10 Edinburgh International Film Festival line-up highlights

The Herald Scotland

02-07-2025

Some of Scotland's newest filmmaking talent will be showcased alongside some of the screen industry's leading figures across seven days in August.
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The event, led for a second year by director Paul Ridd and producer Emma Boa, will return to the recently-reopened Filmhouse for the first time in three years and expand to the Scottish National Gallery for the first time as part of a drive to attract new audiences.
Here are just a few of the highlights of the programme which will unfold from August 14-20.
Reality Is Not Enough: An "intimate and personal" documentary following the best-selling Edinburgh author Irvine Welsh will get its world premiere on the final night of the festival. Screen stars Liam Neeson, Ruth Negga, Stephen Graham and Maxine Peake will all read from Welsh's novels in director Paul Sng's film, which is said to reveal the writer's to reveal the 'inner world and outer life."
New made-in-Scotland fantasy Grow is set in a self-proclaimed 'pumpkin capital of the world.' (Image: Supplied)
Grow: Scottish filmmaker John McPhail, director of zombie musical Anna and the Apocalypse, assembled a star-studded cast for a fantasy set in the self-proclaimed pumpkin capital of the world. Golda Roshuevel, Nick Frost, Jeremy Swift, Alan Carr, Jane Horrocks, Tim McInnnery, Alan Carr, Sharon Rooney and Sanjeev Kohli all appear in the tale - shot entirely in Scotland - of a curmudgeonly farmer who takes in an unloved niece after discovering her in an orphanage.
The Golden Spurtle: The annual world championship porridge-making contest in the Highland village of Carrbridge comes under the spotlight in Constantine Costi's documentary. The film, which captures the run-up to the final competition organised by long-time figurehead Charlie Miller, is said to offer 'a window into a uniquely competitive world.'
The Golden Spurtle goes behind the scenes at the annual porridge-making contest staged in the Highland village of Carrbridge. (Image: Supplied)
About a Hero: Artificial intelligence and the work of German filmmaker Werner Herzog are brought together in a documentary feature in an 'absurd deepfake universe,' based on a script generated by AI from his body of work. Piotr Winiewicz's film is billed as 'an eerie, fascinating exploration of the evolving nature of artificial intelligence.'
The Toxic Avenger: The festival's 'Midnight Madness' strand will be brought to a case with a long-awaited remake of the first instalment of the superhero comedy franchise. Peter Dinklage, Jacob Tremblay, Taylour Paige, Kevin Bacon and Elijah Wood star in Macon Blair's feature, described as 'staggeringly violent and darkly humorous' by the festival.
The Toxic Avenger will be screened at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. (Image: Supplied)
Dragonfly: Academy Award nominees Brenda Blethyn and Andrea Riseborough star in a story of two neighbours who forge an unlikely friendship. The younger woman takes it upon herself to care for her neighbour, but as suspicions over her intentions grow, a shock act triggers a violent chain reaction.
Andrea Riseborough and Brenda Blethyn star in the new suburban thriller Dragonfly. (Image: Supplied)
Sean Connery Talent Lab: Six 'calling cards' from new Scottish filmmaking talent feature in the first showcase for a new venture launched last year by the Sean Connery Foundation and the National Film and Television School. Their short films focus on a young boy beginning to unearth a secret family trauma, an amateur basketball player under mounting pressure, a young woman who stands up to her employer at a grand ceilidh, the impact of addiction, a doctor forced to choose between medical protocol and her humanity, and a supermarket bargain hunt which turns deadly.
Sacred Bonds: The six classic James Bond films Sir Sean Connery starred in between 1962 and 1971 will get rare cinema screenings at the festival was a long-time patron of, at the recently-reopened Filmhouse, close to his Fountainbridge birthplace. Members of the Edinburgh-born actor's family will introduce Dr. No, From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice and Diamonds are Forever.
Andrea Arnold in conversation: The BAFTA-winning British writer and director will be at the festival to discuss a career which began as a TV dancer and presenter, before she began making short films in the late 1990s. She is best known for her features Fish Tank, American Honey, Bird and Red Road, her Glasgow-set debut starring Kate Dickie and Tony Curran, which will be screened at the festival.
Kevin Macdonald and Andrew Macdonald in conversation: The two brothers have been two of the leading filmmakers of recent decades. Kevin's credits as director include the TV thriller State of Play, the feature films The Last King of Scotland and The Mauritanian, and the documentaries Whitney, Touching the Void and One Day in September. Andrew is best known as a producer of Trainspotting, Shallow Grave, Sunshine on Leith, 28 Days Later and The Beach.