Edinburgh International Film Festival 2008

Unlike Kane's sled and more like Orson Welles himself, the EIFF named Rosebud as "The place to discover our tips for the opt: first and second works from the directors to watch".






View other Edinburgh International Film Festival Films by strand: Black Box, British Gala, Director's Showcase, Document, Gala, Mirrorball, Night Moves, Retrospecive: Jeanne Moreau, Retrospective: Shirley Clarke, Shorts, Under The Radar

Máncora Máncora
Máncora and Captain Abu Raed
3 Women (3 zan, Three Women) (Country: Iran; Year: 2008; Director: Manijeh Hekmat; Writer: Naghmeh Samini, Manijeh Hekmat; Stars: Niki Karimi, Pegah Ahangarani, Babak Hamidian, Reza Kianian, Maryam Boubani, Atila Pesiani, Shahrokh Foroutanian, Saber Abbar, Mehran Rajabi)
Gripping story of a single mother with difficulties in her job, and looking after the family.
UK Premiere
The Appeared (Aparecidos) (Country: Spain/Argentina/Sweden; Year: 2007; Director: Paco Cabezas; Writer: Paco Cabezas; Stars: Ruth Díaz, Javier Pereira, Pablo Cedron, Leonora Balcarce, Luciano Caceres, Hector Bidonde, Isabela Ritto, Damasco Conde)
Siblings are terrified by tortured ghosts and a brain dead father's legacy in Argentina.
UK Premiere
The Black Balloon (Country: Australia; Year: 2008; Director: Elissa Down; Writer: Elissa Down, Jimmy Jack; Stars: Rhys Wakefield, Luke Ford, Toni Collette, Erik Thomson, Gemma Ward, Lloyd Allison-Young, Nathin Butler, Lisa Kowalski, Firass Dirani, Aaron Glennane, Andy Meritakis)
An insightful family drama, about a young man who must deal with more than his fair share of troubles, like his autistic brother. Also, young love and being a new boy in school.
UK Premiere
Captain Abu Raed (Country: Jordan; Year: 2007; Director: Amin Matalq; Writer: Amin Matalq; Stars: Nadim Sawalha, Hussein Al-Sous, Rana Sultan, Uday Al-Qiddissi, Ghandi Saber)
Uplifting tale about an airport janitor who spins stories for street kids after being mistaken by them for a pilot.
UK Premiere
Eden (Country: Ireland; Year: 2008; Director: Declan Recks; Writer: Eugene O'Brien; Stars: Aidan Kelly, Eileen Walsh,Padraic Delaney, Edna Oates, Lesley Conroy, Karl Shiels)
The disintegration of a marriage.
European Premiere
Sleep Dealer Sleep Dealer
Sleep Dealer and Life Track
Enlightened Blood (La Sangre iluminada) (Country: Mexico; Year: 2007; Director: Iván Ávila Dueñas; Writer: Iván Ávila Dueñas, José Ignacio Valenzuela; Stars: Gustavo Sánchez Parra, Joustein Roustand, Enoc Leaño, Flor Payán, Jorge Zárate, Joaquín Cosio, Leticia Gutiérrez, Pilar Padilla, Raúl Méndez, Ari Brickman, Octavio Castro)
A rupture in time and space unites six characters in huge life-altering ways.
UK Premiere
The Fall (Country: India, UK; Year: 2006; Director: Tarsem Singh; Writer: Dan Gilroy, Nico Soultanakis, Tarsem Singh, Valeri Petrov; Stars: Catinca Untaru, Justine Waddell, Lee Pace, Kim Uylenbroek, Aiden Lithgow, Sean Gilder, Ronald France, Andrew Roussouw, Michael Huff, Grant Swanby, Emil Hostina)
Tarsem Singh's visually opulent fantasy epic borrowing the narrative device of The Princess Bride to widen and scorch the eyes.
UK Premiere
Fujian Blue (Jin Bi Hui Huang) (Country: China; Year: 2007; Director: Robin Weng; Writer: Robin Weng; Stars: Luo Jin, Zhu Xiaopeng, Chen Shu, Wang Yinan, Lin Yile, Liu Haochen, Li Zhaolin)
Dual stories analyse societal breakdown in modern China.
UK Premiere
God Man Dog (Liu lang shen gao ren) (Country: Taiwan; Year: 2007; Director: Singing Chen; Writer: Singing Chen, Yi-an Lou; Stars: Tarcy Su, Jack Kao, Han Chang, Jonathan Chang, Ka-yi Mo, Hsiao-han Tu)
Multi-strand emotional drama.
UK Premiere
Goodnight Irene (Country: Portugal; Year: 2007; Director: Paolo Marinou-Blanco; Writer: Paolo Marinou-Blanco; Stars: Robert Pugh, Nuno Lopes, Rita Loureiro, Amadeu Caronho, Virgilio Gança)
Two very different men join forces to find the object of both their obsessions, the beautiful young painter Irene. Despite their differences, they forge a deep friendship.
UK Premiere
Eden Eden
Eden and Left Bank
Good Dick (Country: US; Year: 2008; Director: Marianna Palka; Stars: Marianna Palka, Jason Ritter, Eric Edelstein, Mark Webber, Martin Starr, Charles Durning, Tom Arnold, Jesse Garcia, Katherine Waterston, Elisabeth Waterston), Trailer
Offbeat romance between a damaged young woman and with Marianna Palka and Jason Ritter.
International Premiere
