Ahead of its programme launch on 2 July, Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) has announced the footprint of this year's Festival with participating venues placing the Festival and its programme of public screenings and industry events at the heart of the August Festival landscape in Edinburgh.
Now reopened after a three year hiatus, Edinburgh’s much-missed cinema Filmhouse will partner with EIFF as a key venue, building new links between the cinema and the Festival. The newly refurbished cinema on Lothian Road will run across the Festival programme and will be a source of refreshment for Festival goers thanks to the cinema’s newly designed 100 capacity cafe bar space.
Cameo Cinema on Home Street also returns as a key partner venue. The cinema will again play host to screenings and events across the EIFF programme with the cinema’s lively bar area again acting as a social hub before and after EIFF events.
New for 2025 will be a pop up screen at National Galleries Scotland: National, on Princes Street in the heart of the bustling Fringe. The Hawthornden Theatre, run in partnership with Assembly Festival, has a capacity of 150 and will complement the Filmhouse and Cameo concentrating on screening second and third screenings across the Festival programme.
Vue Omni Centre on Calton Square also joins this year’s Festival, rounding out this year’s Festival footprint. Monkey Barrel Comedy will also play host to some of this year’s Festival events.
Tollcross Central Hall will act as EIFF’s Festival Hub for industry and press delegates, as well as hosting public-facing In Conversation events with major filmmaking talent. The Festival’s industry programme will run in this venue, including panels, talks, networking events and meeting spaces, open to delegates each day of the Festival.
These core venues continue to establish new relationships across Edinburgh’s cultural organisations and place EIFF at the heart of the uniquely busy and unparalleled Festival period in August.
Edinburgh International Film Festival will run from 14-20 August 2025. Building on EIFF’s reinvigorated vision under new leadership from CEO and Festival Director Paul Ridd and Festival Producer Emma Boa, the Festival will continue to accelerate the discovery of new film talent and engage with audiences, industry members and local, national and international media.
Paul Ridd, CEO and Festival Director of EIFF, has said “We are thrilled to be working with the reopened Filmhouse as well as Vue Cinema this year. These are exciting firsts for us as the completely new, revamped and relaunched iteration of the Festival going into our second year, but they carry with them the legacy of EIFF’s history in the city and deep connection with these vital venues. We are also delighted to return to The Cameo Cinema and to transform Tollcross Central Hall into a buzzy Festival Hub and a beautiful space at the National Galleries Scotland: National into a state of the art pop-up screening venue. We cannot wait to pack these big, beautiful spaces with our rich programme of film screenings, events and talks across the seven days of our Festival. Bring it on again!”
Helmed by CEO and Festival Director Paul Ridd and Festival Producer Emma Boa, the Festival team aims to create a world-class showcase for independent film and filmmaking talent. Ridd is supported by the EIFF Board, led by Chair Andrew Macdonald of DNA Films, producer of the iconic Edinburgh-based film Trainspotting; and Vice Chair Amy Jackson, producer of BAFTA award-winning indie, Aftersun; as well as Peter Rice, former Chairman of General Entertainment at Disney and President of 21st Century Fox; Teresa Moneo, Former Director of UK Film, Netflix; Isla Macgillivray, Partner at Saffrey; and Romana Ramzan, Producer at No Code Studio.
EIFF will announce its 2025 programme on Wednesday 2 July.
EIFF 2025 is supported by Screen Scotland.
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Image credits
Header image: Filmhouse screen 1, credit Kat Gollock
Body image: National Galleries exterior, courtesty of EIFF