Tag: cinema

Delilah Films announces Spiked premiere in Scotland on 23rd August

The short film in partnership with Scottish spiking charity Spike Aware UK will screen at The Old Well Cinema in Moffat this month

21st August 2023, Scotland: Today film production company Delilah Films announces the premiere of its debut short film Spiked will take place in Scotland on Wednesday 23rd August at The Old Well Theatre in Moffat. Doors open at 7pm for a 7.30pm start.

When single-mum Becky suspects she’s been spiked, she seeks frenemy police officer Andrea’s help in getting tested. Spiked is a short film set in the North-East of England.

An image from the film is available here: https://we.tl/t-xXpIClV1ag (L: Phoebe Lorenz, R: Emma Zadow)

Spiked was co-created by Delilah Films’ founder Phoebe Lorenz and BBC New Creative Emma Zadow. The film was created with support from Scottish charity Spike Aware UK, and in association with Northern Fortress Films.

It was directed by Alex Shipman (Female, Fifty and Fighting: Bam Bam).

Spiked has already been selected for numerous BIFA-qualifying festivals including Women X and Sunderland Shorts Film Festival 2023.

Spike Aware UK is a registered Scottish charity covering England, Scotland, Wales & NI, and is a group who want to raise awareness of young people having their drinks drugged or spiked at social events.

It is the first registered charity and support network for victims of drink and needle spiking in the UK, and it organises, cooperates, supports and campaigns locally and nationally to spread awareness.

The event will also screen short film A Victim’s Story made by local filmmaker Rachael Ovens, and Still (also directed by Alex Shipman), an experimental documentary using real testimonies from women about their experiences in night clubs, visualised through an interpretive dance piece.

Phoebe Lorenz, founder of Delilah Films, says, “Having the premiere of this film in Scotland, timed just at the end of Edinburgh Film Festival, is a testament to our phenomenal partners at Spike Aware UK.

“The team behind Spiked want this film to make as big of an impact as possible for victims of spiking and to raise awareness of the issue, and we are really looking forward to the event.”

Colin Mackie, founder of Spike Aware UK, says, “We at Spike Aware UK are delighted to have played a part in bringing Spiked to the screen.

“We have been impressed by the professionalism and the enthusiasm of all involved in the project and hope this production will help highlight what is a growing problem.”

Spiked’s creator and founder of Delilah Films Phoebe Lorenz is a British-German actor, writer and producer. She co-wrote/produced award-winning film I’m Still Ethanin 2020 with Freida Films’ Amelia O’Loughlin and starring BIFA-Winning actor Dave Johns (I, Daniel Blake). 

Co-creator of Spiked Emma Zadow is an actor, writer and BBC New Creative. Her short film JIGGING, commissioned by BBC Arts & Screen South, won Best Short and Best Actress at Seattle Independent, Sydney Australian, Hong Kong Indie, Hollywood Boulevard and Red Moon Film Festivals.

Alex Shipman is a Director and DOP across documentary and fiction content. She works as a DOP for EPK/Behind the scenes content on Warner Brothers and Lucas film productions. As a director her short films have been selected for Cannes Film Festival (as part of the Straight 8 Challenge) and her last short film about women’s experience in nightclubs screened at the BFI Future Film Festival.

Northern Fortress Films was founded by Louisa Rose Mackleston in January 2021. Louisa is a Director, Writer & Producer from Bradford. Her production company aims to convey socially conscious stories through factual and narrative formats and has received funding from organisations such as UNESCO, the NHS & Bradford Council.

Explore more of Edinburgh International Film Festival 2023

Edinburgh International Film Festival, this year hosted by the Edinburgh International Festival, has announced more information about guests involved in its Encounters discussion sessions, along with details about this year’s Curate-It programme:

Encounters

A chance for audiences to go deeper into the EIFF programme in a series of creative conversations with filmmakers and guests. Taking the talk beyond the post-screening Q&A, the Festival is proud to present a series of generous and expansive discussions about some of the ideas bubbling away in this year’s film selection.

Each session will feature BSL interpretation, and tickets are priced as Pay What You Can, £6 / £4 / £2.

Visit eif.co.uk/edfilmest for speaker biographies and full details of contributors.

