77th Edinburgh International Film Festival will Open with the UK Premiere of Nora Fingscheidt’s ‘The Outrun’ Starring Saoirse Ronan

The Festival also announces its shorts competition will be titled The Thelma Schoonmaker Prize for Short Filmmaking Excellence with the three-time Oscar-winning film editor in attendance

The relaunched Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) today announced that this year’s 77th edition of the Festival will open with Nora Fingscheidt’s adaptation of Amy Liptrot’s best-selling memoir, The Outrun. This year’s EIFF takes place August 15 to August 21, 2024.

The Outrun stars four-time Academy Award nominee Saoirse Ronan (Atonement, Lady Bird, Brooklyn, Little Women) as a young woman who finds herself washed up back home on the Scottish islands of Orkney as she battles to rebuild her life after a decade of addiction. Ronan, who also co-produced the film, will join filmmaker Nora Fingscheidt (System Crasher) in attendance at this year’s EIFF, alongside writer Amy Liptrot and the film’s producers Sarah Brocklehurst and Dominic Norris. The film had its world premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, and will be released by STUDIOCANAL in the UK and Ireland on September 27, 2024.

The Outrun was developed and produced by Sarah Brocklehurst of Brock Media, Dominic Norris of Arcade Pictures, Saoirse Ronan and Jack Lowden, with the support of BBC Film and Screen Scotland.

Executive Producers on The Outrun are Protagonist Pictures, BBC Film, Screen Scotland and MBK Productions.

The full EIFF program will be launched on Thursday, July 4 when tickets will also go on sale.

EIFF Director, Paul Ridd has said: “The Outrun is a truly special film. Powered by an electric and fearless central performance by Saoirse Ronan, this is lyrical, momentous cinema of real rigour and intelligence, and exactly the kind of bold work we want to champion with our relaunched festival. I have been a fan of Nora Fingscheidt’s uncompromising, emotional filmmaking ever since her debut System Crasher and I can think of no more fitting combination of announcements than this wonderful film as our opening with the confirmation of the legendary Thelma Schoonmaker’s gracious support for our Shorts Prize. We are honoured to be working with such phenomenal women of cinema.” 

“It’s great to see Paul set out his ambition for the relaunched EIFF with such a significant title for Scotland. Orkney’s primal beauty and unique natural landscape is at the heart of things, not only as the setting but as the source of redemption, courage and healing,” said Isabel Davis, Executive Director of Screen Scotland.

Davis continued, “Nora’s exceptional talent, combined with Amy Liptrot’s raw, imaginative writing and Saoirse Ronan’s breathtaking performance make for a compelling and emotional ride. And it seems fitting, for a festival that intends to work with its creative partners across the Fringe, Book, TV and International Festivals that this hugely successful creative collaboration should take centre stage.”

EIFF has also revealed the name of its short film competition as The Thelma Schoonmaker Prize for Short Filmmaking Excellence. Thelma Schoonmaker is celebrated for her iconic work as an editor on landmark moments in cinema history and for her legendary collaborations with Martin Scorsese, including Raging Bull, Goodfellas, The Wolf of Wall Street and Killers of the Flower Moon. Thelma will be in attendance at this year’s festival. The award comes with a cash prize of £15,000.

The short film competition runs alongside four additional shorts programs, 10 world-premiere feature films competing for The Sean Connery Prize for Feature Filmmaking Excellence and programming strands including Out of Competition – which includes international premieres, UK premieres and additional world premieres, a Midnight Madness strand showcasing the best in genre cinema from around the world and a retrospective strand honouring film history. Industry activity will run across the first weekend of the Festival with announcements around guests and activities to follow in the next weeks. Industry delegates will experience the wealth of the film program and also access all that is on show in the wider festivals month via new collaborations with partners including Screen Fringe.

Founded in 1947 when it was known as the International Festival of Documentary Films, Edinburgh International Film Festival is the world’s oldest continually running film festival. Following the 2023 edition, a new organization was established under chairman Andrew Macdonald to lead a revitalized EIFF from 2024 onwards. Paul Ridd was appointed incoming Festival Director in December 2023.