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The 2005 Edinburgh International Film Festival opened with Richard E Grant's directorial debut Wah-Wah - based on events from his own childhood in South Africa - and closed with Eighties-set gangster flick The Business.

Other highlights included the long-awaited cowboys-in-space film spin-off Serenity and Tsotsi - which won both the Audience and Michael Powell Awards for director Gavin Hood. Other winners included Mike Mills, who won the Guardian New Directors Award for Thumbsucker. John Williams won the Best British Short Film Award for Hibernation and Elizabeth Hobbs scooped the McLaren for New British Animation for The True Story Of Sawney Beane. Simon Hynd won Short Scottish Documentary Awarad for Arts: The Catalyst.

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EIFF Latest Reviews

The Tales Of Hoffmann
The Tales Of Hoffmann
A poet recalls three doomed romances.
Black Narcissus
Black Narcissus
A group of nuns struggle to keep order in a remote Himalayan convent.
Peeping Tom
Peeping Tom
A young photographer becomes fascinated by expressions of fear, with deadly consequences.
The Red Shoes
The Red Shoes
A dancer is torn between the man she loves and her obsessive commitment to her craft.
Asylum
Asylum
Infidelity at an institution for the criminally insane.
On A Clear Day
On A Clear Day
A redundant shipworker from Glasgow dreams of swimming the English Channel.
Letter From An Unknown Woman
Letter From An Unknown Woman
A woman falls for her neighbour and maintains her unrequited love down the years.
The Wedding
The Wedding
A wedding reception where everyone has a secret descends into dark farce.
Saraband
Saraband
Ingmar Bergman returns to Scenes From A Marriage 30 years on.
The Great Ecstasy Of Robert Carmichael
The Great Ecstasy Of Robert Carmichael
The fall of an intelligent teenager into a life of ultraviolence and depravity.
A-Z of Edinburgh International Film Festival 2005 reviews >>>

Edinburgh International Film Festival Features

EIFF Closing Gala
Edinburgh film festival closes with perfectly tacky Eighties party for The Business.
Anti-Piracy Message Not Getting Through
One reporter's opinion of a Macrovision sponsored round table on movie piracy.
EIFF Highlights and Lowpoints
'Monarch' star in SnuffMovie, fest highlights, and boys from The Business pay a little visit.
Exorcist Director: Horror Not Like It Used to Be
Paul Schrader disses "videogame mentality" of modern horror, and more film fest gems on EIFF Day 9.
Silence and Quiet at the EIFF
Short docs on Silence and last word on Joss on EIFF day 8.
Scoring With Joss
Not even Elijah Wood and the boys from Green Street can upstage Reel Life with Joss on day 7 at the EIFF.
Joss Whedon Brings Serenity
EIFF day 6: all nine cast members of Serenity, and director Joss Whedon, hit Edinburgh for the U.K. premiere.
Digital Life Leaves Diarist Cold
Day 5 at the EIFF: Digital Realities day no cure for hangover.
Cultural Plans Go Awry
Day 4 at the EIFF: So many parties! What's a festival diarist to do?
A Film To Be Joyous About
Edinburgh International Film Festival Day 3: Thumbsucker, brain-gorgers, and spliff-tokers.
Cinema's Word Processors
Day 2 at the Edinburgh International Film Festival: where writing is concerned, it's all about one thing, says Anthony Minghella.
Swaziland Comes To Edinburgh
Richard E Grant's Wah-Wah opens the Edinburgh International Film Festival.
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