Encounter 1: Casual Intimacy  

Sunday 20 August 14:15-15:45 Everyman 3 [BSL]

What does it take to make a film about somebody else, or about your own lived experience? How much can you really know about a person or character through the act of filming them? The panel of creatives from across film, literature and performance will explore crafting intimacy in storytelling.

Speakers will include the co-directors of queer revenge thriller Femme, Sam H. Freeman and Ng Choon Ping, writer and performer Colm McCready (whose show Scaredy Fat is playing at this year’s Fringe), author Kirsty Logan (The Unfamiliar: A Memoir of Queer Motherhood) and filmmaker Ella Glendining (Is There Anybody Out There?)  

Encounter 2: Creative Survival  

Monday 21 August 16:30-18:00 Everyman 3 [BSL]

Survival as an artist is a question of resilience. How do we make work without sacrificing ourselves or others? A panel of multidisciplinary creatives convenes to discuss how to keep on making art when everything seems stacked against artists.

Author and critic Katie Goh (The End), author and agency founder Nikesh Shukla (The Good Immigrant, Brown Baby), author and filmmaker Guy Gunaratne (Mister Mister), author and screenwriter Huw Lemmey (Ungentle, Bad Gays) and filmmaker Paris Zarcilla (Raging Grace).  

Encounter 3: Defining Belonging  

Tuesday 22 August 16:30-18:00 Everyman 3 [BSL]

The sense (or absence) of belonging permeates this year’s most powerful works. How do we shape stories about fitting in, or standing out? Babak Jalali, director of Fremont, the EIFF Closing Night film, joins author Heather Parry (Orpheus Builds a Girl, This Is My Body, Given For You) and writer and editor Anahit Behrooz (BFFs) to discuss how the exploration of belonging has informed their work, and what makes these stories feel so universal.  

Curate-It online film programmes

Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) and Curate-It have once again partnered to showcase the work of new curators based in Scotland. Curate-It is an innovative new digital training application developed, with support from Screen Scotland, to provide users with the information and skills needed to implement their own film screening events.

The platform has been designed to actively ensure that knowledge of film curation is easily accessible within the digital space and is focused on providing access to curatorial talent from backgrounds that are underrepresented in the film sector.

As part of this year’s edition, Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) and Curate-It offered two fellowships to early career curators and programmers working in Scotland. Beulah Ezeugo and Zainab Ashraf have undertaken the Curate-It course and are each presenting a programme of events. 

no gaze or hand can hold you there

From 19:00 Friday 18 August

Curator Beulah Ezeugo presents a programme that centres on 20th-century photography through the black gaze. The selected films invite audiences to examine the importance of visual agency and how the ability to represent oneself can become means for salvation, for revelation, for pleasure, for exposure, or for emergence.

Heritage Withheld.

From 19:00 Monday 21 August

Curator Zainab Ashraf invites viewers to look at the importance of heritage. Juxtaposing work from filmmakers working in Scotland and Palestine, the programme explores forms of resilience where an aspect of heritage is withheld.

Each Curate-It programme will be available for audiences to watch for free for 72 hours on Curate-It’s VoD platform Screen-it.

Curate-It Project Director, Justine Atkinson said: “It is always such a privilege to guide and witness curatorial ideas take form and flourish, and I’m so delighted this was once again possible through the EIFF x Curate-It collaboration.

“The programmesthat Beulah and Zainab curated allow audiences to navigate interesting and poignant subject matter through distinctively formed cinematic journeys. We are so looking forward to sharing them with you all’’.

The 2023 EIFF & Curate-It Curatorial Fellowship is supported through the Scottish Government’s Festivals Expo Fund. View the full programme details here.

Edinburgh International Film Festival runs from Friday 18 to Wednesday 23 August.

#EdFilmFest

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram  

Guests and ‘Talent Assemble’ at Edinburgh International Film Festival

  • First wave of exciting film talent set to visit the city at this year’s EIFF include  Shane Meadows, Irvine Welsh, Ella Lily Hyland, Ira Sachs, Paul Higgins, and Fran Rubel Kuzui
  • Industry professionals and EIFF alumni invited to reconnect at Talent Assemble event

Edinburgh International Film Festival, this year hosted by the Edinburgh International Festival, has announced its first wave of guests appearing at this year’s edition alongside a special Talent Assemble event celebrating the festival’s community of filmmaking talent. 

