Edinburgh International Film Festival

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The Edinburgh International Film Festival or EIFF is part of the Edinburgh Festival, which takes place every August. Established in 1947, it is the longest continually running film festival in the world.

1 History
2 Venues
3 Film Categories
4 2006 Festival
5 External links

[edit] History

When it was started by the Edinburgh Film Guild (the oldest continually running Film Society in the world) it was only for documentaries. At the time there were only a couple of other Film Festivals in the world (Cannes and Venice). The festival shows a range of films from around the world and screens not only feature length films and documentaries, but also shorts, animations and music videos. The Grand Jury awards "The Michael Powell Award for Best New British Feature Film" while the audience can vote for the "Standard Life Audience Award" and a panel judges the "Skillset New Directors Award." There are also several awards given to short films. All films shown are U.K. premieres although many are also European or International Premieres.

From 2008, the festival will move to its new slot in June with the 62nd Edinburgh International Film Festival taking place 18th - 29th June 2008.

The Artistic Director since September 2006 is Hannah McGill, previously a film critic and cinema columnist for The Herald newspaper. Ginnie Atikinson is the long serving Managing Director. Sir Sean Connery and Tilda Swinton are the film festivals honorary patrons.

Shane Danielson, the previous Artistic director programmed the festival between 2002 and 2006

[edit] Venues

The venues are the Filmhouse, Cameo, Fountainpark Cineworld and The Dominion. Some of the events are run in The Sheraton Hotel. In Glasgow the Glasgow Film Theatre and Renfrew St Cineworld also participate. As of 2004 there are proposals for a new Filmhouse to be built, entitled Sean Connery Filmhouse, designed by architect Richard Murphy. It would be near to the existing one, have a greater capacity and be home to the festival. The current location favoured by Filmhouse is Festival Square in front of the Sheraton Hotel.

[edit] Film Categories

Gala - All have a well know actor or director attached to them
British Gala - From a known British actor or director
Rosebud - Films from first or second time directors
Directors' Showcase - Highlights films from important directors
Night Moves - Horror and action films either from countries whose mainstream films are given little world wide release, or from independent filmmakers
Document - Both feature length and short documentaries
Retrospective - Films from an important director that many people have not seen on the cinema screen
Black Box - Abstract and artistic films
Mirrorball - Music videos, Music-related documentaries
In-Person - Interviews with important figures from the cinema industry