Edinburgh International Film Festival returns for 75th anniversary with celebration of female directors

Edinburgh’s International Film Festival will celebrate the role of female directors and filmmakers in its 75th anniversary year on a return to “normality” after the Covid pandemic.

The programme of 125 films, documentaries, animations and classics will run in its traditional August slot for the first time in 15 years and will be headlined by a career retrospective of Japanese director Kinuyo Tanaka.

It will also see the return of the iconic Cameo cinema to the festival programme after more than a decade away, while the brand new Everyman screens within the £1bn St James Quarter development host their inaugural events.

A new science fiction film starring Irish actor Colin Farrell will lead the closing gala of the festival, which kicks off its eight-day run on August 12 with a series of free outdoor screenings in St Andrew Square.

EIFF creative director Kristy Matheson said: “I would like to thank all my programming and festival production colleagues for their smarts, dedication and generosity in preparing our 2022 edition.

“To the filmmakers who’ve trusted us with their stories, and our many collaborators for their time and creative input into the festival, a very big thanks. We’ve crafted a programme that we’re enormously proud of and we can’t wait to share it with audiences this summer in Edinburgh.”

Fans of Tanaka, who is credited with playing an essential role in the development of Japanese cinema in the aftermath of the second world war, will be able to see six of her most famous works restored in 4K for the first time.

It forms part of the 50th anniversary celebration of the 1972 Women’s Film Festival.

Meanwhile, Film Fest in the City in the city centre square returns from Friday, August 12 to Saturday, August 14 with a free programme of new and classic cinematic favourites partially curated by the EIFF Young Programmers who have selected a line-up of films from a diverse range of female identifying filmmakers.

A full programme for the festival will be announced on Wednesday, July 20.

Sambrooke Scott, head of audience development at Screen Scotland, said: “We are proud to support the 75th anniversary edition of EIFF – the first edition that reflects the new creative leadership and vision of Kristy Matheson.

“With the event fully back in-person, in August with an expanded footprint across the city and a fantastic array of local and international film talent on offer, it promises to be an exciting return and bold renewal.”