Talent Assemble 

Talent Assemble is a special event to celebrate EIFF’s community of filmmakers and give thanks to the wider industry for the goodwill and supportive energy shown to the Festival this year. 

In partnership with BBC Film, BBC Scotland and MG ALBA, Talent Assemble will introduce and reconnect alumni of EIFF’s many talent development initiatives and raise a glass to the wealth of emerging and established talent who have made EIFF a vibrant Festival, bursting with creativity year after year. 

Filmmakers who have screened work in the Festival in the past, and industry professionals who have taken part in the myriad EIFF talent development schemes, who are interested in attending are encouraged to get in touch with the Festival. More information can be found at https://www.eif.co.uk/edinburgh-international-film-festival/talent-assemble 

Guests at EIFF 2023 

On 18 August, the Festival opens with the world premiere of Silent Roar, the debut feature from BAFTA-nominated Scottish writer and director Johnny Barrington.

Barrington will be in attendance to present the film, alongside the film’s stars Ella Lily Hyland (Fifteen Love), Louis McCartney, Mark Lockyer, and Chinenye Ezeudu (Sex Education).   

On 19 August, acclaimed director Ira Sachs (Love is Strange, Little Men) will be on hand to present his intimate new feature Passages, the thorniest and horniest film of the year. Sachs will also be taking part in a special Sunday Salon event on 20th August, discussing queer cinema and representations of intimacy with 2020 Booker Prize nominated writer Brandon Taylor (Real Life, The Late Americans).  

Filmmaker Ella Glendining will be at the festival to present her smart, honest and beautifully illuminating documentary Is There Anybody Out There? which examines questions of disability on a journey to find herself in others. 

Writer/director Karoline Lyngbye joins the Festival to present Superposition, her stylish and chilling existential thriller.  

While in the Festival’s weekend of outdoor screenings, Cinema Under the Stars, director Charlotte Regan presents her Sundance award-winning feature film Scrapper.   

On the 20 August, feel-good LGBTQ+ romance Chuck Chuck Baby receives its World Premiere, with director Janis Pugh in attendance.    

Filmmakers Sam H. Freeman (whose television work includes Industry and This Is Going To Hurt) and Ng Choon Ping attend the Festival to present their tense, stylish thriller about desire and self-loathing, Femme. 

Director Bette Gordon joins the Festival for the special 40th anniversary retrospective screening of her neo-noir feminist classic Variety. 

Huw Lemmey (host of podcast Bad Gays) presents Ungentle, a thought-provoking study of British espionage and homosexual identity.   

At Cinema Under the Stars, artist Julia Parks presents Wool Aliens (and other films), a series of short films, created during a residency in Hawick in the Scottish Borders. The screenings are preceded by a performance from musician Miwa Nagato-Apthorp.  – 

On 21 August, Director Hope Dickson-Leach (The Levelling) joins cast member David Hayman to present the World Premiere of her atmospheric Edinburgh-set period thriller The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde. 

David Hayman also joins writer/director Paris Zarcilla to present his chilling debut film Raging Grace, a haunting gothic horror which recently took the Grand Jury Prize at South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival.   

Jeanie Finlay arrives in Edinburgh to present her rousing portrait of author, activist and podcaster Aubrey Gordon in Your Fat Friend. 

On 22 August, Kill, a nail-biting debut feature from director Rodger Griffiths, assembles an exceptional cast of Scottish talent in a gritty and bloody revenge story. Griffiths will attend the Festival alongside the film’s stars Paul Higgins (The Thick of It), Daniel Portman (Game of Thrones), Callum Ross, Anita Vettesse, and Brian Vernel (Dunkirk).  

A forgotten gem of American indie cinema, Tokyo Pop is newly restored to mark the film’s 35th anniversary, and the Festival is thrilled that writer/director Fran Rubel Kuzui (who later went on to direct the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie) and producer Kaz Kuzui will present the film. 

Lead actor Thomas Schubert of Afire is in town to present the Festival’s screening of the film: a sharp and funny take on the struggles of creativity.    

