Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) has announced a new selection of exciting guests attending this year’s Festival in support of World, International and UK Premieres and special events.
Attending the Festival for the UK premiere of EIFF 2026 Opening Night film The Incomer will be director Louis Paxton and stars Domnhall Gleeson (About Time, Ex Machina), Grant O’Rourke, Gayle Rankin (GLOW, House of the Dragon) and John Hannah (Four Weddings and a Funeral, The Mummy).
For the Festival’s closing night film, the beautifully composed Bel will be attended by director Lou Lockwood and film contributor Leah McAleer.
For the World Premiere of the 70s set Scottish road movie memoir Borges and Me will be director Marc Turtletaub (Little Miss Sunshine, Puzzle), Alan Cumming (The Good Wife, GoldenEye) and Fionn Whitehead (Dunkirk, Black Mirror: Bandersnatch).
Attending for the special 30th anniversary event screening of Trainspotting at legendary Leith Theatre will be Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, screenwriter John Hodge, authorIrvine Welsh, producer Andrew Macdonald, production designer Kave Quinn and costume designer Rachael Fleming.
For the World Premiere of hilarious and spiky road movie Northbound is director William Scoular and stars Bruce Dern (Nebraska, The Hateful Eight). For the UK Premiere of gripping thriller Queen at Sea will be director Lance Hammer (Ballast, Impossible Horse) and stars Tom Courtenay (The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, 45 Years) and Anna Calder-Smith (Wuthering Heights, Male of the Species).
The UK Premiere of charming coming of age drama Extra Geography will have in attendance director Molly Manners (Tell Me Everything, The Royals),cast Marni Duggan (The Outrun, Payback), Galaxie Clear (Rebus, Outlander) and writer Miriam Battye (Succession, The Woman King).
In town for the World Premiere of the intoxicating These Violent Delights will be directors Christopher Hampson and Oscar Samson and star Kayla-Maree Tarantolo (Everyone Is Going to Die, Hollyoaks). The UK Premiere of Edinburgh-set The Education of Jane Cumming will be attended by director Sophie Heldman.
Attending the Festival for The Sean Connery Prize for Feature Filmmaking Excellence competition filmmakers Kieron J. Walsh for Skintown; Joseph Archer for Snapshot; Jake Harvey and Ollie Gardener and cast Sam Bottomley, Callum Scott Howells, Safia Oakley Green for The State of Us; director Fried Luk and cast member Olivia Luccardi (It Follows, Candy Land) for Sacred Creatures; director Tyler Marie-Evans and Sadie Stanley, Ashley Benson (Pretty Little Liars, Spring Breakers), Madeline Petsch for Pretty Babies; director Simon Ryninks for Out There; director Bart Simpson for The Mad World of Harvey Kurtzman; Paul Wright (For Those in Peril, Arcadia) for Mission; director Thom Lunshof for First Zone; director Lindsey Ryan and cast Griffin Gluck and Sarah Catherine Hook for Capsized.
Across the wider Festival programme, attending for the insightful The Last Resort will be director Maria Sødahl; Julianne Dressner and Miriam Shor for the compelling My NDA; directors Jake Kuhn and Noah Stratton-Twine for the atmospheric The Peril at Pincer Point; director Tamra Davis for the transportive documentary The Best Summer; director Carlos Conceição for the noirish body horror Bodyhackers; director Finlay Pretsell for the immersive Douglas Gordon by Douglas Gordon; last year’s EIFF Feature Film Prize winner Abdolreza Kahani and actor Nima Sadr attend for the World Premiere of Empty Heaven; director Alexis Alexiou and cast members for the compelling Sea of Glass; director Theodore Schaefer for the World Premiere of The Arrow at Rest at Every Instant of Its Flight.
For the Festival’s much-loved Midnight Madness strand attendees include director Chee Keong Cheung (director) and stars Radha Mitchell (Silent Hill, Finding Neverland) and John Hannah (Four Weddings and a Funeral, The Mummy) for Midnight Madness opener Bad Day at the Office; director James Nunn attends for taut survival thriller Hungry; director Nick Nevern (The Hooligan Factory, EastEnders) and cast Tamer Hassan (Layer Cake, The Football Factory), Leo Gregory (Green Street, Stoned) and Vanessa Bauer (Dancing on Ice, Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins) attend for the explosive Rise of the Footsoldier: Retribution; for the nightmarish Abandoned, director Joby Stephens is joined by cast Grace Gallagher (The Outrun, Shetland) and Cameron Wright (Granite Harbour, River City); director Caleb Phillips for mindbending thriller Imposters; Midnight Madness strand closer Faces of Death will be presented by director Daniel Goldhaber and writer Isa Mazzei.
Acclaimed performer Stacy Martin presents her directorial debut short Amaretti alongside filmmakers attending for shorts programmes across the Festival. Filmmakers from The Thelma Schoonmaker Prize for Short Filmmaking Excellence will also attend the Festival.
Previously announced guests include Christine Vachon, Ewan McGregor, Kenneth Branagh, Bruce Dern, Ken Burns, Prano Bailey-Bond, Jay Parini, Marc Turtletaub, Max Minghella, Sarah Brocklehurst, Miriam Battye and Paul Sng.
Press and Industry accreditation is now open for this year’s Festival and available to apply for via the EIFF website.
This year’s EIFF runs from 13 – 19 August 2026 and opens with the International Premiere of Edinburgh-born filmmaker Louis Paxton’s debut feature The Incomer and closes with Louise Lockwood’spowerful debut documentary feature Bel.
EIFF’s invigorated vision under leadership from CEO & Festival Director Paul Ridd and Festival Producer Emma Boa continues to accelerate the discovery of new film talent and engage with audiences, industry members and local, national and international media.
EIFF 2026 is supported by Screen Scotland and the BFI Audience Projects Fund, awarding National Lottery funding, the Industry Programme is backed by EXPO funding from the Scottish Government through Creative Scotland, and VisitScotland.
The EIFF team continues to create a world-class showcase for independent film and filmmaking talent. The Festival is supported by a Board chaired by Andrew Macdonald of DNA Films, producer of the iconic Edinburgh-based film Trainspotting, including Vice Chair Amy Jackson, producer of BAFTA award-winning indie, Aftersun; Peter Rice, former chairman of General Entertainment at Disney and President of 21st Century Fox; Teresa Moneo, producer and former Director of UK Film, Netflix; Isla Macgillivray, Partner at Saffery; and video game producer Romana Ramzan.
===================================================================