The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) is preparing to open its 2026 edition, reportedly buoyed by a significant upturn in Scottish cinema. Following a period of rebuilding after its collapse and speedy rebirth, the festival is poised to celebrate a year marked by what has been described as the "undeniable confidence and conspicuous achievement" of its home film industry.
Scheduled to run from 13 to 19 August, the EIFF traditionally serves as a platform for global cinema, but its upcoming iteration places a particular emphasis on providing exposure for Scottish filmmakers. This mirrors the approaches of other major festivals, such as Cannes for French directors and Sundance for US independent cinema, offering local talent a crucial audience and industry spotlight.
This year’s programme features a strong contingent of Scottish productions. The coveted opening gala slot, customarily reserved for a local film, has been awarded to The Incomer. This surreal comedy, set in Scotland’s far north and starring Domhnall Gleeson, previously garnered a major award at the Sundance festival earlier in the year, signalling its international appeal.
Further highlights from the Scottish selection include Borges and Me, an adaptation of Jay Parini’s memoir detailing a trip with author Jorge Luis Borges through the Highlands. Also featured is The Education of Jane Cumming, which tells the real-life 19th-century story of an Edinburgh schoolkeeper who inspired the play The Children’s Hour. Scottish artist Douglas Gordon is the subject of a new documentary, Douglas Gordon by Douglas Gordon, while Scottish Ballet’s dance rendition of Romeo and Juliet will be presented in the film These Violent Delights. The festival will also revisit a past classic with a 30th-anniversary screening of Trainspotting, accompanied by a live club night featuring a DJ set from author Irvine Welsh.
Paul Ridd, the festival director, addressed the balance of promoting local talent while maintaining high standards. "It’s great to have all those movies in the mix, these films deserve to be at the big table," Ridd stated. "But we never want to think we’ve got to promote this stuff. What we want to avoid is the sense that there’s any film in our lineup that is in there for any other reason than it’s just top quality. We’re not quota driven. It’s always about the quality. And I’m just very happy that there’s such a wealth of great Scottish work to showcase."
Ridd attributed much of this success to the influence of Screen Scotland, the state-and-lottery-funded agency established in 2018. Designed as a specialist funding unit for Scottish film, Screen Scotland's efforts have been "testament to what the whole organisation has been doing to put those film-makers and those films on the map," according to Ridd.
Further underscoring the confidence in the Scottish film industry's evolution is the recent appointment of Screen Scotland’s executive director, Isabel Davis, as head of the British Film Institute’s £20 million filmmaking fund. Davis, who is set to assume her new role in October, emphasised the critical role of increased and targeted project development.
"We were put together with the notion that really good creative development support was going to be the key to all of that film-making success, and it has paid off," Davis explained. She detailed the long-term, project-by-project commitment involved, which includes "giving tough love to people on scripts, saying that things could be better, pushing people to be more ambitious – and then backing that up with more development support and then production support."
A significant marker of this success was the selection of seven Scottish films for Sundance earlier this year, including The Incomer. Among these was The Story of Documentary Film (The 1980s), the latest in a series of film-history essays from critic-turned-filmmaker Mark Cousins, whom Davis describes as "the gift that keeps on giving" for the Scottish film industry.
Conversely, Davis also highlighted Everybody to Kenmure Street, a documentary about the mobilisation of local activists to prevent the arrest of two men by immigration enforcement officials, as a recent Scottish film eliciting fervent admiration across the industry. She noted its exceptional reach, stating, "it’s just connected to people so far beyond Scotland, it’s unbelievable."
Despite these successes, challenges persist for independent filmmakers. Producer Ken Petrie, whose new film Sunny Dancer is releasing in UK cinemas this week, has benefited from Screen Scotland’s involvement but described the industry as still tough. "You know, it’s always been a hard business. It’s never been so hard or expensive to make something that has so little financial reward. The whole value chain of the film industry at the moment is a challenge, especially for independent producers," Petrie observed.
Petrie, who began his career as a special effects technician on major productions such as The Wolfman, Robin Hood, and World War Z, believes Scottish filmmakers need to be more globally ambitious. "Scotland is in a good place, but I think we need to have a bit more courage to try to really blossom on to the global stage. The question for me is: how do you make that stuff that’s going to travel internationally, entertain Scotland and the UK, but also the rest of the world?" he posed.
He acknowledged the centralisation of the UK film business in London, questioning the viability of building global companies while working in isolation in Scotland. "The ugly fact is the UK film business is centred in London. I don’t know if it’s possible that people can live and work in Scotland in isolation and be able to build global companies. I’m trying to make stuff for global audiences, so surely you have to go and find out what the global marketplace is saying," Petrie added.
Petrie also expressed concern that Westminster might hamper Scotland's record as an international production base, which has seen major projects like Spiderman: Brand New Day, The Odyssey, Frankenstein, and The Buccaneers shoot in the country, by potentially limiting the level of subsidy available to attract such productions. He characterised this dilemma as a "four-dimensional perpetual catch-22."
Despite these structural challenges, Petrie maintains an optimistic outlook. "I mean, Scotland’s an exciting place. Everybody loves the Scots. Certainly when I’m out in the marketplace that’s what comes across. There’s a lot of goodwill out there towards Scotland. I try to always be an optimistic realist and I think that’s what we need to be in Scotland at the moment."
