Editor

At a press conference at Filmhouse in Edinburgh this morning, Artistic Director Hannah McGill announced the final programme details for the 61st edition of the Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF). This year, the Festival will showcase one hundred and twenty feature-length films from thirty one countries, including one hundred and one new features of which twenty five are world or international premieres and sixty eight are UK premieres. Highlights include Anton Corbijn’s “Control”, Gus Van Sant’s “Paranoid Park,” Michael Winterbottom’s “A Mighty Heart”, Quentin Tarantino’s “Death Proof”, and the new Pixar title, “Ratatouille”. The Festival will close with Julie Delpy’s highly acclaimed romantic comedy “Two Days in Paris”.
EIFF 2007 takes place from Wednesday, August 15th through Sunday, August 26th. As previously announced, the opening night film will be David Mackenzie’s “Hallam Foe”.
Guests taking part in onstage talks will include directors John Waters, Judd Apatow, Stephen Frears and Mike Leigh, and actors Samantha Morton, Chris Cooper, Julie Delpy, Bob Hoskins, Stellan Skarsgård and Tilda Swinton (recently announced as EIFF’s new patron).
The Festival’s previously-announced Cinema and the Written Word theme will be picked up in events throughout the programme, including joint events with National Theatre of Scotland, Edinburgh International Book Festival, Edinburgh International Festival and the Traverse Theatre, and onstage talks with screenwriters Christopher Hampton, William Nicholson, Paul Laverty and Irvine Welsh. The Retrospective is dedicated to legendary Hollywood screenwriter Anita Loos.
Other Galas will include Stefan Ruzowitzky’s Berlin hit “The Counterfeiters,” Judd Apatow’s No. 1 US box office hit “Knocked Up,” Ethan Hawke’s “The Hottest State,” Mike White’s “Year of the Dog,” Billy Ray’s “Breach” and Matthew Vaughn’s “Stardust”.

British Galas competing for the UK Film Council-sponsored Michael Powell Award for Best British Feature include “Control”, “And When Did You Last See Your Father?”, “Sugarhouse”, “W∆Z” and “Extraordinary Rendition”. UK titles will also compete for a new award for Best Performance in a British Film, sponsored by Premier Property Group (PPG).
Other premieres include Béla Tarr’s “The Man From London”, André Téchiné’s “The Witnesses”, Jeffrey Blitz’s “Rocket Science”, Dan Klores’ “Crazy Love” and Mitchell Lichtenstein’s Sundance sensation “Teeth”.
Twenty four documentary titles will be screened, with a shortlist going forward to compete for EIFF’s Sky Movies Best Documentary Award. EIFF began its life as a documentary festival, and its commitment to this genre remains strong. This year, two documentaries will be screened as Galas: David Sington’s “In The Shadow of the Moon”, and Paul Taylor’s “We Are Together”.
As ever, the world-renowned Mirrorball section will showcase the finest music films and promos from around the world, while the Black Box strand represents cutting edge experimental filmmaking, including an exclusive presentation of new solo work by the legendary cinematographer Christopher Doyle.
The Festival will also highlight its commitment to archive film, with screenings of the full remastered print of Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s epic “Berlin Alexanderplatz”; three remastered Shakespeare adaptations directed by and starring Laurence Olivier; and an exciting new collaboration with Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Foundation. Launched in Cannes this year, the WCF spearheads restorations of lost classics of world cinema. Scorsese has chosen EIFF as the UK launchpad for the WCF’s first projects.
In association with Skillset, EIFF has also named its first set of Trailblazers: new film talent selected from the EIFF programme and the graduating students of the 12 UK Skillset Screen Academies.
The full EIFF programme is now available in print or online at www.edfilmfest.org.uk. Booking for the Edinburgh International Film Festival 2007 opens Friday July 13th. Tickets can be booked online, over the telephone, or in person at EIFF box offices. Every year the Festival offers advance ticket deals from the date of box office opening to the first day of the Festival.