10 International Film Festival highlights
ORIGINALLY conceived as a documentary showcase, the Edinburgh International Film Festival is now one of the biggest dates in the movie circuit calendar.
This year, the festival turns 70 and the proceedings begin on Wednesday.
As always, the red carpet will be filled with stars, with the likes of Kevin Bacon and Oliver Stone in attendance.
They’ll follow in the footsteps of Gene Kelly, Sigourney Weaver, Sean Connery, Michael Caine and Clint Eastwood.
The International Festival Of Documentary Films was established in 1947 and set up by the Edinburgh Film Guild, which started in the 1930s.
“There were very few film festivals at that time,” Diane Henderson, deputy artistic director, explained.
“Cannes and Venice began before us, but they missed a few years, which makes ours the longest continually-running film festival in the world.
“There are more than 2500 film festivals around the globe now.
“We were probably running out of content by the ’50s, so expanded to include films with a social conscience.
“Over the years the festival has adapted to include everything.”
Diane vividly remembers coming to the festival as a teenager.
“I’m from Coatbridge in Lanarkshire and it changed my life when I visited the festival.
“We didn’t get subtitled films and documentaries in Coatbridge and suddenly I was seeing all of these different cultures and situations.”
Although Diane graduated in photography, her heart lay in cinema.
She worked part-time in front of house at the Filmhouse, the festival’s hub, for years and was manager at the nearby Cameo cinema for four years, before joining the festival in 2006.
“I deal with anything involving the public and putting the films on the screen,” she explained.
Diane is in no doubt about what the festival means to the city – and also what the city means to the festival.
“Filmmakers love coming here – the audiences are so knowledgeable and friendly,” she commented.
“People want to experience the old cinemas we have.
“And when you see the economic impact report it’s clear how much we bring to Edinburgh.
“It’s a special atmosphere and a lot of that is down to the city.”
The Edinburgh International Film Festival, June 21-July 2.
See edfilmfest.org.uk