The Edinburgh Intl. Film Festival and Variety have announced a new partnership to deliver the first-ever Variety Lounge in the U.K. at this year’s EIFF, supported by VisitScotland.
The Variety Lounge, a regular fixture at other major international film festivals including Sundance and Toronto, will be hosted by Variety’s Alex Ritman and capture exclusive in-depth interviews with filmmaking talent attending this year’s EIFF.
Throughout the festival, these exclusive filmed interviews will be published across Variety.com and EIFF’s own channels.
“EIFF is the world’s longest continually running film festival and has a demonstrated commitment to fast tracking new talent,” said Variety co-president and publisher, Dea Lawrence. “Combined with the fact that the U.K. is a deeply impactful global entertainment hub makes this a natural partnership with Variety.”
EIFF CEO and festival director, Paul Ridd, said: “For the past two years we have been thrilled to have the support of Variety for the relaunched and rebooted festival. This exciting new development will offer up terrific opportunities to take filmmaking talent and the festival into the stratosphere as these dynamic interviews are sent out into the world, and we are thrilled to have the support of VisitScotland to situate our festival, Edinburgh and Scotland on the global stage.”
The Variety Lounge partnership sits alongside this year’s EIFF Industry Program, which includes the newly announced inaugural U.K. Film Conference. The one-day conference on Aug. 15 — comprising talks, discussions, Q&A sessions and events available to EIFF passholders, press and public audiences — will be a state of the nation for independent film in the U.K. situated at the heart of the festival’s industry offering. It will bring together filmmakers, producers, exhibitors, distributors and film professionals from all areas of the local and international film industry to engage with the future of independent film in the U.K.
“We are thrilled to be supporting Edinburgh Intl. Film Festival with its new Variety partnership, which will elevate its international profile,” said Rob Dickson, director of industry and events at VisitScotland. “Our International Events Funding Program supports events which drive international tourism and media profile for Scotland and it has previously supported Edinburgh’s festivals, the Royal National Mòd and Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival, amongst others. Festivals introduce Scotland’s offering to new global audiences and inspire potential future visits. They play an important role in supporting the visitor economy, helping to create a strong sense of place, bringing people together while delivering social, cultural and economic benefits.”
EIFF will run from Aug. 13-19.
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