Film festival resists move to August and revives top honour

The festival also announced that it would be reinstating the prestigious Michael Powell Award, which had been dropped as part of an overhaul of the festival by now-departed artisitic director James Mullighan.

Despite repeated industry concern and criticism about the negative impact moving the festival from August in 2008 had had on the event, the festival’s board yesterday insisted that the decision was “correct”.

The announcement was made jointly by Ken Hay, who is acting chief executive of the Centre for the Moving Image following the departure of Gavin Miller last month, and the festival’s newly-appointed artistic director, Chris Fujiwara.

Mr Hay, who is the former head of the Scottish Screen, said that they had carried out a wide consultation before deciding to keep the festival in June.

“The ‘June or August’ debate has been at the forefront of discussions since the end of this year’s festival and is a matter on which the board has sought broad consultation,” he said.

“The film industry, including press, distributors and sales agents, have all been part of the conversation to ensure a decision that is correct and will provide the very best future for the festival.

“With the dates now final, our newly-appointed artistic director, Chris Fujiwara, will work with his programming team to create a fantastic line-up for 2012.”

Pressure has been building for a move back to August following the controversial re-think of the event this summer, which saw a sharp fall in the number of premieres and attendance figures.

Critics believe that since it moved to June, the long-running EIFF has struggled to maintain its public profile, secure media coverage and attract enough high-profile industry names.

The Michael Powell Award, inaugurated in 1993, is given in recognition of imagination and creativity in British filmmaking and is judged by an international jury.

Past winners of the much-coveted award include Derek Jarman’s Blue, David MacKenzie’s Young Adam, Duncan Jones’s Moon and Anton Corbijn’s Control, a biopic of the Joy Division singer, Ian Curtis.

Mr Fujiwara said that he was “delighted” at the decision to bring the award back, describing it as a long-running, “integral part” of the festival. “It has seen some inspirational filmmakers enjoy its benefits and is crucial to the festival’s creative vision,” he said.

Shane Meadows, who won the title for Somers Town in 2008, said that it had an important role. “The award has deep significance to me personally as my film-making idol is Martin Scorsese and it so happens that in turn, his is Michael Powell. I was aware of it from the beginning when I launched Small Time at Edinburgh in 1996 and it was a real honour to receive the award in 2008 for Somers Town. The award can be a major boost to a film-maker’s profile, and I’m delighted to hear of its re-instatement at EIFF for 2012.”

Film critic Siobhan Synnot said that bringing back the award was “an important step”.

“It’s a brand that carries Edinburgh’s name out internationally, but also let’s be honest – who doesn’t like a prize, especially in this industry?

“It’s an incentive to filmmakers and distributors to bring their best movies to Edinburgh again.”