The Road Dance wins Audience Award at EIFF

Scots island melodrama proves favourite

by Amber Wilkinson

Hermione Corfield as Kirsty Macleod in EIFF Audience Award winner The Road Dance
Hermione Corfield as Kirsty Macleod in EIFF Audience Award winner The Road Dance Photo: Courtesy of EIFF

The 74th Edinburgh International Film Festival has announced that its Audience Award has been won by Richie Adams' The Road Dance.

The Scottish island melodrama, which is set against the backdrop of the start of the first World War had its world premiere at the festival, which screened 86 in person films to a total audience of 12,000.

Richie Adams, director of The Road Dance said: “When I first learned of our acceptance to the festival, I was ecstatic. EIFF is such a prestigious festival, and where better to launch a Scottish film than Edinburgh. It was wonderful to be with some of our cast and crew at the world premiere and getting the chance to see everyone’s hard work pay off on the big screen. It’s a huge honour to win the audience award - I’m over the moon. As filmmakers, we make movies for audiences, so what better award could we receive.”

EIFF chief executive Ken Hay added: “We are absolutely delighted that audiences came together with us in cinemas across Scotland, outdoors and online to enjoy an exciting, diverse and accessible Edinburgh International Film Festival this year.

“Huge thanks to everyone who made this year’s festival possible, and in particular, Nick Varley and our team of guest programmers, the filmmakers, sales agents and distributors for allowing us to screen their films, the funders, sponsors and donors, and of course, the audiences for making it a festival to remember.”

Share this with others on...
News

A taste of power Andrew Neel on ordinary life under totalitarianism and How To Feed A Dictator

Rock star spirit Shane Belcourt on Louis Cameron and Ni-Naadamaadiz: Red Power Rising

Heir presumptive Rob Rice on the power of comedy, political disappointments and Ponderosa

Keeping the rhythm Hugo Ruíz on storytelling techniques, kinky cinema and Dante

From personal to universal Karla Murthy on The Gas Station Attendant and her relationship with her dad

Family reunion Tasha Hubbard on exploring the aftermath of the Sixties Scoop in Meadowlarks

More news and features

We're bringing you news, reviews and more from Sheffield DocFest, ImagineNative and Tribeca.



We're looking forward to Docs Ireland and the Fantasia International Film Festival.



We've recently brought you coverage of Cannes, Queer East, the San Francisco Independent Film Festival, Visions du Réel, Fantaspoa, Overlook, BFI Flare and SXSW, the Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival and the NY Rendezvous with French Cinema.



Read our full for more.


Visit our festivals section.

Interact

Don't forget that you can follow us on YouTube for trailers of festival films and more. You can also find us on Mastodon and Bluesky.


It's a busy time for festivals and here's the latest:


The Evia Project Event returns for a 5th year with focus on the forest


Tribeca Awards announced


Karlovy Vary 60th anniversary edition to feature Jesse Eisenberg and Maggie Gyllenhaal as guests


Fantasia Second wave of titles announced


Tribeca Artistic director Frédéric Boyer discusses the highlights of this year's edition