The Edinburgh Film Festival will showcase new Scottish films
The Edinburgh International Film Festival, which runs from August 13 to 19, will feature a number of new Scottish films. The festival’s opening gala will feature the surreal comedy *The Incomer*, starring Domhnall Gleeson, which is set in the far north of Scotland. Earlier this year, the film won a major award at the Sundance Film Festival, according to The Guardian.
The program also includes the film *Borges and Me*, based on Jay Parini’s memoir about accompanying writer Jorge Luis Borges on his journey through the Scottish Highlands. In *Sunny Dancer*, which was filmed in the Loch Lomond area, Bella Ramsey plays a teenager coping with the aftermath of cancer. The film is described as a comedy about a camp for people undergoing chemotherapy.
Audiences will also be treated to *The Education of Jane Cumming*—a film based on the true story of Jane Cumming, a 19th-century Edinburgh schoolteacher who inspired the play *The Children’s Hour*. The documentary *Douglas Gordon by Douglas Gordon* is dedicated to the Scottish artist Douglas Gordon. Scottish Ballet will present *These Violent Delights*—a film adaptation of its dance production based on *Romeo and Juliet*.
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The festival will also feature a screening of *Trainspotting* to mark the film’s 30th anniversary. The program will be complemented by a club event featuring a DJ set by author Irvine Welsh.
Festival director Paul Ridd stated that Scottish works were included in the program primarily because of their quality, not because of any quota system. Isabel Davis, Executive Director of Screen Scotland, attributed the industry’s success to long-term support for project development and film production. According to her, seven Scottish films were selected for Sundance this year, including Mark Cousins’ *The Incomer* and *The Story of Documentary Film (The 1980s)*.
At the same time, Sunny Dancer producer Ken Petry noted that it is becoming increasingly difficult for independent producers to operate due to high production costs and low financial returns. He also raised the issue of Scottish projects entering the international market and the level of subsidies needed to attract major international film shoots to Scotland.
