More details of what to expect from this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) have been revealed with an announcement spotlighting the venues that will be used for the Festival.

Taking place from Thursday 14 – Wednesday 20 August, film fans will be to see the newly refurbished Filmhouse (which reopened on Friday 27 June following a three year hiatus and a £2 million makeover) as a key venue.

Meanwhile, this year will see the introduction of a new pop-up screen at National Galleries Scotland: National on Princes Street. The Hawthornden Theatre seats 150 and will concentrate on second and third screenings across the Festival programme, run in partnership with Assembly Festival.

The Cameo Picturehouse on Home Street is also returning to the Festival as a key partner, with plans to host screenings and events from across the EIFF programme. The cinema’s lively bar will act as a social hub for before and after EIFF events. Over on Calton Square the Omni Centre’s Vue will also play its part, as will Monkey Barrel Comedy, in a first for the festival. 

To round out a varied programme of events and venues, Tollcross Central Hall will act as EIFF’s Festival Hub for industry and press, with panels, talks, networking events and meeting spaces all available throughout the festival. Tollcross Central Hall will also provide the venue for In Conversation events with major filmmaking talent, all open to the public.

Paul Ridd, the CEO and Festival Director of EIFF, said: ‘We are thrilled to be working with the reopened Filmhouse as well as Vue Cinema this year. These are exciting firsts for us as the completely new, revamped and relaunched iteration of the Festival going into our second year, but they carry with them the legacy of EIFF’s history in the city and deep connection with these vital venues. 

‘We are also delighted to return to The Cameo and to transform Tollcross Central Hall into a buzzy Festival Hub and a beautiful space at the National Galleries Scotland: National into a state of the art pop-up screening venue. We cannot wait to pack these big, beautiful spaces with our rich programme of film screenings, events and talks across the seven days of our Festival. Bring it on again!’

The full programme of screenings and events is set to be unveiled on Wednesday 2 July. Already announced are the Festival’s opening and closing films. Opening EIFF on Thursday 14 August is comedy-drama Sorry, Baby produced by Barry Jenkins (Moonlight), which follows a woman called Agnes as she attempts to move forward with her life following a life-altering tragedy. EIFF CEO Paul Ridd called Sorry, Baby ‘a film that completely floored us.’

Closing the Festival on Wednesday 20 August will be the world premiere of immersive documentary Reality Is Not Enough. From filmmaker Paul Sng (Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché), this is an exciting and revealing exploration of Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh. It’s been described by Ridd as ‘brilliantly immersive,’ ‘fascinating’ and ‘refreshingly unusual and highly cinematic.’

And if you want to know what to expect from the refurbished Filmhouse before you visit, we shared a set of images of the cinema post-makeover. Screens, projectors and seats have all been updated in the £2 million revamp so a visit to the Filmhouse will hopefully be a comfortable and high quality experience.

Representatives of Filmhouse said that the cinema ‘is now a more accessible and comfortable venue, while remaining a warm and welcoming place for people to come together to watch and talk about cinema.’

Edinburgh International Film Festival, various venues, Thursday 14 – Wednesday 20 August.