An exciting new vision for the EIFF under new Creative Director Kristy Matheson who will deliver a dynamic programme of cinema screenings in Edinburgh in the heart of festival season with attending UK & International filmmakers presenting their work.
Five new strands to help audiences navigate the festival: ‘Night Moves’, ‘The Conversation’, ‘Heartbreakers’, ‘The Chamber’ and ‘Postcards From The Edge’.
A brand-new competitive section for ‘The Powell and Pressburger Award for Best Feature Film’.
The programme of approximately 125 features, documentaries, animations, classics, experimental and shorts – programmed by a team of regular and guest programmers led by Kristy Matheson.
Aligning with the EIFF 2022 festival theme of celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Women’s Film Festival, EIFF’s ground-breaking global film event in 1972 entirely dedicated to the cinematic achievements of female directors – there will be two major retrospectives: ‘Social Studies: Six Films by Tanaka Kinuyo’ on the Japanese actor turned director and a thematic season ‘Reframing the Gaze: Experiments in Women’s Filmmaking, 1972 to Now’ curated by Kim Knowles.
FREE curated programme of outdoor screenings of films in St Andrew Square for ‘Film Fest in the City’ over the opening weekend from 12th to 14th August, including a takeover day by EIFF Young programmers and a celebration of Scotland’s Stories on Screen supported by EventScotland as part of the Year of Stories 2022.
New cinema footprint for the festival running West to East (Cameo Picturehouse, Filmhouse, St Andrew Square, Vue Omni Edinburgh and the new Everyman Edinburgh in St James Quarter.
EIFF Talent Lab returns to give practical support to 30 scriptwriters, directors or producers working on their first feature film. EIFF’s Script Starter programme also support 8 new scriptwriters and 7 new programmers will participate in the EIFF & Curate It Fellowship.
Edinburgh International Film Festival returns for its 75th anniversary year with a fully in-person programme of screenings and events championing innovative filmmaking from Scotland and beyond.
This year’s festival will return to in-person screenings and events indoors across the city centre at Filmhouse Cinema, Cameo Picturehouse, Everyman Edinburgh at the St James Quarter and Vue Edinburgh Omni and outdoors with Film Fest in the City in St Andrew Square, in a rich programme celebrating the collective cinema experience.
The programme of 90 new feature films is structured across 5 strands with 10 films in competition as part of the new Powell and Pressburger Award. In 2022, EIFF reimagines its major award, The Michael Powell Award for Best British feature with a renewed commitment to internationalism by presenting The Powell & Pressburger Award for Best Feature Film. This competition of ten films is shared equally between UK and international talents and honours imagination and creativity in filmmaking.
Each strand in the festival programme will have a headline film which addresses the strand’s main theme and as well as its own retrospective title. This year’s strands and taglines are:
The Conversation: Cinema to get you talking
The Chamber: Quality arthouse for the culturally curious
Heartbreakers: Friends, family, lovers, and cheaters
Night Moves: Cult, music, late night thrills
Postcards From the Edge: Bold visions to expand horizons
A soon-to-be-announced Opening Gala and a Central Gala will join Closing Night Gala of filmmaker Kogonada’s After Yang starring Colin Farrell to bookend the festival. Kogonada has also curated Carte Blanche, a beautiful selection of films, offering audiences a special insight into some of the films that have inspired After Yang.
Exploring this year’s festival theme is a major retrospective of the work of performer and film director Kinuyo Tanaka (1909 – 1977) who played an essential role in the history of Japanese cinema. Moving gracefully across genres, these six new 4K restorations of films from Tanaka as a director offer a unique perspective on a nation grappling with the aftermath of war, social upheaval, and modernisation: all seen through the lives of its female citizens. First conceived by Lili Hinstin and presented at the Lumière Festival in 2021, this retrospective Social Studies: Six Films by Tanaka Kinuyo is programmed with notes by Kristy Matheson and presented here in partnership with the BFI Southbank, Glasgow Film Theatre, Bristol Watershed and Janus Films.
