The Edinburgh International Film Festival gives out a number of awards at the end of the festival run. The top award is generally considered to be the Michael Powell Award which carries a cash prize of £20,000 and which is decided by a jury of film experts and industry professionals.
The Michael Powell Award
Named in homage to one of Britain’s most original filmmakers and inaugurated in 1993, the Michael Powell Award has been supported by the UK Film Council since 2001. Rewarding imagination and creativity in British filmmaking, the award is judged by an international jury and carries a cash prize of £20,000.
PPG Award for Best Performance in a British Feature Film
Thanks to the generous support of PPG, 2009 sees the third year of the award to honour the Best Performance in a British feature film. The award is judged by the Michael Powell Jury.
Standard Life Audience Award
Sponsored by Standard Life, the winner is chosen by audience votes from the Gala and British Gala sections.
Best Documentary Feature Award
In 2006 EIFF introduced an award for Best Documentary Feature. The award recognises a singular and compelling achievement in non-fiction filmmaking and is intended to honour work which reveals a fascination with a particular subject, rendered onscreen with style, truthfulness and integrity to its sources. There is a cash prize of £5000.
Skillset New Directors Award
This award is to acknowledge new interpretation and innovation in filmmaking and underlines one of the basic tenets of the EIFF, which is to be a festival of discovery. The award, judged by jury, is selected from first and second time filmmakers in the Rosebud and British Gala sections. There is a cash prize of £5000.
Best British Short Film Award
Judged by an international jury with a cash prize of £1000, this award recognizes new talent in UK filmmaking. The award has been supported by the UK Film Council since 2004.
Scottish Short Documentary Award supported by Baillie Gifford
Supporting Scottish talent, this award will reward first and second time short documentary filmmakers either working in, or from, Scotland. There is a cash prize of £1000.
McLaren Award for New British Animation in partnership with BBC Film Network
This award provides a focus for new British animation and recognises the free spirit of creativity. This award will be supported in 2000 for the fourth year by BBC Film Network. There is a cash prize of £1000.
The Rotten Tomatoes Critical Consensus Award
Introduced in 2008 and judged by a panel of leading UK film critics, the award is presented to a film chosen from the Directors Showcase section of the Festival.
Short Film Nominee Edinburgh for the European Film Awards 2009
An initiative by the European Film Academy in association with the Edinburgh International Film Festival and a series of other festivals throughout Europe. One of the winning short films at EIFF will win a nomination for the European Film Academy Short Film 2009, to be presented at the 22nd European Film Awards on 5 December in Essen/Germany.