Dead Man’s Shoes, Shane Meadows’ radical revenge thriller, had its world premiere at the Edinburgh International Film festival in 2004. Now nearly twenty years on, Shane Meadows joins the Festival alongside producer Mark Herbert for a special retrospective gala to celebrate the film’s extraordinary legacy.   – 

On closing night 23 August, celebrated author Irvine Welsh will join director Ian Jeffries to present the World Premiere of their collaborative new documentary Choose Irvine Welsh, charting the author’s life and philosophy in his own words and those of his collaborators and admirers.   

The 2023 Edinburgh International Film festival closes with stylish deadpan dramedy Fremont, presented by the film’s director Babak Jalali and writer Carolina Cavalli (Amanda).  

Edinburgh International Film Festival runs from Friday 18 to Wednesday 23 August.  

#EdFilmFest  

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram   

Edinburgh cinema celebrates biggest week ever, thanks to ‘Barbenheimer’

Vue Edinburgh Omni has reported its biggest week ever, with record-breaking figures driven by the dual successes of Barbie and Oppenheimer.

The venue is one of 37 across the UK and Ireland that smashed attendance records in a week that also saw Vue break its nationwide record that has stood since the release of Skyfall in 2012.

Toby Bradon, General Manager of Vue UK and Ireland, said: “It has been great to see our venues buzzing for Barbenheimer all week, as we have seen huge demand across the whole country to see both films, with Barbie in particular looking set to become the biggest title of 2023 and could well enter the top ten highest grossing of all time.”

From kitchen table to top table …

LS Productions – a global production company that started life on a kitchen table by a former air stewardess – is officially recognised as one of the UK’s fastest growing private companies

  • Set up in Edinburgh by Marie Owen – with 3 kids under the age of 5 – the company has gone from strength to strength being named on two prestigious lists of fastest growing UK private companies
  • LS Productions was Grammy-nominated for its work on its second Harry Styles music video (‘Adore You’) and works with high profile celebrities including Zendaya, Ed Sheeran and Cristiano Ronaldo
  • With ambition to become a £40 million turnover business in the next two years, the company provides production services to clients for commercials, fashion, sport, music videos and film and TV projects working across the globe.

LS Productions – whose headquarters are in Leith – is celebrating appearances on The Sunday Times 100 and FEBE Growth 100 lists – which recognise the UK’s fastest growing private companies.

Both lists celebrate British business at its best – highlighting founders that are driving their companies to deliver significant sales, revenue and profit, against a backdrop of unprecedented economic challenges.

With their headquarters in Edinburgh, LS Productions are the UK’s largest production service company with additional offices in London and Manchester.

LS’s recent growth is down in part to the expansion of their services into the international film & TV sectors, taking on global TV and film production service projects over the last 18 months, with recent projects including  Ghosted (Skydance / Apple TV),episodes of the Bachelor (NZK Productions / Warner Bros Entertainment / ABC) and a Kind of Spark (CBBC / BYUtv America).

As part of this growth they have also added a warm water production and location facility in Malta to further bolster their international offering.

In conjunction with this expansion, the LS growth can also be directly attributed to a commitment to invest in and recruit talent in the LS’s core production specialisms, including commercials, fashion, music and sport.

Mimi Webb, Aviemore, Scotland, 5th April 2023

The diversification of these business streams was a deliberate move to weather the storm faced by the production industry in a post Covid landscape.

Across this period LS has worked on a succession of high profile service production projects ranging from Ed Sheeran’s latest album Subtract (Freenjoy / Directed by Mia Barnes), Harry Styles ‘Adore You (Freenjoy / Directed by Dave Meyers), Valentino’s Pink Dreams starring Zendaya (Marcell Rev / Michael Bailey Gates) and ‘You’re Up’ featuring Cristiano Ronaldo for Nike (Wieden & Kennedy/ Directed by Megaforce).

Not only this but Covid also provided cause for reflection about where the business saw itself creatively in the long term and how they could look to continue to stay true to their values of being ‘creative at heart’ which drove further diversification with the arrival of an original content arm in the form of LS Films.

Thanks to this successful business strategy, LS has seen a two year growth of 273% and boasts sales of £20 million.

Speaking about the recognition, CEO and Founder Marie Owen – who has lived in Edinburgh her whole life, said: “I’m beyond thrilled to see LS Productions name appear on such prestigious lists, in fact I can’t quite believe it!

“If you could have told me that we’d be appearing on lists like these when I started the business back in 2006 from my kitchen table I’d probably have laughed and said ‘are you joking’! I

“t’s such a fantastic achievement and so rewarding to see all the incredible hard work and dedication that myself and the team have put in to get recognised.

