Opening film announced for 2024 Film Festival
The Outrun to open the 77th edition of Edinburgh International Film Festival, and short film competition title announced.
The relaunched Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) has today announced that this year’s 77th edition of the Festival will open with Nora Fingscheidt's adaptation of Amy Liptrot’s best-selling memoir, The Outrun.
The Outrun stars Saoirse Ronan (Ladybird, Brooklyn) as a young woman who finds herself washed up back home on the Scottish islands of Orkney as she battles to rebuild her life after a decade of addiction. Ronan, who also co-produced the film, will join filmmaker Nora Fingscheidt (System Crasher) in attendance at this year’s EIFF, alongside writer Amy Liptrot and the film’s producers Sarah Brocklehurst and Dominic Norris. The film had its world premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, and will be released by STUDIOCANAL in the UK and Ireland on September 27, 2024.
EIFF has also revealed the name of its short film competition as The Thelma Schoonmaker Prize for Short Filmmaking Excellence. Thelma Schoonmaker is celebrated for her iconic work as an editor on landmark moments in cinema history and for her legendary collaborations with Martin Scorsese, including Raging Bull, Goodfellas, The Wolf of Wall Street and Killers of the Flower Moon. Thelma will be in attendance at this year’s festival. The award comes with a cash prize of £15,000.
The short film competition runs alongside four additional shorts programmes, 10 world-premiere feature films competing for The Sean Connery Prize for Feature Filmmaking Excellence and programming strands including Out of Competition - which includes international premieres, UK premieres and additional world premieres, a Midnight Madness strand showcasing the best in genre cinema from around the world and a retrospective strand honouring film history.
Industry activity will run across the first weekend of the Festival with announcements around guests and activities to follow in the next weeks. Industry delegates will experience the wealth of the film programme and also access all that is on show in the wider festivals month via new collaborations with partners including Screen Fringe.
EIFF honours 70+ years of film festival history, showcasing the very best talent in filmmaking in a format rooted in a local Scottish context whilst embracing the international diversity of creative expression. The Film Festival encourages general audiences, film fans and industry professionals to make the trip this summer to Edinburgh, which is universally recognised as a place of beauty, history, discovery and adventure.
The Edinburgh International Film Festival runs from 15 to 21 August 2024, and the full programme will be launched on Wednesday 10 July with tickets on sale at noon on 11 July.
Photo Credits [from top]
- Saoirse Ronan in The Outrun. Courtesy of STUDIOCANAL
- Saoirse Ronan and Paapa Essiedu in The Outrun. Courtesy of STUDIOCANAL