Edinburgh Film Festival: back from the brink?

By BRIAN FERGUSON
Published on Tuesday 7 February 2012 00:00

IF ANYONE can resuscitate Edinburgh Film Festival after its near death experience last year, it’s Chris Fujiwara. Brian Ferguson finds confidence is high for the acclaimed film writer leading the revival

IF A week is a long time in politics, spare a thought for anyone at the heart of the Edinburgh International Film Festival for the last 12 months.

As they help new artistic director Chris Fujiwara prepare to meet the media tomorrow, they could be forgiven for wishing it had all been a bad dream. This time last year, the event seemed to be basking in a brave new dawn, with details emerging of a radical “rethink” supposedly masterminded by two former directors and a Hollywood actress.

With its increasingly confident rival in Glasgow about to roll its opening credits, the Edinburgh event appeared to have pulled off a public relations coup, unveiling a string of guest curators to shape its 2011 programme.

But fast forward to June and, as the festival got underway with minimal fanfare, there was no sign of the big-name curators touted back in February. The creative advisers said to have shaped the festival’s new vision – Mark Cousins, Linda Myles and Tilda Swinton – had long since severed their involvement. And it was left to Australian James Mullighan, at the helm of his first major festival, to explain why the number of premieres had virtually halved in the space of a year, why there no red carpets or premiere parties, and why there was no awards ceremony. The fallout was long, painful and enduring, and Mullighan left the festival soon afterwards. Headlines around the world mourned the event’s demise, and pressure mounted on its chief executive, Gavin Miller, to quit.

By September, the festival’s board had acted decisively, persuading Miller to resign after just over a year in the post, insisting the event would be staying in its June slot, and then unveiling a new artistic director.

Fujiwara, a Japanese-American film writer based in Tokyo, admitted in his initial round of interviews that he had never visited the festival, or indeed Edinburgh, before his interview. Yet most observers of the event seem content with his appointment and say he should be given time to turn the event around, particularly as his budget is expected to be little more than £600,000, roughly half of what it was just two years ago. Insiders at the festival say there has been a sea change within the organisation since Fujiwara’s appointment in September, and the swift departure of Miller.

Fujiwara is said to have been working unofficially for the event since his initial appointment, although he did not relocate to Scotland until 13 January. Little is known in the UK about the writer, who was born in Brooklyn and studied at Hampshire College in Massachusetts. His long career in journalism has seen him write for titles as varied as Sight & Sound, Cineaste, The Asahi Shimbun, The Boston Globe and The Village Voice.

Jonathan Rosenbaum, long-time film critic for the Chicago Reader, which has also published Fujiwara’s work, says: “I’ve only met Chris once, a few years back, but worked closely and very fruitfully with him as an editor on his terrific anthology Defining Moments In Movies. What he’ll bring to the Edinburgh International Film Festival is a very comprehensive knowledge and deep understanding of contemporary cinema.”

Another film writer who has reviewed Fujiwara’s own work is Richard Brody, the veteran film critic at the New Yorker magazine. “Chris is a very smart, passionate critic,” says Brody. “I’d expect that any festival he programmes will offer lots of films of great interest.”

Fujiwara follows fellow journalists Hannah McGill and Shane Danielsen into the artist director’s chair at the EIFF, which now sells just 5,000 tickets more than its Glasgow rival. Murray Grigor, the veteran Scottish film-maker and a former director of the EIFF, says: “I think Edinburgh is actually pretty lucky to get Chris Fujiwara. He is a bright, intelligent guy who really knows what he is talking about. He is a serious writer about film and has a cracking track record. I really think he’ll connect with the festival’s audience. The problem last year was they simply appointed the wrong people to run the festival.”

After last year’s ill-judged fanfares, little has been released about this year’s event other than confirmation that the prestigious Michael Powell Award for best British film will be making a comeback after being dropped last year.

Festival officials were reluctant to be drawn on whether the controversial relocation of the festival’s main base to Teviot Row House, normally a student union building, would continue this year.

However it is thought the festival will be using more conventional cinemas such as at the Cineworld complex again, as well as deploying its flagship venue for premieres, the Festival Theatre. “This is an ideal opportunity to start afresh with a trusted brand,” says one insider. “One ‘challenging year’ doesn’t make much of a dent in the reputation of a festival with EIFF’s provenance. It is challenging to put a programme together in the time he has had but his curatorial credentials mean it will be one to watch.”

Jonathan Melville, editor of the ReelScotland film website, says: “Everything I’ve heard about Chris Fujiwara is positive. He’s someone who loves cinema and knows a lot about its history and present state. I think the general feeling so far is that he’s a safe pair of hands. There have been no grand statements like there were in 2011 claiming Edinburgh is better than everyone else or that things need to radically change.

“The festival needs to appeal to everyone in some way or other, with mainstream blockbusters sitting alongside independent and arthouse films. The move away from that last year hit the box office hard and I suspect the banished red carpet will be back outside the Cineworld in June.”

Richard Mowe, the veteran film critic and festival organiser, says: “He is a bit of a mystery man. But as an outsider, Chris Fujiwara does not carry the baggage that a candidate closer to home might harbour, which is a positive factor given the flak the event received last year.

“We need someone with a long-term vision – the festival has lacked such a director for a number of years and keeps changing tack to suit the prevailing winds. It is time for stability rather than chopping and changing but with a reduced budget and a legacy of ill-will (at least in some quarters), the new incumbent will have his work cut out.”

Officials are staying tight-lipped about this year’s festival ahead of Fujiwara’s unveiling to the media tomorrow, adding only that the first details of the festival will be announced within the month. Hay says: “We’re delighted that Chris has now arrived in Scotland and the whole team is focused on delivering a successful 66th edition of the festival.”

But as Mike Gubbins, former editor of Screen International, says: “The big issue for the festival is to properly find its feet in the film calendar, which it has not been able to do in June. There are far more festivals than there used to be and an event like Edinburgh needs a strong sense of its own identity.”

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