“Both in terms of growing a world-class global production company, but also a business that people genuinely love working for that is firmly rooted in the values of kindness, hard work and learning.”

Marie continued: “”Post Covid we had to completely re-evaluate where we wanted to go – not just professionally but personally. So we went, quite literally back to our roots – which meant investing heavily in specialised expertise to develop focused business streams; Fashion, Sport, Commercial, Music Videos, Film & TV Service and an original content division called LS Films.

“This robust diversification gives LS a solid foundation in an industry that is notorious for huge highs and steep lows because we’re not overly dependent on one particular stream and it also allows us to explore our creative passion with LS Films.”

The full 100 rankings can be viewed:

www.febe.com

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/sunday-times-100-fast-growth

Rabbie’s Set-Jet Tours to Summer Blockbusters

With new Indiana Jones and Mission Impossible movies hitting the big screen this summer, film fans can take the experience a step further and explore the locations that double as fictional worlds with small-group tour specialists, Rabbie’s (www.rabbies.com). 

This summer, blockbusters The Flash and Indiana Jones: The Dial of Destiny see the titular heroes chase nefarious villains along the streets of Glasgow. While the highly anticipated, Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1 has seen incredible action scenes shot around the UK – including a train crashing into a quarry at Stoney Middleton. With a Rabbie’s private tour, guests can design an exclusive, personalised tour to visit the worlds of their favourite franchises. 

Described as ‘perfectly cast’ as Gotham, Glasgow features prominently in an opening chase scene from The Flash where the hero and Batman pursue several villains. Design a tour following in their tracks along George Square before exploring other iconic DC locations across Scotland – like the Glasgow Necropolis, Cathedral and Bridge of Sighs from The Batman (2022) and the beautiful Caringorms as seen in the opening plane scene from The Dark Knight Rises. 

Indiana Jones is famed for his continental adventures, but Scotland features heavily in this summer’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. Follow the intrepid archaeologist’s chase down the iconic St. Vincent Street in central Glasgow, before journeying south to the Leaderfoot Viaduct in Melrose where an intense action scene is rumoured to take place. 

Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1 is one of this year’s most hotly anticipated films. Shot across the UK, action star Tom Cruise left a trail of excitement and debris in his wake. Journey to Lewisham to see where Cruise ran on top of a train in an exhilarating sequence, before visiting Stoney Middleton, where the hero witnessed a train crash into a quarry.

See the spot in the Lake District where Cruise attempted a daredevil parachute jump from a helicopter and visit the centre of London to follow the chase scene which was a highlight of the previous instalment, Mission Impossible: Fallout (and from which Cruise famously broke his ankle). 

Rabbie’s UK and Ireland tours depart from Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, Aberdeen, London, Manchester, Bristol, Belfast and Dublin. 

For more information about Rabbie’s and to book a private or a scheduled tour, visit www.rabbies.com.  

Edinburgh International Film Festival reveals 2023 programme

Special edition of EIFF runs from 18 – 23 August

Full programme announced of 24 new feature films, 5 retrospective titles, 5 short film programmes, and an outdoor screening weekend including 7 further features in a six-day celebration of bold and eclectic cinema at the heart of the world’s biggest celebration of arts.

Complementing the previously announced Opening Night film ‘Silent Roar’, the Festival presents a selection rich with new voices. Amongst the festival’s 11 debut features, the Festival is delighted to champion a new generation of UK talent.

Scottish productions include 5 feature films and 19 short films, including the World Premiere presentations of six freshly commissioned documentaries in the Bridging The Gap Documentary Short Films programme.

Closing Night film ‘Fremont’ caps an international selection that includes work from celebrated arthouse directors Kelly Reichardt, Ira Sachs, Cauleen Smith, and Christian Petzold, and showcases enticing work from Argentina, Brazil, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Japan, South Korea, and the United States.

American independent cinema is celebrated in a retrospective of four films made by rebellious filmmaking voices in the 1980s and 1990s, while Shane Meadows’ ‘Dead Man’s Shoes’, which had its World Premiere at EIFF in 2004, is given a Retrospective Gala presentation.

