Established in 1947, the Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) is the "longest run film festival in the world" (barring a break for Covid). The Festival returns in 2025 for a week-long run, after a tumultuous recent history (see background below).
This will be the second EIFF for Festival Director Paul Ridd and Festival Producer Emma Boa.
EIFF 2024 saw two new competitions, The Sean Connery Prize for new features ad Thelma Schoonmaker Prize for shorts.
As well as a selection of films, from arthouse to zombie, from home and around the world, the EIFF carries a retrospective, industry events, and a chance to mingle with film fans and creators in both the film festival and other Edinburgh festivals.
Competitions
- The Sean Connery Prize for Feature Filmmaking Excellence (10 world premiere features, £50,000 prize)
- Thelma Schoonmaker Prize for Short Filmmaking Excellence (Schoonmaker in attendance. £15,000 prize)
EIFF 2025
- Opening film: Sorry, Baby
- Closing film: Reality Is Not Enough
Tickets (and booking fees)
You can book tickets online from the EIFF and Edinburgh Fringe (and EdFringe app). In-person tickets can be bought at The Edinburgh Fringe Box Office, Cameo Picturehouse, Filmhouse, Tollcross Central Hall, and Vue Omni
The Edinburgh Fringe’s Community Ticketing Initiative (CTI) offers free tickets.
Edinburgh Film Festival info
Festival Background
Launched in 1947, originally as the International Festival of Documentary Films, the festival ran alongside the Edinburgh International Festival. It is one of the world's first international film festivals.
In 2023, following the collapse of its parent company the Centre for the Moving Image in October 2022, the EIFF had to be rescued. It went ahead eventually with a six-day film festival programme with a focus on new directors, including home-grown fare such as the EIFF opener Silent Roar (Review) and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. The box office, administration, and marketing were all handled in partnership with the Edinburgh International Festival.
Following the 2023 edition, a new organisation was established under chairman Andrew Macdonald to lead a revitalised EIFF from 2024 onwards. Paul Ridd was appointed incoming Festival Director in December 2023 and he and Festival Producer Emma Boa scheduled a week-long programme in 2024.
In the revamped EIFF the emphasis appears to be in attracting new feature films through competitions for features and for shorts with significant prize money.
Prior to the new direction in 2024, the EIFF held a free, outdoor film programme featuring a mixture of Scottish films and Hollywood classics each year. This EIFF component has taken different names such as Cinema Under the Stars in Old College Quad, Film Fest in the City in St Andrew Square or The Mound.
In 2022, the EIFF honoured the spirit of 1972, presenting the first global film event entirely dedicated to the cinematic achievements of female directors, curated by Claire Johnston, Lynda Myles, and Laura Mulvey.
The 2021 EIFF took place for a Covid-shortened week in August, for the first time since 2007. In the pre-pandemic era, the festival took place over a 12 day period in the second half of June/early July. Former EIFF artistic director Hannah McGill, said the EIFF's move to June in 2007, was to give the Film Festival more "breathing space." The festival was moved back to its August slot to take place at the same time as Edinburgh's various other August festivals.
In EIFF 2021, programmers set out to establish a ‘new look’, innovative EIFF set to deliver in-person events in Edinburgh, and beyond, with indoor and outdoor cinema experiences alongside online festival screenings celebrating "film’s ability to bind us together".
Filmhouse and a network of cinemas across Scotland set to collaborate in "joyous communal celebration of the return to cinema".
Due to Covid-19 restrictions, the 2020 EIFF did not go ahead as planned. However, it presented a programme online in partnership with Curzon Home Cinema, with a film each day of the 12 day festival. Films played for between 2 and 12 days, with live Q&As held with special guests.