Edinburgh International Film Festival got six-figure bailout after 'high risk' warning over 75th anniversary event

Nicola Sturgeon attended the opening gala of this year's Edinburgh International Film Festival. Picture: Euan Cherry/Getty Images

An extra £270,000 was ploughed into the event after organisers raised the alarm about its financial situation.

The festival and its long-time home, the Filmhouse cinema, ceased trading earlier this month after their operator went into administration.

Months before this year’s festival, the Centre for the Moving Image charity sought help to plug funding gaps caused by the “late withdrawal” of a headline sponsor.

Creative director Kristy Matheson was appointed to lead the Edinburgh International Film Festival into a new era. Picture: Lisa Ferguson

Scottish Government agency Creative Scotland was told of a need to tackle “immediate issues of operational deliverability caused by the pandemic.”

The CMI also stressed that the extra funding would help build the “longer-term resilience” of the festival.

The extra £270,000 was allocated from a Scottish Government “resilience fund” to the film festival by the end of March after securing a share of £54 million allocated to the cultural sector to help it bounce back from the pandemic.

The grant was not publicised by the Scottish Government until the start of August, when it was describe as “additional funding” to “support” the EIFF’s 75th anniversary opening gala, the premiere of Edinburgh director Charlotte Wells’ debut feature Aftersun.

The extra £270,000 was not included in figures for the recent financial support the CMI received which Creative Scotland puboished in the wake of administrators being called in.

They showed that the charity had received more than £5 million in government funding since the start of the Covid restrictions.

However it asked for further financial help after Creative Scotland was allocated a final tranche of Covid support funding, worth £12 million, in February.

After questions were raised on social media about why £270,0000 had been allocated to the EIFF opening event, Creative Scotland issued a “point of correction,” including part of the CMI’s request for more funding.

It states: “This funding will support EIFF deliver a fitting celebratory 75th anniversary edition – Kristy Matheson’s first as creative director.

“It will allow us to focus on delivering the highest quality programme, support our ambitions of (re)engaging audiences, industry, and future partners post pandemic, and contribute to building longer term resilience within the festival.

"It will enable us to expand our reach, engaging new communities across the city, engage audiences with inspirational women’s voices, and engage producers with the wider industry.

"Additionally, it will support other key elements of the programme at high risk due to the late withdrawal of a main sponsor, and address immediate issues of operational deliverability caused by the pandemic, including providing safe working spaces for staff and volunteers.”

A government spokesperson said: “The £270,000 was allocated for a range of activities across the 2022/23 financial year and was not solely for the opening gala.

“The new and strengthened activity included increased community engagement events, new community outreach work and a mentoring programme for women producers.

“This Scottish Government fund was set up specifically to support the recovery of the Edinburgh festivals in 2022 as a top up to existing funding.

"These funds were not intended to shore up reserves or replace any budget already allocated to 2022 activity.”

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