Film Festival gets a funding boost to bring date forward

Published on Monday 17 March 2008 13:15

THE Edinburgh International Film Festival has secured £1.88 million funding from the UK Film Council.

The money is to be spread over the next three years and will help the festival make the transition from taking place in August to June. This year the event will run from June 18 to June 29.

It is hoped the cash will help the festival attract a wider range of films as well as improving the education and training opportunities it offers.

EIFF artistic director Hannah McGill said: "The Film Council's film festival strategy has recognised EIFF's national and international significance and our potential to grow.

"This support will enable our development, and our ability to make a bigger impact in the UK, Europe and beyond."

This year will be the first time that the film festival – the longest-running event of its kind in the world – will be held outside the city's traditional festival season.

It means the city's event will be held in the wake of the Cannes film festival in May, but will enjoy "breathing space" before those held in September in Venice and Toronto.

It will also allow the Film Festival to grab more of the limelight when there are not so many competing events in Edinburgh.

The decision has been made with the full backing of the festival's patron Sir Sean Connery.

EIFF managing director Ginnie Atkinson said: "The Edinburgh International Film Festival is delighted to receive the grant as the first UK film festival to benefit from the fund.

"It is a significant strategic investment and one that will benefit both the public audience and the film industry.

"The funding is attached to specific activities planned to make EIFF even more effective as a meeting place in the broadest sense of the word – a place where culture, ideas and business can be progressed, and in the unique setting of one of the world's most amazing cities."

The Edinburgh International Film Festival began in 1947 as a showcase for documentaries.

Among the big-name movies that have had their UK premieres at the festival have been ET, The Full Monty, Mrs Brown, Ratcatcher, East is East, Billy Elliot, Amores Perros, Amelie, 16 Years Of Alcohol, Young Adam, Infernal Affairs, American Splendor and The Motorcycle Diaries.

Filmmakers honoured with major retrospectives at the event have included John Huston, Sam Fuller, Douglas Sirk and Martin Scorsese.

Among the venues traditionally used for the event are the festival's official home of the Filmhouse, plus the Cameo, the Dominion and Cineworld.