Literatures, Languages & Cultures

LLC at the Edinburgh summer festivals 2019 - part one

Here's what we're up to as part of the Edinburgh International Film Festival (19th to 30th June 2019).

With all its major summer festival programmes now launched, Edinburgh is once again preparing to host audiences from around the world for a celebration of culture in its many forms.

The action begins with the opening of the Edinburgh International Film Festival on Wednesday 19th June 2019, and finishes with the closing of the Edinburgh International Festival, Edinburgh International Book Festival and Edinburgh Festival Fringe on Monday 26th August.

In this first part of our festivals coverage, we focus on what students, staff and institutes in the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures (LLC) are doing at the Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF).

This year's EIFF runs from 19th to 30th June 2019 at Filmhouse (EIFF HQ) and venues throughout the city.

Touching the edge of time

Publicity shot for Time Passes Me
Still from Ewa Łuczków's 'Moth' screening as part of 'Shorts: Time Passes Me'

Building on the success of recent sell-out years, our Film, Exhibition and Curation MSc students’ curated collection of short films will be screening in Filmhouse’s main screen, Filmhouse One, at 3pm on Friday 28th June.

‘Shorts: Time Passes Me’ [12A] comprises six recent short films made by students from the UK’s film academies, carefully selected by postgraduate students as part of our MSc programme’s established collaboration with EIFF.

Programme Co-Director, Jane Sillars, says: “The project enables emergent curators to explore the work of  film-makers coming out of the UK's film academies - the National Film and Television School, the London Film School and, of course, the Scottish Screen Academy run by our colleagues in Edinburgh College of Art and Napier University - and to select and programme a range of work showcasing new voices and new ways of seeing.”

Many of the students are also taking the opportunity to work in various roles across the Festival, where they will have the chance to share learning with some of our graduates, and with students on our Film Studies programmes.

Find out more and book tickets for 'Shorts: Time Passes Me' on the EIFF website

Focus on Spain

Marian A. Aréchaga (Senior Teaching Fellow in Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies at LLC) is delighted to be introducing the UK premiere of ‘Champions (Campeones)’ [15], which screens at 6pm on Friday 21st and Sunday 23rd June at Vue Omni Centre.

The 2018 film by Javier Fesser is nominated for the 2019 EIFF Audience Award and is screening as part of EIFF's Focus on Spain strand in partnership with the Edinburgh Spanish Film Festival (ESFF), which Marian co-founded and has been curating annually since 2014.

In the centenary year of the Spanish degree at the University of Edinburgh, it’s fitting that this year’s EIFF country focus is on Spain, brining audiences a selection of brand new Spanish cinema by some of the country’s most promising directors.

You can find out all about our connections with Spain, Portugal and Latin America at our current exhibition 'Conectando' which runs for the duration of the film festival in the exhibition gallery at the Main University Library on George Square.

Find out more and book tickets for ‘Champions (Campeones)’ on the EIFF website

Pick of the rest

Still from Bodies at Rest
Still from 'Bodies at Rest' courtesy of the Confucius Institute for Scotland

The Confucius Institute for Scotland is sponsoring the UK premieres of two Chinese films at this year’s Festival: Renny Harlin’s action-adventure film ‘Bodies at Rest’[15] on 20th and 21st June (times and venues vary) as part of the World Perspectives Strand; and Zhang Yang’s ‘Up The Mountain (Huo Shan)’ [U] on 24th and 26th of June (times and venues vary) as part of the Documentaries Strand.

Find out more and book tickets for 'Bodies at Rest' on the EIFF website

Find out more and book tickets for 'Up the Mountain' on the EIFF website

EIFF regular Dr David Sorfa (Senior Lecturer and Reader in Film Studies at LLC) will be introducing films and hosting Q&As with various directors and actors, including at the screenings of Ken Loach's 'Carla's Song' [PG] on 26th June, the UK premiere of Nick Hamm's 'Driven' [15] (various dates), and the international premiere of Miranda Nation's 'Undertow' [15] (various dates).

Also look out for EIFF events featuring colleagues from Edinburgh College of Art (including the Scottish Documentary Institute), Centre for Open Learning, and the Centre for Research Collections.

Are you interested in studying film at LLC?

Choose from postgraduate programmes on the theory, aesthetics and philosophy of film, and the professional culture and practices of film exhibition and curation.

Find out more about postgraduate study in film at LLC

Related links

Edinburgh International Film Festival