A total of 15 world premieres will take place at this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF), including the previously announced opening night gala of John Maybury‘s The Edge Of Love starring Keira Knightley and Sienna Miller.The closing night gala, meanwhile, will be the world premiere of Faintheart, a comedy by Vito Rocco starring Eddie Marsan, Jessica Hynes (formerly Stevenson) and Ewan Bremner.
The line-up was unveiled at a press conference in Edinburgh on Wednesday morning (May 7) by artistic director Hannah McGill, who also confirmed that two of its patrons, Sir Sean Connery and Tilda Swinton, will both be in attendance during the two-week event.
This year’s festival, Edinburgh’s 62nd, takes place at the earlier dates of June 18 to 29.
Further highlights
In addition to the opening and closing movies, the EIFF will showcase 142 feature-length films from 29 countries, including 113 new features. Highlights include the new Pixar title WALL·E (screening as the family gala); Shane Meadows‘ Somers Town and Duane Hopkins‘ Better Things – both in the British Gala section.
Brad Anderson’s Transsiberian and Isabel Coixet’s Elegy are both screening in the Gala section; while there’s also a special preview of Terence Davies’ Of Time And City.
Documentaries include Werner Herzog’s Encounters At The End Of The World, James Marsh’s Man On Wire and Errol Morris’ Standard Operating Procedure.
Further galas will include the World premiere of Mark Doherty’s A Film With Me In It, José Padilha’s Elite Squad, Ira Sachs’ Married Life, Bharat Nalluiri’s Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day and Jonathan Levine’s Sundance favourite, The Wackness, starring Sir Ben Kingsley.
British Galas competing for the UK Film Council-sponsored Michael Powell Award for Best British Feature include Oliver Blackburn’s Donkey Punch, which will have its UK premiere, and the World premieres of Charles Martin Smith’s Stone Of Destiny, Kenny Glenaan’s Summer, Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor’s Helen and Matthew Thompson’s Dummy.
The UK titles will also compete for Best Performance in a British Film, sponsored by Premier Property Group (PPG).
Commenting on this year’s festival, Culture Minister Linda Fabiani said: “Scotland’s diverse and vibrant cultural life is one of our defining features. It’s the energy, commitment and creativity of Edinburgh’s Festivals which together make Edinburgh the world’s pre-eminent festival city, attracting tourists and showcasing Scottish talent on the international stage.”
Artistic Director Hannah McGill added:
“We have a terrifically exciting programme this year, which is the happy result of a very enthusiastic response from distributors and filmmakers. From powerful artistic and political statements to works of pure, escapist entertainment, I think this is a festival that reflects an active, vibrant world film culture – and suits the diverse and daring tastes of our audience. I want to thank all the programmers who worked with me on putting this programme together, and I look forward to sharing it with audiences in June.”
Cinematography in focus
This year’s festival programme will also be putting the spotlight on cinematography and will include a number of films particularly outstanding in this field.
This is further reflected by the In Person events, where guests take part in onstage talks. And tickets are sure to be snapped up fast for interviews with world renowned award-winning cinematographers Brian Tufano (Trainspotting) and Roger Deakins (No Country For Old Men and The Assassination of Jesse James), who will be interviewed by Seamus McGarvey (Atonement).
Directors Shane Meadows and Errol Morris, legendary special effects master Ray Harryhausen and actor Brian Cox will also be participating in the In Person events.
The Festival will also include a number of films where acclaimed cinematographers take the director’s chair: Before The Rains by Santosh Sivan (The Terrorist) in the Gala section and the World premiere of Warsaw Dark by Christopher Doyle (HERO) in the Rosebud section.
