Highlights from the 78th Edinburgh International Film Festival by Pascal Cicchetti

As the 78th Edinburgh International Film Festival wraps up, director Paul Ridd and producer Emma Boa have plenty to celebrate. Following last year's trial edition, the EIFF appears more self-assured in its new format. Ridd and Boa aimed to make the festival an audience-friendly, discovery-focused event, comfortably situated amid the lively August festival atmosphere, featuring smaller films alongside curated international selections. Additionally, they sought to enhance the industry aspect with a seven-day schedule of panels and networking events.

Not everyone was entirely on board, as critic Siobhan Synnot expressed on the BBC Sunday program that the event was being organized in London and transported to Edinburgh—a criticism that could apply to the Fringe as a whole (see Bella Caledonia’s coverage of the story here [ADD LINK: https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2025/07/24/edinburgh-international-film-festival-made-in-london]). Synnot particularly noted that only one programmer seemed to be Scottish. When questioned by the BFI’s Jamie Dunn, Paul Ridd sidestepped the issue but highlighted that the ‘core team’ is ‘based in Scotland’. [ADD LINK: https://www.bfi.org.uk/interviews/embrace-chaos-festival-director-paul-ridd-78th-edinburgh-international-film-festival]. This topic is contentious in Scottish cultural politics. Scots have valid reasons to criticize perceived cultural colonialism, especially with public funding involved. However, Ridd’s response is valid: defining ‘Scottishness’ solely by nativist criteria shows a narrow view, ignoring that many in Scotland’s cultural sector hail from elsewhere. 

That isn’t to say the criticism lacks merit. Integrating with the Fringe, even using the same ticketing platform, might have its logic. But it has implications: unlike the Fringe, which is now a spectacle disconnected from the city, the festival had deep roots and its own identity. No matter how often Ridd asserts it, this is not year one: nearly eighty years of history back the EIFF, during which it was arguably the leading film event in the British Isles. Currently, the only clear nods to that rich tradition are Paul Stapleton’s excellent print design and an evening hosted by legendary producer and former EIFF director Linda Myles. In trying to merge with the Fringe’s chaotic nature, this ‘Year One’ edition sometimes seems overly hesitant about its past, programming choices, and politics—a sentiment amplified by the team’s curatorial reticence: Ridd was notably absent during my festival week, and most screenings were introduced by programmers who identified only as ‘submission viewers’. In this respect, perhaps the issue isn’t that the festival was organized in London and held in Edinburgh, but that, like the Fringe, it could have been held anywhere.

This is especially notable considering that the programming choices and politics were, overall, a clear success. The programmers clearly infused their selections with passion and cinephilia: the program felt fresh, driven by a genuine love for cinema and a desire for human connection. The two retrospectives struck a balance between popular appeal and rigor, with the local Film Guild curating a small program on Budd Boetticher. The logistics also deserve commendation. Although the refurbished Filmhouse resembled an (extremely orange) hotel lobby, the Tolcross Hall served as a welcoming and relaxed hub for delegates. The Cameo remains as charming as ever, and even the National Gallery proved to be an unexpectedly intimate venue, especially for Q&As and audience engagement.

There’s ample reason to look forward to the next edition—whether it’s the second or the seventy-ninth.