23 World Premieres Set For Edinburgh Fest

A scene from Brian Percival's "A Boy Called Dad," having its world premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. Image courtesy of the festival.

At a press conference at Filmhouse in Edinburgh this morning, Artistic Director Hannah McGill announced the full program for the 63rd edition of the Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF). This year the Festival, which runs from 17 - 28 June, will host twenty-three World premieres, and sixteen International premieres including the previously announced Opening Night Gala, Sam Mendes’ “Away We Go.”

“I’m thrilled about this programme, and really looking forward to showing these films to our audience, as well as welcoming this wide array of exciting guests,” EIFF Artistic Director Hannah McGill commented in a statement. “We’ve been really privileged to see a tremendous range of very varied work from all over the world this year, and the programming team have done incredible work in selecting the best and most innovative films. The British section is especially diverse; and it’s also great in the year of Homecoming to be celebrating Scottish talent with both our McDougall/Mackenzie focus and our new Scottish feature films. Of course as well as the screenings, we’ll be rounding out the Festival experience with our live music events, discussion panels, workshops and interviews.”

The Closing Night Gala will be the International premiere of Max Mayer’s “Adam,”  starring Hugh Dancy and Rose Byrne.  The fest will also welcome back three of its four Patrons, Sir Sean Connery, Tilda Swinton and the recently appointed Seamus McGarvey, in “the Year of Homecoming.”

EIFF will showcase 135 features from 23 countries, including: Adam Elliot’s “Mary and Max,” R.J. Cutler’s “The September Issue,” David Mackenzie’s “Spread,” Claire Denis’ “35 Shots of Rum,” Steven Soderbergh’s “The Girlfriend Experience,” Kathryn Bigelow’s “The Hurt Locker,” and Jose Manuel Cravioto’s “The Last Heroes of the Peninsula.”

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A scene from R.J. Cutler’s “The September Issue.” Image courtesy of the Edinburgh International Film Festival. British Galas competing for the UK Film Council-sponsored Michael Powell Award for Best British Feature include seven World premieres: Duncan Ward’s “Boogie Woogie,” Brian Percival’s “A Boy Called Dad,” Jan Dunn’s “The Calling,” Justin Molotnikov’s “Crying With Laughter,” Lindy Heymann’s “Kicks,” Avie Lythra’s “Mad, Sad and Bad,” and Dale Corlett’s “Running in Traffic.” British Galas also compete for the PPG Award for Best Performance in a British Feature Film, which also includes: Andrea Arnold’s “Fish Tank,” Duncan Jones’ “Moon,” Julian Kemp’s “My Last Five Girlfriends,” and Alexis Don Santos’ “Unmade Beds.” Galas will also include: Carlos Cuaron’s “Rudo y Cursi,” Rebecca Miller’s “The Private Lives of Pippa Lee,” Martin Provost’s “Seraphine,” Peter Hewitt’s “The Maiden Heist,” documentary “The Crimson Wing,” by Matthew Aeberhard and Leander Ward, Remi Bezancon’s “The First Day of the Rest of Your Life,” Rowan Woods’ “Fragments,”  the double bill of “Mesrine: Killer Instinct” and “Mesrine: Public Enemy No. 1,”  by Jean-Francois Richet, and Family Gala “The Secret of Kells” by Tomm Moore. All films in the Gala and British Gala sections, as well as the Opening and Closing Galas, are eligible for the Standard Life Audience Award.   Loading ... Which regional European film festival is your favorite? Edinburgh International Film Festival International Film Festival Rotterdam San Sebastian Film Festival Karlovy Vary Film Festival Galway Film Festival Locarno Film Festival London Film Festival Sarajevo Film Festival Other? Read & React: 23 World Premieres Set For Edinburgh Fest   (1 of 2)  Next Page › posted on May 6, 2009 |Share