Picks of the Edinburgh International Film Festival

I absolutely love the Edinburgh International Film Festival and am so excited that there's only two weeks until it starts! This year (the 67th year no less!) they are showing 146 films - brilliant to have so much choice, but it can be difficult to pick what to go to!

Here's what I've got my eye on this year. It's quite an eclectic bunch of films, but that's surely one of the best parts of having a huge film festival in town - try something you've never heard of, go out of your comfort zone & have fun!

1. The Bling Ring

Showing 22nd June, 8.30pm & 23rd June, 6.40pm

Sofia Coppola’s latest is based on an incredible true story. A group of L.A. high school friends track the activities of celebrities online so that they can rob their homes. Motivated less by greed than by a fascination with status brands and famous people, the gang target Paris Hilton, Orlando Bloom, Rachel Bilson, Lindsay Lohan and others, bragging of their intimacy with their victims. A biting, stylish take on celebrity culture. 

Hermione ain't a school girl any more. Emma Watson joy aside (I love her), this looks ace! It's based on a true story (from this Vanity Fair article) and it looks pretty awesome.


2. Lilou's Adventure (Lilou no bouken)

Showing 23rd June, 2.50pm & 25th June, 6.10pm

In Okinawa, Lilou, a 10-year-old half- Japanese, half-Guinean girl, becomes friends with a Japanese girl, Kokoro. When Kokoro disappears, Lilou sets off on a journey to find her, using clues from a video game. This playful, imaginative and unpredictable film is a great children’s tale for adults.

An adventure story! Using video game clues! That looks super cute! I am sold.


3. The Great Hip Hop Hoax 

Showing June 26th, 8.40pm, June 27th, 8.50pm & June 28th, 8pm

Californian rap duo Silibil ‘n’ Brains are poised to take the music world by storm. They’re talking the talk... walking the walk... and they’ve just pocketed a hefty advance from a major music label. Surely nothing could go wrong? Truth is definitely stranger than fiction in this astonishing, funny and moving documentary that touches on issues of Scottish national identity whilst showing the unbelievable lengths to which people will go to achieve fame.

It's a documentary about two Scottish guys who managed to get a hip hop career by pretending to be from L.A. Sounds mental, hopefully will be good!


4. Shooting Bigfoot

Showing June 21st, 10.45pm

An intrepid young filmmaker travels from Britain deep into the American heartland to probe the mysteries of Bigfoot and Bigfoot mania. He forms uneasy alliances with several Bigfoot trackers, including a man who believes he is part sheep, a known hoaxer, and an entrepreneur with a short fuse. Things get hairy as the filmmaker realises that his companions may not be the harmless eccentrics they seem.

I love the monster movies that crop up at EIFF each year, and this looks like it could be suitably creepy (and sort of hilarious).


5. Not Another Happy Ending 

Showing June 30th, 8.45pm

Karen Gillan stars as Jane, a young Glasgow writer whose first novel is a success, thanks in part to the editing of her sympathetic but businessminded publisher, Tom (Stanley Weber). Reconciled with her estranged father (Gary Lewis) and embarked on a new relationship with a handsome and self-absorbed writer (Henry Ian Cusick), Jane comes down with a severe case of writer’s block while struggling with her second novel. Tom believes that this is because she is too happy, so he resorts to drastic measures to get her unblocked.

This is the Closing Night Gala of the Film Festival, and it's lovely that they've picked a film set in Scotland to finish on. I reckon Karen Gillan is the perfect person to star in an indie rom com, and this looks just lovely.


There is absolutely LOADS on, and I'd definitely recommend going if you are in town! The festival is on from June 19th - 30th & tickets can be bought from www.edfilmfest.org.uk or from the Filmhouse, Festival Theatre or Cineworld.