Edinburgh Film Festival Returns for 79th Edition With Trainspotting Anniversary, Star Guests and 21 World Premieres
The Edinburgh International Film Festival opened its 79th edition on Thursday, August 13, 2026, with 38 new feature presentations and 21 world premieres across a seven-day run that continues through August 19 (Variety).
The world's longest continually running film festival — a title it has held since its founding in 1947 — has been steadily rebuilding its audience. Admissions rose from 12,000 in 2024 to 16,500 in 2025, while industry events nearly doubled from 13 to 25 over the same period. More than 300 filmmakers, producers and distributors attended in 2025 (Variety).
This is the third edition under CEO and festival director Paul Ridd and festival producer Emma Boa. It also marks the first time a Variety Lounge has operated in the UK, giving the trade publication a presence for interviews and industry conversation throughout the festival (Variety).
Louis Paxton's feature debut The Incomer opened the festival. Set on a remote Scottish island, it stars Domhnall Gleeson and Gayle Rankin. Paxton is an Edinburgh-born graduate of the National Film and Television School (NFTS). The film previously won the NEXT Innovator Award at Sundance.
Closing the festival on August 19 is the world premiere of Louise Lockwood's documentary Bel, profiling Glasgow musician and artist Beldina Odenyo, also known as Heir of the Cursed (Variety).
Between those bookends sit 21 world premieres. They include Abdolreza Kahani's Canadian-set thriller Empty Heaven — Kahani's Mortician won last year's Sean Connery Prize at the festival. William Scoular's Northbound brings Bruce Dern to the Scottish capital. Greek filmmaker Alexis Alexiou, who broke out with his Sitges-winning Istoria 52 in 2008, premieres Sea of Glass. And Paul Wright's Mission stars George MacKay (Variety).
The programme reaches well beyond those debuts. Gregg Araki's I Want Your Sex features Olivia Wilde, Daveed Diggs and Charli xcx. Japan's Hirokazu Kore-eda brings Sheep in the Box. Nicolas Winding Refn arrives with Her Private Hell. Tamra Davis offers the music documentary The Best Summer. And Marc Turtletaub's Borges and Me adapts Jay Parini's memoir about travelling through the Scottish Highlands with Jorge Luis Borges (Variety).
A 30th-anniversary celebration of Trainspotting brought Ewan McGregor to Edinburgh, where Danny Boyle's film had its UK premiere in 1996. Kenneth Branagh and the American documentarian Ken Burns also attended this year's festival (Variety).
Ten films are competing for a £50,000 prize at the festival (EIFF Instagram). The festival's website offers a "10 Film Tickets for £80" package and has added a Hope IMAX screening as a late addition (EIFF).
What stands out in this year's lineup is how Edinburgh has paired its local roots with international reach. An Edinburgh-born director opens the festival; a Glasgow artist closes it. Between them: a Japanese master, a Danish provocateur, and an American icon. For a festival once threatened with closure, the trajectory under Ridd and Boa — rising admissions, doubled industry programming, a major trade outlet setting up shop — reads like a steady, deliberate rebuild rather than a rescue.