Five feature films will be presented as World Premieres, and the Festival also sees the launch of The Lynda Myles Project, including a discussion event on the living legacy of Myles’ contributions to film culture, and a special work-in-progress preview of new documentary, ‘The Lynda Myles Project: A Manifesto’.

Placing an emphasis on deeper engagement for audiences, Encounters is a new series of discussion events place dialogue at the centre of the Festival and positioning cinema in conversation with other artforms.

Themes across the film programme include: incisive works of non-fiction activism; films making thrilling use of genre to explore social, sexual and psychological issues; films made by artists; LGBTQIA+ stories; a lip-smacking selection of animation; and category-defying films that are just damn stylish and entertaining.

Listings will go live on the EIF website from 10am on Thursday 6 July with tickets going on sale midday on Friday 7 July via https://www.eif.co.uk/edfilmfest  

Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF), which this year is hosted by Edinburgh International Festival, has today announced the programme for its special 2023 edition.

The hand-picked programme celebrates the work of exceptional local and global filmmakers ensuring the flame of independent cinema burns bright for future generations of passionate film fans.

EIFF is pleased to be working with its cinema venue partners Vue Edinburgh Omni and Everyman Edinburgh at the St James Quarter, while the Old College Quad at the University of Edinburgh is the beautiful setting for a weekend of outdoor screenings, Cinema Under the Stars, offering audiences a welcoming selection of films set to make the heart sing.

This year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival programme has been brought together by a team of programmers led by Kate Taylor, Programme Director of the Festival, including feature film programmers Rafa Sales Ross and Anna Bogutskaya, and short film programmers Abigail Addison, Lydia Beilby and Holly Daniel. Alongside Taylor, the EIFF Team is led by Executive Producer Tamara Van Strijthem and Festival Producer Emma Boa.

EIFF is supported by Screen Scotland, and enhanced engagement activities are supported by the Scottish Government’s Festivals Expo Fund alongside the PLaCE Programme (a partnership between the Scottish Government, City of Edinburgh Council and the Edinburgh Festivals).

Kate Taylor, Programme Director, Edinburgh International Film Festival, said: “With this year’s vivid film selection the EIFF programme team has favoured the bold, drawn to filmmakers with searching perspectives and style to burn.

“Designed for an eclectic spectrum of film fans, and defined by a love of independent cinema, this compact programme shines a light on new talent, and offers a smashing six-day journey for the EIFF’s passionate audiences.”

Isabel Davis, Executive Director of Screen Scotland said: “EIFF has put exceptional debut filmmakers front and centre, from Johnny Barrington’s Silent Roar, Rodger Griffiths’ Kill’, to Ella Glendining’s Is There Anybody Out There? alongside an impeccable curation of internationally acclaimed work.

“The infectious energy of Edinburgh in August is palpable in the EIFF team and we’re excited for audiences to discover this year’s wonderful programme.”

Francesca Hegyi, Chief Executive, Edinburgh International Festival, said: “A festival is a gathering of perspectives in a moment in time that reflect the world around us.

“This year, the Edinburgh International Festival is proud to host the return of this forward-looking programme from the Edinburgh International Film Festival, and support these moments of curiosity and connection that imbue our festival city each August.”

Culture Secretary Angus Robertson said: ““I’m delighted to see so much Scottish and international film talent represented in this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival programme.

“The Scottish Government is proud to support the festival with £155,000 from the PLaCE Fund – run jointly with the City of Edinburgh Council – and £59,000 from our Expo Fund. They both support Scottish talent development particularly emerging film programmers and mid-career writers in the case of our Expo Fund.”

Edinburgh International Film Festival runs from Friday 18 to Wednesday 23 August 2023.    

#EdFilmFest  

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram   

Edinburgh International Film Festival 2023 announce Opening Night film

  • Silent Roar is a teenage tale of surfing, sex and hellfire set in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides 
  • The film is the debut feature from BAFTA nominated Scottish writer and director Johnny Barrington and produced by Scottish producer Chris Young 
  • Cast of emerging talent includes Louis McCartney, and rising star Ella Lily Hyland soon to be seen Amazon Prime’s Fifteen Love 
  • The film’s score is created by award-winning composer Hannah Peel (Game of Thrones: The Last Watch, The Midwich Cuckoos) 
  • Edinburgh International Film Festival runs from Friday 18 to Wednesday 23 August 2023 with full programme details released on Thursday 6 July 2023 
  • Press Accreditation for this year’s Festival will open soon 
  • Download the Silent Roar lead image here
  • All tickets for Edinburgh International Film Festival go on sale at midday on 7 July via eif.co.uk/edfilmfest

Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) which this year is hosted by Edinburgh International Festival, is delighted to announce that the Festival will open on Friday 18 August 2023 with the world premiere of Silent Roar, the debut feature from Scottish writer and director Johnny Barrington.  

