EIFF FULL 2019 PROGRAMME ANNOUNCED 28 May 2019 – Article Author Film Festival Team • Tickets go on sale to EIFF Friends & Filmhouse Members on today at 12noon & on sale to the public on Friday 31st May at 10am. EIFF Artistic Director Mark Adams has today unveiled details of the programme for the upcoming Edinburgh International Film Festival, taking place next month between 19th and 30th June. This year the Festival will screen around 121 new features, including 18 feature film World Premieres, 12 International Premieres, 8 European Premieres and 78 UK Premieres from 42 countries across the globe. ”It is always important that EIFF reflects the changing face of all aspects of society and culture. With attitudes changing throughout the world it is important that this year the festival has a real European spin and presents a series of wonderful films from around Europe with a particular emphasis on Spain this year. “We are also delighted to be able to present a series of striking new films from women directors and filmmaking teams from around the world. In particular this year we have an amazing selection of genre films from women filmmakers, ranging from gothic romance and Western chills through to science fiction and old-fashioned horror. All this set alongside a tribute to French filmmaker Agnes Varda, a women who has inspired generations of directors.” He added: “We are thrilled to be able to finally announce the full programme for this year’s Festival. We are really delighted to be able to stage such a rich and diverse group of films that really do offer something for everybody. The encouragement and support we have received from all around the world has been gratifying and it is with real pleasure that we offer up a feast of fantastic film fare from a wonderful selection of talented filmmakers." - Mark Adams, EIFF Artistic Director Highlights include In Person events, supported by Johnston Carmichael, with guests including one of Britain’s most successful directors, Danny Boyle, award-winning actor and producer Jack Lowden, British documentary filmmaker Nick Broomfield and Scottish writer, director and actor Pollyanna McIntosh, who also brings her latest film, Darlin’ to this year’s EIFF. There will also be a very special In Person featuring award-winning film producer Rebecca O’Brien in conversation with acclaimed director, actor, writer and producer Icíar Bollaín. Bookended by the previously announced Boyz in the Wood and the World Premiere of Mrs Lowry & Son, the Festival will screen UglyDolls as this year’s Family Gala, supported by Edinburgh Live, and the People’s Gala screening of Jamie Adams’ Balance, Not Symmetry, supported by Accenture, as well as special preview screenings of Toy Story 4 and Brightburn in advance of the start of the Festival on 16th June. “It’s exciting to see EIFF showcasing a number of British debut features, alongside strong international threads, reflecting Scotland’s close affinity with both our European neighbours and filmmakers from across the globe, including Scottish/Swedish co-production Scheme Birds. It’s also a chance to encounter stellar filmmakers such as Danny Boyle and Rebecca O’Brien, whose work has brought Scottish stories, unique characters and talent to the world.” -Isabel Davis, Executive Director at Screen Scotland This year’s BEST OF BRITISH strand includes exclusive World Premieres of Bittersweet Symphony starring Suki Waterhouse as a woman whose Hollywood dreams are on the verge of becoming a reality; a love letter to Europe in The Black Forest from writer-director Ruth Platt; coming-of-age supernatural love story Carmilla from director Emily Harris; new British drama by first-time feature director, poet, actor and publisher Greta Bellamacina, Hurt by Paradise; Masters of Love, a smart and wry take on the classic British rom-com from debut feature film-maker Matt Roberts; Schemers, based on writer-producer David McLean’s early years in the music business and the atmospheric noir thriller Strange But True starring Blythe Danner, Brian Cox and Greg Kinnear. Additionally, there is a clash of old and new worlds seen through the eyes of a Cornish fisherman in Mark Jenkin’s Bait; the directorial debut of Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, real-life story, Farming; William McGregor’s debut feature, the magnificent, moody and mysterious Gothic tale Gwen; Joanna Hogg’s autobiographical feature The Souvenir and fun and frothy modern day rom-com, Love Type D. Audiences can also look forward to a screening of Danny Boyle’s Yesterday featuring an all-star cast including Himesh Patel, Lily James, Ed Sheeran and Kate McKinnon. Films in consideration for the prestigious Michael Powell Award will be selected from the BEST OF BRITISH and GALA sections. This year the AMERICAN DREAMS strand will offer an audiences an exciting, challenging and provocative group of films from across the pond featuring some of the brightest and best global talent. The strand will include: the World Premiere of Liberté: A Call to Spy, a fascinating story of a real life