2024 was a BIG year for the Edinburgh Film Festival, returning to something close to it’s old days. Today, the festival unveiled it’s 2025 line-up and promise to shine bright light in the darkest places!

The 78th Edition of the rejuvenated international film festival will run from 14th until 20th August. Exploring the fragile ties that bind communities new and old, thrilling and revelatory journeys inward and outward. Showcasing films from around the world from Scotland, UK, US, Ireland, Canada, Spain, Greece, Denmark, Croatia, France, Turkey, Australia, Brazil, Japan and beyond.

43 new feature films, 18 feature film World Premieres including 10 World Premieres competing for The Sean Connery Prize for Feature Filmmaking Excellence, 6 special retrospective screenings, James Bond on the big screen and a celebration of the work of filmmaker Budd Boetticher; 6 short film programmes including The Thelma Schoonmaker Prize for Short Filmmaking Excellence competition.

Related Post: 2024 Edinburgh Film Festival Coverage

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  kaleidoscopic Irvine Welsh documentary Reality Is Not Enough which sits within a programme strong with both Scottish and international talent.

Some of the highlights on offer next month include Paul Andrew Williams’  tautly constructed thriller of suburban discontent and brooding violence Dragonfly starring Andrea Riseborough and Brenda Blethyn. Nick Frost, Jane Horrocks and Sanjeev Koli all star in  John McPhail’s heartwarming star-studded Scottish fantasy Grow.  We do enjoy an Patricia Highsmith-esque noir existential thriller, Jan-Ole Gerster’s Islands will tick all the boxes.

Belgian auteurs Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne return with another riveting and moving study of human nature and social constraints in Young Mothers. Eddie Marsan and Sam Claflin lead a brooding, stylish thriller in Barnaby Roper’s All The Devils Are Here. Dominik Moll’s spellbinding police thriller Case 137 explores a knotty moral crisis.

Bookending the Edinburgh Film Festival is the lovingly embraced Midnight Madness strand.  Unleashing the best in genre cinema from around the world is the World Premiere of Ben Wheatley’s  new film Bulk. There will also be a UK premiere for the long awaited remake of The Toxic Avenger by filmmaker Macon Blair and starring Peter Dinklage and Elijah Wood.

Other ferocious new midnight movies include Grace Glowicki’s lo-fi, punk riff on Frankenstein Dead Lover. Julie Pacino’s darkly humorous psychological horror debut about female pain and identity I Live Here Now,  Gerard Johnson’s tightly wound and darkly hilarious new thriller Odyssey.  Finally The McManus Brothers grittily inventive and unpredictable spin on revenge thrillers and the time travel genre Redux Redux.

In Conversation strand, will feature  brother talks to brother with Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland) ,speaking to producer Andrew Macdonald (Trainspotting, Civil War, 28 Years Later) about filmmaking and their  careers. Nia Dacosta will discuss her acclaimed work  including The Marvels, Candyman and upcoming film 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. Filmmaker Ben Wheatley and long time producing partner Andy Starke will discuss their collaborations and Award winning director Andrea Arnold chat about her filmography.

Edinburgh Film Festival CEO Paul Ridd commented on the 2025 programme “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.”

Edinburgh International Film Festival will run from Thursday 14th to Wednesday 20th August.

Check out the full programme for the festival, head over to the festival website. The tickets are going on sale midday on Thursday 3rd July.

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