EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

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.

Contents

History

Venues

Film Categories

2006 Festival

Reel Lifes

Retrospectives

Special Events

External links

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 made up of first time film-makers 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.
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

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.

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

★ Late Night Romps - 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 and animation from around the world

★ Reel Life - Interviews with important figures from the cinema industry

2006 Festival

The 2006 EIFF ran between 14th and 27th August 2006. It was the 60th Anniversary of the EIFF and Artistic Director Shane Danielsons last festival.

★ Opening Film - The Flying Scotsman

★ Closing Film - Odd Man Out

Reel Lifes

★ Arthur Penn

★ Steven Soderbergh

★ Sigourney Weaver (Late addition due to cancellation of Alan Arkin)

★ Kevin Smith

★ Charlize Theron

★ Iain Smith

★ Brian DePalma

★ John Hurt

Retrospectives

★ Mitchell Leisen

★ They Might Be Giants - Other Voices from the New American Cinema

Special Events

★ An Inconvenient Truth - Introduced in person by Al Gore

★ BAFTA interview with Sir Sean Connery

External links

★ Official Site

★ ''Fest Magazine Online'' - Free and independent review guide to the Edinburgh Festivals

★ ThreeWeeks the complete guide to the Edinburgh Festival

★ UKHotMovies.com - Edinburgh International Film Festival: Past, Present and Future

★ Eye For Film - Reviews, news and diary from EIFF 1999-2007

★ iofilm - reviews 1998 to 2005

★ Filmhouse Cinema Official Site