Films included in the retrospective are:
Love Letter (Koibumi), a star-studded tale of love and social dislocation
The Moon Has Risen (Tsuki wa noborinu), a bright comedy about love and family
Forever a Woman (Chibusa yo eien nare), a bold examination of female desire and agency
The Wandering Princess (Ruten no ohi), Tanaka’s lavish historical epic, starring Kyô Machiko (Rashomon)
Girls of the Night (Onna bakari no yoru), an emotionally charged melodrama on the plight of sex workers
Love Under the Crucifix (Ogin-sama), a sweeping historical drama of illicit love set in feudal Japan
Reframing the Gaze: Experiments in Women’s Filmmaking, 1972 to Now is a retrospective programme which responds to the 50th anniversary of the 1972 Women’s Event held at the Edinburgh International Film Festival and is also inspired by the broader landscape of the festival during the 1970s, particularly in its attention to feminist film theory and avant-garde.
Film Fest in the City in St Andrew Square Gardens returns from Friday 12th to Sunday 14th August with a free programme of new and classic cinematic favourites which reflect the wider EIFF themes, delivered in partnership with Essential Edinburgh and supported by Innis & Gunn, EIFF’s Official Beer Partner, our travel partners LNER and supported by EventScotland as part of the Year of Stories 2022. The programme of films also reflects EIFF’s return to August embracing other cultural festivals around it. Saturday’s film schedule celebrates Scotland’s Stories on Screen and Sunday’s film schedule is shaped and programmed by EIFF Young Programmers who have selected a line-up of films from a diverse range of female identifying filmmakers. Announcements on outdoor programme will be made in due course.
In addition, the Festival is collaborating with partners to widen its reach through a programme of network presentations across Scotland, opening up access and inspiring curiosity from those who may previously not have been able to experience the Festival programme. Details will be announced in the coming weeks.
This year’s industry events will take place in-person from 16th to 19th August with a programme designed to engage and energise by creating meaningful unexpected bridgeways across cultural platforms and practitioners. Press screenings and events will take place throughout the festival with accreditation opening next week via the film festival website. Please check EIFF social media channels for more information.
This year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival programme has been brought together by a team of programmers led by Kristy Matheson, Creative Director of the Festival.
Alongside Kristy, the EIFF Programming Team consists of Manish Agarwal, Anna Bogutskaya, Rafa Sales Ross, Kate Taylor, Short Film Programmers – Jenny Clarke (narrative) Rohan Crickmar (non-fiction), Black Box Programmer – Lydia Beilby, Animation Programmer – Abigail Addison, Retrospective Curator (2022 Theme) Kim Knowles.
The full festival programme will be announced on Wednesday 20th July with tickets on sale to Filmhouse Members and Screen Saver Passholders from 12pm on the 20th and on sale to the general public at 10am on Friday 22nd July.
EIFF press and industry accreditation for screenings, talks and industry events will open next week.
EIFF initiatives this year include Talent Lab Connects, a 9-month programme to help support filmmaking teams with professional script editing and mentoring open to EIFF Talent Lab alumni and their collaborators to develop a feature film or serial drama project.
EIFF & Curate-It Fellowship is a 12-week online curatorial training programme for 7 early career programmers created to develop an online programme with digital access on the Curate-It platform and a public event for EIFF in 2022.
EIFF Curatorial Commission & Mentoring Programme is an annual commission for world class film programming. In 2022, EIFF invites 3 mid-career programmers to develop a programme for public presentation. The 1:1 mentoring programme will pair the 3 mid-career programmers with a leading international curator.
EIFF Critical Writing Commission is an annual writing commission based on a particular theme or provocation that connects 10 mid-career Scottish born or based cultural critics to global editors and audiences.
EIFF 2022 Festival Theme:
In 1972, the Edinburgh International Film Festival presented the first global film event entirely dedicated to the cinematic achievements of female directors, curated by Claire Johnston, Lynda Myles, and Laura Mulvey. Honouring the spirit of this original programme provocation, EIFF’s 2022 Theme will acknowledge the multiplicity and variety of feminisms in contemporary society across our entire programme with a focus on: contemporary directorial works, two large-scale retrospectives, training, and targeted professional programmes.