Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) has announced its programme of screenings and events for its 2025 edition.
Following last year’s successful revitalised edition, the 78th Edinburgh International Film Festival will run from 14-20 August 2025, under leadership from CEO and Festival Director Paul Ridd and Festival Producer Emma Boa, and will continue to accelerate the discovery of new film talent and engage with audiences, industry and local, national and international media.
This year’s Festival programme explores the fragile ties that bind communities new and old, thrilling and revelatory journeys inward and outward and light shone in the darkest of places. It showcases new work from filmmakers from Scotland, UK, US, Ireland, Canada, Spain, Greece, Denmark, Croatia, France, Turkey, Australia, Brazil, Japan and beyond.
EIFF is pleased to be working with venue partners including the newly reopened Filmhouse alongside Cameo Cinema, Vue Omni, Monkey Barrel Comedy and a new pop-up screen at the National Gallery of Scotland’s Hawthornden Theatre placing the Festival at the heart of the city and August’s unparalleled Festival landscape.
Tollcross Central Hall will serve as the Festival Hub, open throughout the Festival to industry and press delegates for industry panels and networking events, alongside informal meeting and working spaces. Tollcross Central Hall will also host the major In Conversation events open to the public.
This year’s Festival programme continues to champion and nurture a new generation of UK and international talent, with a strong selection of first and second features, including filmmakers returning to the Festival for a second year to present new work.
Complementing the previously announced Opening Night film, Eva Victor’s eagerly awaited black comedy Sorry Baby, the Festival presents a selection of compelling new and established voices in cinema including 18 World Premieres with an Out of Competition strand offering additional World and UK premieres.
The previously announced Closing Night film is the World Premiere of Paul Sng’s unmissable, kaleidoscopic Irvine Welsh documentary Reality Is Not Enough which sits within a programme strong with both Scottish and international talent.
The ultra-competitive The Sean Connery Prize for Feature Filmmaking Excellence returns to present a panorama of contemporary international film and exciting new filmmakers. The Competition comprises ten feature-length World Premieres, with the winning filmmaker awarded £50,000 to support their future projects. Decided by an audience vote, the winner will be announced at the end of the Festival and the award is generously supported by The Sean Connery Foundation. The winner of last year’s award Jack King’s The Ceremony has gone on to garner further acclaim and will be released in UK cinemas this August.
Gripping and thoughtful stories of iconoclastic voices and unlikely connections make up this year’s Out of Competition strand, which showcases a selection of World, International and UK Premieres. Films include John McPhail’s heartwarming star-studded Scottish fantasy Grow features Nick Frost, Jane Horrocks and Sanjeev Koli, while Eddie Marsan and Sam Claflin lead a brooding, stylish thriller in Barnaby Roper’s All The Devils Are Here. A Yugoslav refugee rebuilds a life in Bristol in Thea Gajić’s profoundly moving Surviving Earth, while Constantine Costi’s wholesome Scottish Highland competitive porridge-making documentary The Golden Spurtle is a crowd pleasing delight.
This year’s Lynda Myles Celebrates film is Lucio Castro’s After This Death, a captivating erotic thriller that explores grief, obsession and the haunting power of fleeting, intense connections with a cast including Mia Maestro, Lee Pace and Rupert Friend. The screening is introduced by producer, screenwriter and former EIFF Director Lynda Myles.
Long championed by Martin Scorsese, Budd Boetticher: The Ranown Cycle presents five thrilling, compact and beautiful films directed by Budd Boetticher which represent the apotheosis of the Western genre and feature classic Hollywood movie star Randolph Scott. These 4K restorations are presented in collaboration with Edinburgh Film Guild, one of the world’s oldest continuously running films. The films are The Tall T, Buchanan Rides Alone, Comanche Station, Decision At Sundown and Ride Lonesome.
Catch James Bond on the big screen with a special strand of the six original Bond films starring Sean Connery. Sacred Bonds includes 4K restorations of Dr. No, From Russia With Love, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice and all introduced by a series of soon to be announced special guests.
Listings for the Festival will go live on the EIFF website from 5pm on Wednesday 2 July with tickets going on sale midday on Thursday 3 July and via the EdFringe official app.
Press and Industry accreditation for EIFF is now open and closes on 2 August.
Paul Ridd, CEO and Festival Director of EIFF, has said: “I am absolutely thrilled to launch this year’s beautiful programme of films, talks and events into the world. This programme represents a year of incredibly hard work from our team, headed up by myself and my brilliant collaborator Emma Boa, from our supportive Board, and from our partners across film and the arts. I am enormously grateful to all of them for their encouragement and support. For one week in August we celebrate film and its bright future in the heart of Edinburgh. But we hope the ripple effect for our films, for our filmmakers and for our audiences is felt year-round and all over the world. Bring it on.”
Isabel Davis, Executive Director of Screen Scotland said: “Paul and the team have surpassed themselves with this year's exceptional, must-attend programme. As the major backers of EIFF, we're overjoyed that the Filmhouse is back in action as a key part of the festival’s new footprint, alongside other great spaces. And we are excited by the expanding industry role, providing a springboard for acquisitions, a place for relationships to be forged between Scottish, UK and international filmmakers and professionals, and for emerging talent to encounter the world's greatest films and filmmakers. Tollcross Central Hall as an industry hub is a gift of a space and set to become the focal point for incredible conversations and encounters across the festival. Bring it on!”
More information
Image credits
Header image: Still from Concessions, courtesy of EIFF
First image: Still from Grow, courtesy of EIFF
Second image: Still from The Golden Spurtle, courtesy of EIFF
Third image: Still from Silent Scream, courtesy of EIFF