A teenage tale of surfing, sex and hellfire set in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides, Silent Roar stars newcomer Louis McCartney as Dondo, a young surfer struggling to accept his father’s recent disappearance at sea. Caught up in grief, he is brought to his senses by rebellious crush Sas (Ella Lily Hyland), a high achiever who dreams of escaping the island. When an oddly-behaved new minister arrives on the island, Dondo begins to have cosmic visions …   

Silent Roar is the first feature film from BAFTA-nominated writer and director Johnny Barrington, and has been produced by Scottish producer Chris Young (The Inbetweeners Movie).

The film was shot in the beautiful surroundings of Uig, on the Isle of Lewis, and draws inspiration from Barrington’s teenage years on the Isle of Skye.  

The cast includes Louis McCartney (Hope Street), Ella Lily Hyland (Fifteen Love), Mark Lockyer (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince), Fiona Bell (The Nest, Shetland), Victoria Balnaves (Trust Me), Anders Hayward (Looted) and Chinenye Ezeudu (Sex Education). 

Hosted by Edinburgh International Festival in 2023, Edinburgh International Film Festival will present a bold, hand-picked programme celebrating the work of exceptional local and global filmmakers and ensuring the flame of EIFF burns bright for future generations of passionate cinema fans. 

Writer/Director of Silent Roar, Johnny Barrington has said: “I’m delighted for Silent Roar to have its world premiere at EIFF, and start its life from a festival and a city so close to my heart.

“The film is a fun ride into surfing, death and the cosmos and awkward high school memories from the 90’s. The shoot was the best time of my life, with the best cast and crew in the world sweating creative blood… (and partying hard at weekends – or so I have been told).

“What formed is a story well wadded with ineffable nonsense, tears and laughter. So, if you like staring into sea caves, the human soul and cement mixers, then you’ll love Silent Roar.” 

Kate Taylor, Programme Director, Edinburgh International Film Festival, said: “Silent Roar is a very easy film to fall in love with. From the idiosyncratic charm of Louis McCartney’s performance, to Ella Lily Hyland’s turn as crisp-chomping cool girl Sas, to Hannah Peel’s soaring score, the film is infused with mystic charisma.

“Johnny Barrington renders the Hebridean landscape, shot on film, as something strange and elemental: a place where we can see transgressive explorations of mourning exist alongside witty forays into religion and teenage hormonal curiosity. 

“Stylistically, Silent Roar is the kind of bold, vivid and highly absorbing cinema that EIFF wants to champion, and we can’t wait to give the film a beautiful launch into the world.” 

Isabel Davis, Executive Director at Screen Scotland said: “It is so exciting that Johnny’s hotly anticipated debut feature will first meet its audience at Edinburgh. As one of Scotland’s most distinctive and beguiling new voices, it’s been a privilege to have supported his creative journey.”   

Silent Roar was made with the participation of Screen Scotland, BBC Films, and BFI.  

Edinburgh International Film Festival 2023 programme including participating film festival venue information launches on Thursday 6 July 2023. 

Edinburgh International Film Festival runs from Friday 18 to Wednesday 23 August 2023.  

All tickets for Edinburgh International Film Festival go on sale at midday on 7 July via eif.co.uk/edfilmfest 

Sign up for all the latest EIFF news on the newsletter here.

#EdFilmFest 

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Cineworld Edinburgh hosts IMAX Film Fest with £3 tickets

  • IMAX FILM FEST TO TAKE PLACE ON SATURDAY 22 APRIL
  • TICKETS REDUCED TO £3 FOR ALL FILMS, ALL DAY, ONLY IN IMAX
  • OFFER VALID ACROSS ALL 27 IMAX CINEMA SITES IN THE UK & IRELAND

Cineworld, the UK’s leading cinema chain, will be holding its sixth annual IMAX Film Fest on Saturday 22nd April 2023.

