The full line-up of the 68th Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) has been revealed this morning by artistic director Chris Fujiwara at Edinburgh’s Filmhouse.
The festival will screen 156, up from 146 last year, feature films from 47 countries and include 11 world premieres, eight international premieres, seven European premieres and 95 U.K. premieres. Irish titles ‘Let Us Prey’ and ‘Patrick’s Day’ have been selected among the star-studded line-up of flicks including Anton Corbijn’s thriller ‘A Most Wanted Man’ starring the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bong Joon’ho’s UK premiere ‘Snowpiercer’, Abel Ferrara’s film ‘Welcome to New York’ and Gia Coppola’s ‘Palo Alto’, starring James Franco and Emma Roberts.
Wicked and Wild will feature Brian O’Malley’s horror film ‘Let Us Prey’, which recently walked away with the Méliès d’Argent – best European Fantastic Film in Brussels. Written by Rae Brunton, David Cairns and Fiona Watson, the tale of terror sees the staff and prisoners of the rural police station taken over by an enigmatic stranger in cell six (Liam Cunningham), with just one novice police officer (Rachel McIntosh) left immune to his control. Also starring Pollyanna McIntosh, Bryan Larkin and Hanna Stanbridge, ‘Let Us Prey’ was produced by Brendan McCarthy and John McDonnell of Fantastic Films (Last Days On Mars) and Eddie Dick of Makar Productions (Outcast). The film will go up against Noel Clarke’s ‘The Anomaly’, Eli Roth’s ‘The Green Inferno’ and Leigh Janiak’s ‘Honeymoon’ in the Wiched and Wild category.
The New Perspectives strand offers a range of work from emerging filmmakers, including Terry McMahon’s gritty drama ‘Patrick’s Day’. The film explores the consequences of an intimate relationship between a mentally ill young man and a suicidal air-hostess as his obsessive mother enlists a dysfunctional cop to break them up. Written and directed by McMahon and produced by Tim Palmer (Into the West, Last of the High Kings) and Rachel Lysaght, ‘Patrick’s Day’ stars Kerry Fox (An Angel at My Table, Intimacy) in the lead role, Philip Jackson (Little Voice, My Week With Marilyn) and Moe Dunford (Vikings, Raw). Also in the New Perspectives category is Noh Young-seok’s ‘Intruders’, Hisham Zaman’s ‘Letter to the King’, Gabe Turner’s ‘The Guvnors’ and Geethu Mohanda’s ‘Liar’s Dice’.
The international festival opens with the world premiere of Gerard Johnson’s ‘Hyena’, and the closing gala will feature the international premiere of ‘We’ll Never Have Paris’, co-directed by Simon Helberg and Jocelyn Towne. Organisers of the festival have said that “this year’s American Dreams section has been expanded in order to highlight the resurgence of American independent cinema.” This will include the European Premiere of Craig Johnson’s ‘The Skeleton Twins’, starring Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig, and David Gordon Green’s ‘Joe’, starring Nicolas Cage and Tye Sheridan. Family drama ‘Hellion’, directed by Kat Candler will also feature. Among other highlights, the festival will host the international premiere of America Ferrera relationship drama ‘X/Y’ from Ryan Piers Williams, the world premiere of ‘Castles in the Sky’ from Gillies MacKinnon, and screen Jim Mickle’s revenge thriller ‘Cold in July’ in the audience awards category.
Further strands at the festival include the Director’s Showcase, Teen Spirit, German Focus, Documentary Feature Film Competition and the International Feature Film Competition, which features Nathan Silver’s ‘Uncertain Terms’, Adilkhan Yerzhanov’s ‘The Owners’ and Nils Malmros’ ‘Sorrow and Joy’ among many others. Film buffs of all levels can also enjoy the line-up of Special Events, including Hero Hangouts in partnership with Empire Magazine which includes Simon Helberg, Elijah Wood and Don Johnson.
For more information on the 68th Edinburgh International Film Festival, which runs from June 18-29, click here.
