact that her fiancé dies shortly before their wedding day, decides to marry him anyway; and Acting, an immersive documentary helmed by Sophie Fiennes that looks behind the scenes at the acting process. UK audiences will also be given their first chance to see titles such as the winner of the Grand Jury Prize in the World Cinema Documentary Competition at Sundance 2024, A New Kind Of Wilderness [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] by Silje Evensmo Jacobsen (Norway), and Mark Cousins’ (himself a former EIFF director) recent Karlovy Vary IFF-winning effort A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things [+lire aussi :
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interview : Mark Cousins
fiche film] (see the news).

Another former EIFF director will be honoured by way of “Lynda Myles Celebrates”, a special screening showcase for a visionary new work of cinema in the pioneering spirit of writer, academic and former festival director Lynda Myles. This year’s film in question is the world premiere of Gala & Kiwi by Argentinian filmmaker Axel Cheb Terrab, which will be presented to audiences by Myles.

Opening with the UK premiere of Fede Álvarez’s Alien: Romulus, Edinburgh’s genre-focused Midnight Madness strand will play host to a number of horror titles, while the Thelma Schoonmaker Prize for Short Filmmaking Excellence Competition, named after the cinematic legend chiefly known for her editing work on the films of Martin Scorsese, presents the world premieres of exciting new work from Scottish, UK and international filmmakers. Thelma Schoonmaker herself will also be on hand to introduce a retrospective screening of Emeric Pressburger and Michael Powell’s classic 1945 film I Know Where I’m Going!, a work dear to her heart, with Powell being her late husband.

Finally, Gaspar Noé will attend the gathering for a special In Conversation event discussing his career and filmmaking, ahead of him presenting a screening of Dario Argento’s Suspiria.

The EIFF industry offerings will be unveiled over the coming weeks.