The King Of Ping Pong (Ping-pongkingen, The King Of Ping-Pong) (Country: Sweden; Year: 2008; Director: Jens Jonsson; Writer: Jens Jonsson, Hans Gunnarson; Stars: Jerry Johansson, Hampus Johansson, Ann-Sofie Nurmi, Frederik Nilsson, Georgi Staykov, Alicia Stewen, Carolina Westman, William Blomfeldt), Official Site
Coming-of-age drama sees trouble brew between two siblings.
UK Premiere
Left Bank (Linkeroever) (Country: Belgium; Year: 2008; Director: Pieter Van Hees; Writer: Christophe Dirickx, Dimitri Karakatsanis, Pieter Van Hees; Stars: Eline Kuppens, Matthias Schoenaerts, Sien Eggers, Marilou Mermans, Frank Vercruyssen, Robbie Cleiren), Official Site
Atmospheric horror film in the vein of Rosemary's Baby, with a descent into obsession and madness with the previous occupants of her boyfriend's flat.
International Premiere
Life Track (Country: South Korea/China; Year: 2007; Director: Jin Guang-hao; Writer: Jin Guang-hao; Stars: Chui Jing-hu, Jang So-yeon)
A disabled man allows a mute girl into his private space.
UK Premiere
Love And Other Crimes (Ljubav i drugi zlocini, Liebe und Andere Verbrechen) (Country: Serbia, Germany; Year: 2008; Director: Stefan Arsenijevic; Writer: Stefan Arsenijevic, Srdjan Koljevic, Bojan Vuletic, Bojan Vuletic; Stars: Anica Dobra, Vuk Kostic, Milena Dravic, Fedja Stojanovic, Hanna Schwamborn, Ljubomir Bandovic, Ana Markovic, Dusica Zegarac, Semka Sokolovic-Bertok, Josif Tatic, Anita Mancic)
"What happens if you fall in love on the very day you intend to leave forever?"
International Premiere
The King Of Ping Pong The King Of Ping Pong
The King Of Ping Pong and The Fall
Mermaid (Rusalka) (Country: Russia; Year: 2007; Director: Anna Melikyan; Stars: Masha Shalaeva, Evgeniy Ciganov, Maria Sokolova, Nastya Doncova)
The fanciful tale of an introverted little girl who grows up believing she has the power to make wishes come true. She must reconcile this belief with reality when, as a young woman, she journeys to Moscow and grapples with love, modernity and materialism.
UK Premiere
Milky Way Liberation Front (Eunha-haebang-jeonseon) (Country: South Korea; Year: 2007; Director: Yoon Seongho; Writer: Yoon Seongho; Stars: Ji-Gyu Lim, Young-ju Seo, Eun-Seong, Bo-kyeong Kim, Yukie Mori, Hyung-keun Yu)
Black comedy adventure about a screenwriter whose personal and professional world is falling apart.
European Premiere
Máncora (Country: Spain, Peru; Year: 2008; Director: Ricardo De Montreuil; Writer: Angel Ibarguren, Juan Luis Nugent, based on a story by Diego Ojeda and Ricardo De Montreuil; Stars: Jason Day, Elsa Pataky, Enrique Murciano, Phellipe Haagensen, Liz Gallardo)
Grief and desire on a road trip.
International Premiere
Sleep Dealer (Country: US, Mexico; Year: 2008; Director: Alex Rivera; Writer: Alex Rivera, David Riker; Stars: Luis Fernando Peña, Leonor Varela, Jacob Vargas)
Node Runner - if they catch you you're through!
UK Premiere
Son Of A Lion (Country: Australia, Pakistan; Year: 2007; Director: Benjamin Gilmour; Writer: Benjamin Gilmour; Stars: Niaz Khan Shinwari, Sher Alam Miskeen Ustad)
Father and son's ideologies clash in their Pashun tribe.
UK Premiere
Good Dick Good Dick
Good Dick and Enlightened Blood
Warsaw Dark (Izolator) (Country: Poland; Year: 2008; Director: Christopher Doyle; Writer: Maciej Pisarek; Stars: Anna Przybylska, Leslaw Zurek, Violetta Arlak, Jan Frycz, Adam Ferency, Jacek Poniedzialek, Lukasz Simlat, Jerzy Bonczak, Jan Frycz)
A night club dancer becomes embroiled in a political assassination.
World Premiere
Wellness (Country: USA; Year: 2008; Director: Jake Mahaffy; Writer: Jake Mahaffy; Stars: Paul Mahaffy, Jeff Clark), Official Site
Thomas, a salesman more like a modern day Willy Loman stakes the last of his cash on a wonder-drug in a savage deconstruction of the American Dream.
UK Premiere
News

59th New York Film Festival early bird highlights Futura, Jane By Charlotte, James Baldwin: From Another Place and The Velvet Underground

More news and features

Playing Now

Eye For Film continues to support festivals both locally and across the world. At the moment, we're covering:

Glasgow Short Film Festival

Human Rights Watch Film Festival
Showcase of films with a humanitarian focus

Flare

South by Southwest

Thessaloniki International Documentary Film Festival
Greek celebration of factual film

In the Archive


Archive of festival coverage.

Daily diary and reviews from 2005-2018.

Coverage of the lynchpin German festival.