Edinburgh Film Festival Unveils 2026 Industry Programme
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- Edinburgh Film Festival confirmed its full industry programme for 2026, running August 13-19, with industry events beginning August 14.
- The programme opens with an EIFF Industry Networking Brunch in partnership with Women in Film and Television, followed by an EIFF Industry Talk with veteran indie producer Christine Vachon hosted by Wendy Mitchell.
- Ken Burns will take part in an EIFF In Conversation session hosted by journalist Dave Calhoun, and Ewan McGregor will participate in a separate In Conversation event hosted in partnership with BAFTA Scotland.
- The inaugural UK Film Conference launches August 15, opening with BFI CEO Ben Roberts and Clare Binns discussing the future of independent film in the UK.
- Conference sessions include "Would This Get Made?" with Vachon, Stefanie Fahrion (Film4), Alice Ojha (BBC Film), Laura Wilson (Altitude), and Simon Renshaw (Casarotto Ramsay & Associates), plus "New Nightmares" with Max Minghella, Prano Bailey-Bond, Chee Keong Cheung, and Joby Stephens.
- Bruce Dern will participate in a career Q&A with film critic Guy Lodge, while documentary filmmaker Paul Sng hosts "Unmaking the Colonial Gaze in Cinema."
- EIFF CEO Paul Ridd called the lineup a "diverse and starry range of guests" and described the UK Film Conference as "the jewel in our crown" in the festival's stated mission to be "the home of independent cinema in the UK."
Why it matters: The festival's first UK Film Conference on August 15 convenes BBC Film, Film4, BFI leadership, and leading indie producers under one roof in Edinburgh, with Ridd explicitly framing EIFF's mission as being 'the home of independent cinema in the UK' — making the launch a concrete test of whether the festival can function as a national industry hub alongside its public screenings.
