Paul Ridd defines success in his role as Edinburgh International Film Festival chief using a two-pronged test.
“50% is the seven days of the festival, and how effectively we can deliver an amazing experience for our audiences and industry,” he explains. “And then 50% of it is about what happens to the films after our festival.”
Last year’s EIFF, his first in charge, he explains, was a model year.
“60% of the programme has either been picked up for distribution in the UK or has been distributed,” he says proudly. The key to supporting EIFF titles, he says, has been to engage “industry on a grassroots level”, highlighting films that are seeking distribution.
“We want to keep those stats up,” he says, adding that this year’s expanded industry section has been shaped to meet this goal. Changes include a new dedicated space for industry delegates at Tollcross Central Hall. The festival has also hired former Film Constellation Exec Chloe Tai as a consultant.
“She’s leading the conversation with buyers, acquisitions executives, and sales agents from her enormous network,” Ridd says of Tai. “What was last year an intent has morphed into something which is a full function within our organization.”
This year’s EIFF runs from August 14 to 20. Industry highlights include Q&A sessions with Rose Garnett, Adele Romanski, David Hinojosa, and Film4’s Farhana Bhula. The festival has partnered with Amy Jackson and Lauren Dark, the producers behind titles like Aftersun and The Nest, to curate their industry talks. The Writers Guild of Great Britain will also co-host a networking event at the festival for industry passholders.
Some of the EIFF 2024 titles that landed in UK cinemas include The Ceremony by Jack King, Nina Conti’s Sunlight, Guan Hu’s Black Dog, and Bogancloch, a documentary from Ben Rivers.
EIFF 2025 Competition titles include Two Neighbors, the first feature from Ondine Viñao. The film follows a wealthy socialite and a struggling writer who are thrown together at a debauched party. The cast includes Chloe Cherry (Euphoria), Anya Chalotra (The Witcher), and Ralph Ineson (The Witch). There’s also Low Rider, the latest feature from veteran filmmaker Campbell X (Stud Life), and Concessions, directed by Mas Bouzidi, which features one of the last performances from Michael Madsen.
The winner of the EIFF 2025 Competition, known as the Sean Connery Prize, takes home £50,000 to support future projects. Last year’s winner was King’s The Ceremony. Elsewhere, the festival’s Thelma Schoonmaker Prize for Short Filmmaking Excellence Competition comes with a £15,000 cash prize. Titles in that Competition include Stray from Scottish filmmaker Morven Christie, starring Aftersun breakout Frankie Corio.
“Last year, we learned that our main strength was that we have a really good structure with our two Competitions at the core being the beating heart of the festival and embodying our principles,” Ridd says. “That is, discovery, elevating voices, and providing a potential commercial opportunity for those films to find distribution.”
The festival will also screen the six short films made by the inaugural group of filmmakers from the NFTS Sean Connery Talent Lab. Launched in 2023, the Lab features 25 filmmakers chosen to work on a short project with support from BBC Film. Each team received a £25,000 production budget. Producer Chris Young (The Inbetweeners) led the programme. The six shorts are Ryan Pollock’s Gowk, Josefa Celestin’s Nora Can’t Score, Catriona Macleod’s Lady Maclean, Alex Salam’s Twenty Twenty, Miranda Stern’s Static, and Mairead Hamilton’s Checkout.
EIFF has reported a substantial increase in Competition film submissions this year from 2,500 to 4,000. But Ridd says he and his festival producers made a conscious decision not to expand their Competition slots, with an eye on maintaining an event that is “sustainable, secure, and has a future.”
“Our footprint has slightly changed. We’re working with the Filmhouse this year, for example, and with Vue Omni. We have a new pop-up at the Hawthornden Theatre, and our festival hub is at Tolkien Central Hall. But the core structure of the team here in Scotland is the same,” he says. “We’re still very new. We’re only really 18 months old. It’s about walking before we run.”
Punters heading to Edinburgh will still be able to nab tickets through the popular Edinburgh Fringe app. EIFF and the wider Fringe Festival, the Scottish capital’s historic performing arts event, have continued their partnership for a second year. The collaboration was one of the first additions Ridd made to the EIFF structure following his appointment in 2023. He describes EIFF’s inclusion in the Fringe programme as a huge asset to the film festival’s audience development.
“Anybody who’s in town, whether it’s locals or people who have come to engage with all the amazing comedy, live music, and theater, will be able to see what we have on offer,” Ridd says.
“That’s a very important and practical thing for us, because it means that we’re growing an audience beyond the traditional film festival crowd that, to be honest, is going to come anyway because they know the great films we are presenting.”
Ridd adds that he and his team are aiming to break down the “points of entry where people might feel film festivals aren’t quite for them” or shy away from attending a screening because they aren’t familiar with the filmmaking team.
“We want it to feel more like someone going to a Fringe show to discover the next Richard Gadd or Phoebe Waller-Bridge,” he says.
Standard Edinburgh industry passes run £150 ($200) and are still available. Ridd, a former acquisitions head at Picturehouse, says industry participation looks set to increase this year.
“From all the panels and guests to the panels on things like screenwriting with the Writers Guild, there’s so much opportunity here,” Ridd says. “So it’s really just about flying the flag for what we present and giving people plenty of access.”
The Edinburgh International Film Festival’s industry section takes place between August 15 and 20.