To celebrate the world’s most immersive viewing experience, this exclusive one-day event will give movie buffs all across the country the opportunity to watch a film of their choice in IMAX for only £3.00 a ticket. 

Cineworld is bringing back some of the biggest blockbusters from the last year including: Avatar: The Way of Water, Top Gun: Maverick, Academy Award Best Picture-winning Everything Everywhere All at Once, and residents can also exclusively catch Ponniyin Selvan: 1 on the day, one week ahead of its sequel release.

The festival will give guests the chance to experience the IMAX difference, with the clearest images on the largest screens and heart-pounding audio that puts you in the middle of the action. 

Stuart Crane, VP of Film Cineworld Group, said: “We look forward to offering guests the chance to escape to other worlds in IMAX for only £3.

“Whether that’s immersing yourself with Avatar: The Way of Water or going Mach 10 and beyond with Top Gun: Maverick, the stunning images and powerful, heart-pounding audio in our IMAX auditoriums will give customers a chance to experience films to the fullest.

“There really is no better way to experience a blockbuster than with IMAX at Cineworld.”

David King, VP, Distribution EMEA & Film Development at IMAX: “We are delighted that Cineworld is hosting the IMAX film festival for the sixth year in a row to celebrate the world’s most immersive cinematic technology.

“With crystal clear life-like images and powerful audio to the highest quality, these auditoriums are made to bring the film to life and  transport audiences into their favourite blockbusters – take advantage of the reduced rate while you can, you’re in for a treat!”

Tickets for this unforgettable experience can now be purchased from the Cineworld website or the Cineworld app.

#IMAXFilmFest

The most popular soundtracks of 2022 revealed 

  • Whitney Houston’s biopic “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” takes first place with over 2,5 billion streams 
  • “Top Gun: Maverick” comes in second, while “Elvis” is third 

“I Wanna Dance with Somebody” has the most popular soundtrack of 2022, a new study has revealed. 

The study conducted by CasinoBonusCA analyzed 50 of the most popular movies of 2022 and compared their official soundtrack albums on Spotify, summing the streams for each song, to determine which soundtrack is the most popular of last year. 

Whitney Houston’s biopic “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” is first, as the album got a total of 2.5 billion streams. The soundtrack is composed of 35 songs, including some of Houston’s most famous hits, such as “How Will I Know”, “Saving All My Love for You” and the song which gave the movie its name, which also has the most streams in the whole album – almost one billion. 

Second on the list is “Top Gun: Maverick” with 1.4 billion streams overall. The highly anticipated sequel of the 1986 hit movie was released on May 27th, 2022, in North America, with its soundtrack dropping on Spotify in the same week.

The album includes original songs which quickly became popular, such as “I Ain’t Worried” by OneRepublic, which has 733 million streams alone. 

Another biopic, “Elvis” comes in third place with 508 million streams. The album comprises 36 songs, among which there are covers of Presley’s songs, remixes and some original scores. 

Further down on the list, “Don’t Worry Darling”, starring Harry Styles and Florence Pugh, is fourth with 407 million streams. The album contains only 13 songs but managed to be among the most listened of the year. 

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” closes the top five with 382 million streams. The soundtrack comprises original songs by Ludwig Goransson, Rihanna, Burna Boy and more.

Top 10 most popular soundtracks 2022 
Rank Movie/Tv Show Spotify album  play count 
1 Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody 2,530,000,000 
2 Top Gun: Maverick 1,400,000,000 
3 Elvis 508,000,000 
4 Don’t Worry Darling 407,000,000 
5 Black Panther: Wakanda Forever 382,000,000 
6 Turning Red 184,000,000 
7 Purple Hearts 179,000,000 
8 Marry Me 147,000,000 
9 Nope 67,794,980 
10 Bullet Train 67,404,044 

A spokesperson for CasinoBonusCA commented on the findings: “It is interesting to see the biopics of Whitney Houston and Elvis where the soundtrack is a foundational part of the movie, are next to “regular” movies, which had an original and fairly new soundtrack that was created and curated specifically for it. 

“An example of this is Top Gun: Maverick, which includes original songs by OneRepublic and Lady Gaga, as well as Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, with features by Rihanna and Burna Boy”.