Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) hosted by Edinburgh International Festival, opens on Friday 18 August 2023 with the world premiere of Silent Roar, the debut feature from Scottish writer and director Johnny Barrington.
Silent Roar is a teenage tale of surfing, sex and hellfire set in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides.
The film is the debut feature from BAFTA nominated Scottish writer and director Johnny Barrington and produced by Scottish producer Chris Young and includes a cast of emerging talent includes Louis McCartney, and rising star Ella Lily Hyland soon to be seen Amazon Prime’s Fifteen Love.
The film’s score is created by award-winning composer Hannah Peel (Game of Thrones: The Last Watch, The Midwich Cuckoos)
Silent Roar stars newcomer Louis McCartney as Dondo, a young surfer struggling to accept his father’s recent disappearance at sea. Caught up in grief, he is brought to his senses by rebellious crush Sas (Ella Lily Hyland), a high achiever who dreams of escaping the island. When an oddly-behaved new minister arrives on the island, Dondo begins to have cosmic visions…
Silent Roar is the first feature film from BAFTA-nominated writer and director Johnny Barrington, and has been produced by Scottish producer Chris Young (The Inbetweeners Movie). The film was shot in the beautiful surroundings of Uig, on the Isle of Lewis, and draws inspiration from Barrington’s teenage years on the Isle of Skye.
The cast includes Louis McCartney (Hope Street), Ella Lily Hyland (Fifteen Love), Mark Lockyer (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince), Fiona Bell (The Nest, Shetland), Victoria Balnaves (Trust Me), Anders Hayward (Looted) and Chinenye Ezeudu (Sex Education).
Star sightings
The stars of many of the films being shown at EIFF will be in Edinburgh including David Hayman who will present the World Premiere of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde along with director Hope Dickson-Leach on 21 August.
David Hayman also joins writer/director Paris Zarcilla to present his chilling debut film Raging Grace, a haunting gothic horror which recently took the Grand Jury Prize at South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival.
Jeanie Finlay arrives in Edinburgh to present her rousing portrait of author, activist and podcaster Aubrey Gordon in Your Fat Friend.
On closing night 23 August, celebrated author Irvine Welsh will join director Ian Jeffries to present the World Premiere of their collaborative new documentary Choose Irvine Welsh, charting the author’s life and philosophy in his own words and those of his collaborators and admirers.
The 2023 Edinburgh International Film festival closes with stylish deadpan dramedy Fremont, presented by the film’s director Babak Jalali and writer Carolina Cavalli (Amanda).
Hosted by Edinburgh International Festival in 2023, Edinburgh International Film Festival will present a hand-picked programme celebrating the work of exceptional local and global filmmakers and ensuring the flame of EIFF burns bright for future generations of passionate cinema fans.
Premiere
Artemisia Films will show its feature film CHUCK CHUCK BABY, funded by the BFI, awarding National Lottery funding, BBC Film and Ffilm Cymru Wales, in a World Premiere at EIFF on 20th August.
Written and directed by Janis Pugh (The Befuddled Box of Betty Buttifint, Blue Collars and Buttercups), starring Louise Brealey (Sherlock, Back, Lockwood & Co., Brian and Charles, A Discovery of Witches, Smack the Pony), Annabel Scholey (The Split, The Salisbury Poisoning, The Sixth Commandment, Being Human, Walking on Sunshine), Sorcha Cusack (Snatch,Father Brown, Jane Eyre), Celyn Jones (Set Fire to the Stars, Submergence, Six Minutes to Midnight), Emily Fairn (Black Mirror, The Responder) and produced by Anne Beresford, Adam Partridge, Andrew Gillman and Peggy Cafferty, CHUCK CHUCK BABY is a film of love, loss and music set amongst the falling feathers of a chicken factory.
Edinburgh International Film Festival runs from Friday 18 to Wednesday 23 August 2023.
Cinema Under the Stars is on this weekend at the University of Edinburgh quad. More details of the films being shown here. All screenings are ticketed, and priced as Pay What You Can, £2, £4 or £6 per screening.
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