Edinburgh International Film Festival has revealed details of its full programme for 2017, marking the Festival’s 70th anniversary.
The festival (21 June – 2 July) will include 151 features from 46 countries, including 17 World Premieres, 12 International Premieres, 9 European Premieres and 69 UK Premieres and feature a host of star names appearing in person, including Kyra Sedgwick, Kevin Bacon, Stanley Tucci, Juliet Stevenson, David Arnold, Richard E Grant, Shauna Macdonald and Oliver Stone.
Mark Adams, EIFF Artistic Director, said: We’re thrilled to finally be able to reveal all of the details of this year’s diverse programme. In the Festival’s 70th Anniversary Year, we’re proud to be showcasing some of the most exciting, accomplished material from around the world and are looking forward to hosting these talented filmmakers and artists when the Festival opens on 21st June.”
Highlights of the 2017 Festival include the opening and closing galas, God’s Own Country and England is Mine, and the UK premiere of Disney-Pixar’s Cars 3, the latest instalment in the story of animated race ace, Lightning McQueen.
Other major features inclde Sedgwick’s directorial debut, Story of a Girl, starring Kevin Bacon, and Tucci’s new film, Final Portrait. Both films will have related In-Person events at which the directors and stars will answer audience questions. There will also be In-Person events featuring composer David Arnold, actor Bernard Hill, director Lizzie Borden, and actor screenwriter and director Richard E Grant.
Major strands at this year’s Film Festival include retrospective programme The Future is History, and Best of British, featuring superb new UK filmmaking. Films featured here include Bryn Higgins’ Access All Areas, featuring Jordan Stephens from hip-hop duo Rizzle Kicks, Simon Hunter’s Edie, Donmar Warehouse’s critically acclaimed all-female adaptation of Julius Caesar, and Eric Styles’ moving family drama That Good Night (above), among many others.
The American Dreams strand will include a wide range of great new independent cinema from the States including In Dubious Battle, directed by James Franco, Trudie Styler’s Freak Show, Middle Age nun comedy The Little Hours, European romance Paris Can Wait starring Alec Baldwin, Love after Love with Chris O’Dowd and Andie MacDowell and Terrence Malick’s Song to Song (above), starring Ryan Gosling, Michael Fassbender and Natalie Portman.
Other international cinema is strongly represented too, with World Perspectives, featuring the Scottish premiere of Bong Joon Ho’s Okja, and the UK premieres of musical comedy EMO the Musical, darkly funny drug road movie Godspeed, mesmeric Indian road movie Sexy Durga, and the thoughtful and hopeful White Sun. There are also screenings of I Dream in Another Language, a moving study of language, heritage and hidden pasts, Rage, which links three unrelated stories with one unsolved murder, and Japanese ghost story, Snow Woman.
Closer to home, the European Perspectives strand will feature new work from Russia, France, Ireland (including Halal Daddy, above), Spain, Germany, Norway, Iceland and more. There’s also a dedicated Focus on Poland strand with 8 films, one documentary and a number of shorts, including the International Premiere of Katarzyna Adamik’s thriller Amok, Andrzej Wajda’s final feature Afterimage, psychological horror Animals, coming-of-age fantasy The Erlprince, and the extraordinary The Sun, The Sun Blinded Me.
Scottish work features throughout the programme, with the Scotland retrospective strand featuring cross-arts celebration, Electric Contact: The Visionary Worlds of Tom McGrath, the Documentary strand including the World Premiere of Teenage Superstars, a look at Scotland’s music scene which follows on from 2015’s award-winning Big Gold Dream and the EIFF Shorts programme including 6 short films from the Scottish Documentary Institute’s Bridging the Gap collection. There are also features, including Peter Mackie Burns’ debut, Daphne.
Natalie Usher, Director of Screen at Creative Scotland, said: “The year’s landmark 70th anniversary edition is packed with an impressive array of the very best films from around the world, certain to appeal to local and international audiences.
“Particularly thrilling is EIFF’s recognition and celebration of Scotland’s filmmaking talent, especially those exploring multiple artforms to create unique cinematic experiences… With an amazing film line up, great audience and industry events, creative debate and discussion, and a rich retrospective, EIFF 2017 is set to entertain and enthral us all.
Culture Secretary, Fiona Hyslop, added: “EIFF continues to be an important hub for Scottish, UK and international filmmakers to develop and showcase their work.
“The Scottish Government Expo Fund has provided nearly £1.2 million to EIFF since 2008, which has supported young and emerging talent in the film industry through EIFF Talent Lab. The Expo Fund has helped create an international platform for art and artists that has supported important and ground-breaking creative work from Scotland. So it makes strong economic sense, as our festivals celebrate their 70th anniversary, to support the continued growth of our festivals and to ensure Scotland’s own emerging talent is placed at their centre.”
The Festival will also feature Film Fest in the City, a series of open air screenings, Night Moves, a collection of late night horror films, Film Fest Junior, featuring a number of UK Premieres and the long-since sold out Usher Hall screening of Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Edinburgh International Film Festival runs from 21 June to 2 July – tickets are on sale now.
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