This year’s Edinburgh Film Festival will debut 21 feature films, 10 of which will screen in the festival’s official competition strand, which will run from August 13 to 19.
Titles competing for the festival’s Sean Connery Prize include Paul Wright’s Mission, starring George MacKay. The film’s official synopsis reads: Mission is a punk exploration of the psyche, which follows alienated Dylan (MacKay) as he throws off the shackles of his solitary life in an attempt to experience the highs and lows of existence at its most extreme. Estranged from his sister Claire, he embarks on a thrilling journey of self-discovery that proves both inspiring and terrifying.
Blue Finch is handling sales on the film, which was produced by Linn Waite, Kate Byers, Alex Thiele, Marie-Elena Dych and Lowri Roberts.
In competition, there is also The Mad World of Harvey Kurtzman, a documentary feature about the American cartoonist and editor Harvey Kurtzman. The film includes contributions from Terry Gilliam, the late Stan Lee and Robert Crumb. Scroll down for the full list of titles.
This year, Edinburgh also launches its honorary Outstanding Contribution to Cinema Award, which will be handed to actor and director Kenneth Branagh. Branagh will also participate in a wide-ranging discussion on his career. Christine Vachon, Ken Burns, and Ewan McGregor will also take part in on-stage Q&A sessions at the festival.
In the Out of Competition strand, films screening include Carlos Conceição’s Bodyhackers, Molly Manners’ Extra Geography, Nicolas Winding Refn’s latest Her Private Hell, and Gregg Araki’s I Want Your Sex, starring Olivia Wilde.
The EIFF lineup also includes seven retrospective screenings, including a 30th anniversary celebration of Trainspotting at Leith Theatre featuring live cast and crew commentary followed by DJ sets by Irvine Welsh and Darren Emerson.
“Heading into the third edition of our revamped, reimagined and reinvigorated Edinburgh International Film Festival feels like hitting a stride we have been working towards since the start of 2024,” Paul Ridd, CEO and Festival Director of the EIFF, said in a statement.
“With stellar Competitions, fantastically varied and essential new films from Scotland, from the wider UK and from the rest of the world, and more World Premieres than we have ever screened before, this year’s line-up offers a panoramic vision of cinema at its most exciting, dynamic and full of potential. Edinburgh is quite simply the only place to be in August. Bring it on.”
2026 EIFF Competition Titles:
CAPSIZED
FIRST ZONE
MISSION
OUT THERE
SKINTOWN
STATE OF US, THE
PRETTY BABIES
MAD WORLD OF HARVEY KURTZMAN, THE
SACRED CREATURES
SNAPSHOT