Edinburgh Film Festival: Here's every film to feature Scottish talent and settings in the 2022 Edinburgh Film Festival

The Edinburgh International Film Festival has exclusively revealed all the films in this year's edition that feature Scottish talent and settings in what is Scotland's Year of Stories.
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The 75th Anniversary Festival will run from August 12 to 20 and boasts 10 films in the main programme, six of which are receiving their World Premieres. They are:

Aftersun: The previously announced Opening Gala is the critically acclaimed feature debut from Scottish filmmaker Charlotte Wells, fresh from winning First Prize at Cannes Film Festival.

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A Cat Called Dom: Scottish animators Will Anderson and Ainslie Henderson star in and co-direct the World Premiere presentation of the inventive documentary about grief.

A full house at a past Edinburgh International Film Festival screening. Picture: Chris ScottA full house at a past Edinburgh International Film Festival screening. Picture: Chris Scott
A full house at a past Edinburgh International Film Festival screening. Picture: Chris Scott

Electric Maladay: Glasgow-based Marie Lidén’s empathetic and thought-provoking documentary focuses on a case of electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS), a medically disputed syndrome still being explored by the WHO.

The Ballad of a Great Disordered Heart: A collaborative film by Edinburgh-based trio, folk musician Aidan O’Rourke, Becky Manson and Mark Cousins that offers an evocative view of Edinburgh’s Old Town and the Irish communities who have called it home.

Dùthchas | Home: Drawing on rare 8mm colour film of Berneray in the Outer Hebrides, Scottish director Andy MacKinnon offers a bridge between the contemporary citizens and their not-so-distant past in this World Premiere.

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Hassan Nazer’s Winners (Barandeha): Produced by Scot Paul Welsh and Scottish Uzbek Nadira Murray this film is set in a deprived area of a small Iranian town where children are required to work to help support their families - nine-year-old Yahya is one such child, his little hands scouring through massive piles of junk in search of hidden treasures.

The Sacred Family (La Sagrada Familia): Glasgow-based Borja Alcalde’s debut feature documentary is a visually intoxicating emotional journey to the heart of what holds a family together or breaks them apart, set in the Sacred Valley of the Incas in Peru.

Off The Rails: Expanded from his BBC short documentary, Peter Day’s kinetic portrait follows adrenaline-seeking Surrey teens Aiden and Rikke parkour journey to YouTube stardom in a candid exploration of contemporary teenage mental health. The film is produced by Scot Grant Keir.

Morven Caller: Glaswegian Lynne Ramsay’s second feature based on Scot Alan Warner’s award-winning novel stars Samantha Morton as the titular character celebrates its 20th Anniversary with a 35mm retrospective screening. Shot in Oban and sunny Almería, this is hallucinatory homegrown cinema gilded with a soundtrack of electronica and art-rock gems.

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Don Coutts’ Heading West: The story of Shooglenifty is an uplifting gem for fans old and new of the Edinburgh band which showcases the past, present and future of the Acid-croft music pioneers in a World Premiere presentation.

Kristy Matheson, Creative Director of EIFF says: “Cinema is a magical time traveling machine that allows us to see the world but as Dorothy reminds us in the Wizard of Oz, ‘there’s no place like home.’ This year at EIFF, we’re proud to showcase local talents and stories across an array of programming. Our congratulations and sincere thanks to this talented group of Scottish born and based artists for sharing their stories with us.”

Other films with Scottish talent and settings in this year's EIFF programme include Dougie Irvine’s Yoyo & The Little Auk, screening at Filmhouse as part of the Special Events programme and in celebration of Scotland’s Stories on Screen for Scotland’s Year of Stories 2022.

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On Saturday August 13 as part of the Film Fest in the City outdoor screenings programme at St Andrew Square, the celebration of Scotland’s Stories on Screen continues with homegrown stories and some family fun, including a special live musical performance to accompany the 100 year anniversary screening of the 1922 classic Rob Roy, as well as Pixar’s animated fantasy Brave and Sylvain Chomet’s charming Edinburgh-set animation The Illusionist.

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Also screening at Film Fest in the City are six short films from exciting Scottish filmmakers: FLIT - Jack Allen, Don vs Lightning - Big Red Button, Betty - Will Anderson, Widdershins - Simon P. Biggs, What Makes Soup Soup - Conor Reilly, Tommy Reilly, Malcolm Cumming and Neville is Dead - Louis Paxton.

David Smith, Director, Screen Scotland says, “Scotland’s creativity and diversity is brilliantly reflected in the astonishing range of features, theatrical documentaries and short films from Scotland which Kristy and the film festival team have selected for this year’s welcome return of the EIFF to August. Screen Scotland has funded the development and production of eighteen of the films and short films screening during the festival, including fantastic the Opening Gala, Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun.”

Finally, the short film thread of this year’s EIFF features no less than 24 Scottish filmmakers and their films, they are: Barber, The - Dhivya Kate Chetty, Burry Man - Simon P. Biggs, Canberra, Bitch - Alicja Jankowska, Change Direction - Greta McMillan, Cities I Live In, The - Rabie Mustapha, Clean - Miranda Stern, Dead Cat Strategy, The - Laura Wiggett, Dùsgadh - Cat Bruce, Fields, The - Ezra Course, Groom - Leyla Coll-O'Reilly, Infectious Nihilism and Small Metallic Pieces of Hope - James Price, Kafia - Raz Salih, Let the Sunshine In - Eva Magdić Govedarica, Lights Across the Shore - Lewis William Shipley, Long Winter, A - Eilidh Munro, Making of Longbird, The - Will Anderson, Maureen - Shiona McCubbin, Parallel - Rosanna Lee, SMALL - Jonathan Payne, There’s Not Much We Can Do - Erica Monde, Tomorrow That’ll Come, The - Carla Shah, Too Rough - Sean Lionadh, TWENTY - Roxana Mia Capris and Who I Am Now – Jack Goessens.

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