sisterhood of spies and the International Premieres of the clever and deviously dark mystery I See You starring Helen Hunt; Andrew Patterson’s sci-fi mystery feature debut The Vast of Night; indie film Justine, which explores the role of a single mother working as a caregiver to a girl with spina bifida and the previously announced comedy drama Go Back to China directed by Emily Ting. Them That Follow, staring Olivia Colman, about an Appalachian sect will receive its European Premiere at the Festival as will Ode to Joy, an unusual rom-com about a man who avoids joy starring Martin Freeman and The Sound of Silence starring Peter Sarsgaard and Rashida Jones. Skin, based on the true story of neo-Nazi Bryon Widner starring Jamie Bell will screen alongside the Cannes 2019 opener, Jim Jarmusch’s The Dead Don’t Die; comedy drama Driven, about the car designer John DeLorean and Jessie Jeffrey Dunn Rovinelli’s quietly radical film, So Pretty. "The Edinburgh International Film Festival plays a vital role in Scotland's screen success story, promoting domestic productions, developing talent and encouraging people to go to the cinema. This cutting-edge programme, supported by the Scottish Government, is a diverse mix of established and emerging talent which will proudly showcase our thriving industry to both local and international audiences." - Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs The EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVES strand, supported by James and Morag Anderson, celebrates the rich cultural impact and importance of European cinema and includes films from France, Ireland, Hungary, Belgium, Austria, Croatia, Germany, North Macedonia, Greece, Ukraine, Switzerland, Belgium, Georgia, Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Iceland. Notable features include: Elfar Adalsteins’ End of Sentence where a bickering father and son from America take a road trip in Ireland; the International Premieres of writer-director Mary McGuckian’s powerful new film A Girl from Mogadishu that tells the inspiring true story of Ifrah Ahmed, a Somalian refugee and She’s Missing from Irish writer-director Alexandra McGuinness. The Emperor of Paris starring Vincent Cassel will receive its UK Premiere at the Festival alongside Rudolph Herzog’s hilariously funny How to Fake a War starring Katherine Parkinson and Aniara, an epic science-fiction drama about a passenger spaceship lost in the void, as well as titles including Barbara Vekarić’s Aleksi from Croatia; Susanne Heinrich’s Aren’t You Happy? from Germany and Swiss psychological drama Cronofobia. Audiences can also look forward to the return of France’s favourite Gaul in Asterix: The Secret of the Magic Potion. This year’s WORLD PERSPECTIVES strand offers audiences an exciting and challenging array of new works by talented filmmakers from around the world. Highlights include: the World Premieres of Astronaut, starring Richard Dreyfuss as a lonely widower who dreams of a trip to space and Rodrigo Guerrero’s Venezia. Australian cinema features prominently this year with the acclaimed Acute Misfortune, a striking, brilliant and unconventional portrait of one of Australia’s most acclaimed and idiosyncratic painters, Adam Cullen; The Flip Side, a breezy rom-com about a budding chef and a British actor starring Eddie Izzard; Undertow, a tense and moving female-led drama from director Miranda Nation and Top End Wedding, a rom-com about family ties and contrasting cultures. Other highlights include two South Korean action-adventure masterclasses in the form of Unstoppable and box office smash Extreme Job. “We’re proud to continue our support of this fantastic Festival. It is a showcase for exciting up and coming talent from across the globe and we are particularly thrilled to see so many women filmmakers represented, across so many genres. This year’s programme promises to be yet another year of discovery.” - Ben Luxford, Head of UK Audiences at the BFI This year’s DOCUMENTARIES programme reflects the ability of documentary film to amaze, inspire, challenge, provoke and fascinate audiences, offering them the unique chance to travel the world and see strange and unusual sights. Strand highlights include: Memory: The Origins of Alien, a fascinating documentary about the making of Alienfrom the very beginning; This Changes Everything which examines the problems faced by women filmmakers and features interviews with Hollywood greats including Geena Davis, Meryl Streep, Natalie Portman, Taraji P. Henson, Reese Witherspoon and Cate Blanchett; Loopers: The Caddie’s Long Walk narrated by former caddie Bill Murray and Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love, from Nick Broomfield, giving audiences an insight into Leonard Cohen’s love affair with Marianne Ihlen. Films in consideration for the annual documentary award are selected from this section. In addition this year, the Scottish Documentary Institute will celebrate the art of documentary filmmaking through the lens of international female directors in a strand entitled PHENOMENAL WOMEN.