Edinburgh International Film Festival is delighted to announce this year's extensive Industry Programme which will begin with the annual EIFF Screen Summit on Wednesday 21st June, along with EIFF’s Talent Development Programmes, all as part of the Festival’s 71st edition.
Industry Programmes
EIFF provides the perfect platform for the Scottish, UK and international film industry to come together to understand discuss and debate the future of film, make connections, and enjoy the best networking events.
EIFF Screen Summit
This year’s Screen Summit will be held on Wednesday 21 June, in partnership with Edinburgh College of Art at the University of Edinburgh and Creative Scotland, and in association with the BFI, and will focus on two key issues – the UK screen sector in Europe as the UK moves towards Brexit; and the key developments in Scotland’s screen sector in the past 12 months.
One year on from the EU Referendum, this is an opportunity for the UK’s screen sector to come together to understand, discuss and debate the implications and opportunities for the UK’s screen sector post Brexit.
There have been some significant developments in Scotland’s screen sector in the past 12 months, and following on from the publication of the Screen Sector Leadership Group Report in January 2017, the second half of the Summit will provide updates on recent achievements and the opportunities ahead. This session will begin with a keynote address from Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Relations at the Scottish Government.
Industry Events Programme
The nine days of the Industry Events Programme is aimed at increasing understanding of the main issues affecting the film industry, both in the UK and worldwide, and is also focused on networking, developing talent and facilitating collaborations.
EIFF is partnering with a number of organisations to deliver a full programme of discussions, workshops, talent programmes and networking events with leading industry practitioners from organisations including the BFI, Creative Scotland, the British Council, Women in Film & TV, BFI NETWORK, PRS for Music, IMDB Pro, Creative Europe and the Scottish Documentary Institute (SDI).
Programme highlights include networking opportunities in partnership with both the BFI NETWORK and PRS for Music connecting filmmakers with producers and with composers to support future creative collaborations. SDI will moderate a discussion between fiction, documentary and animation filmmakers about the need for character driven work. And BAFTA Scotland and Scotland Loves Anime are joining forces to present an in-conversation event with Akira’s animation director, Takashi Nakamura.
Distribution Rewired
Distribution Rewired will return for the third year focusing on developing communication and collaborations between filmmakers and film distribution professionals working with newer distribution models. Events will include looking at how to make your film visible in a sea of content and, in partnership with Film Hub Scotland, what the role of the film exhibitor is in relation to new models of distribution. A dedicated marketplace sits at the centre of the focus where pre-selected projects can arrange meetings with key representatives from the industry to look at more creative approaches to distribution.
EIFF Works In Progress
EIFF Works in Progress will showcase ten of the most exciting new films from across the UK to an exclusively invited audience of sales agents, distributors, financiers and festival programmers, helping them reach their ambitions of completion, distribution and exhibition. Projects are primarily fiction with two documentaries also included.
EIFF Works in Progress projects will include: Leon Chambers’ offbeat, coming-of-age comedy Above the Clouds; Will and Tom Hutt British caper film Close But No Cigar; Grant McPhee’s Scottish folk horror Far From The Apple Tree; James Gardner’s comedy-drama Jellyfish; Nic Cornwall’s romantic comedy musical Solo!; the affectionate comic tale, The Great Director from Chris Waitt; Mexican-set drama, Tiempo de Lluvia by Itandehui Jansen; Alexandra Boyd’s ghost story Widow’s Walk and documentaries, Michal Sulima’s Piano to Zanskar, a piano tuner’s journey to the Himalayas and Harri Shanahan and Sian Williams’s 1980s lesbian London history, Rebel Dykes.
Talent Development Programmes
Set in the heart of EIFF’s Industry Press & Industry Centre, EIFF’s talent development programmes are a core part of the Festival, supporting both emerging and more established filmmaking talent
EIFF Talent Lab
Thirty filmmakers will take part in the four-day EIFF Talent Lab, which is supported through the Scottish Government’s Edinburgh Festivals Expo Fund. EIFF Talent Lab will include workshops, panels, masterclasses and specially tailored one-to-one sessions. Selected from a record-breaking number of applications, 2017 participants will meet with distributors, sales agents, producers, talent agents, financiers and development professionals to increase their knowledge, expand their professional network and gain new skills. Industry guests taking part in the Lab programme this year include representatives from The Bureau, Curzon Cinemas, Lionsgate, BBC Films, Casarotto Ramsay, Bankside Films and Altitude Entertainment.
2017 Talent Lab participants will include screenwriters: Morayo Akande, Bex Harvey, Kristina Heaney, Jake Mackintosh, Claire Nicol, Matt Redd; writers/directors: Lucy Campbell, Tim Courtney, Emily Greenwood, Jane Gull, Moin Hussain, Douglas King, Mikey Murray, Louis Paxton, Bradley Porter; and producers: David Brown, Douglas Cox, Loran Dunn, Georgina French, Dave Gillies, Helen Gladders, Terhi Kylliäinen, Alysia Maciejowska, Ali Mansuri, Sophie Reynolds, Iain Simpson, Alison Sterling, Kate Turner, John Walkinshaw, and Russell Would.
EIFF Ideas Laboratory
EIFF Ideas Lab is being delivered in partnership with Wellcome and the Beltane Public Engagement Network and is focusing on bringing together comedy screenwriters and researchers to be inspired by the latest scientific developments and explore what’s really funny
Other talent development initiatives taking place during EIFF are: the Scottish Documentary Institute will present the annual Edinburgh Pitch; and the Scottish Film Talent Network will launch a new scheme for writers moving from another medium into screenwriting supported by an event with guest speakers including Gregory Burke (’71).