The Edinburgh International Film Festival Industry Programme brings together filmmakers, producers, distributors, exhibitors and creatives from across the UK and beyond for a week of conversations, networking and professional development.
From headline In Conversation events and the inaugural UK Film Conference to practical industry talks and talent-focused sessions, the programme celebrates independent cinema while creating opportunities to connect, collaborate and shape the future of film.
Industry Accreditation is open until 3 August 2026.
EIFF Industry accreditation provides access to our full Industry Programme. Visit the EIFF Industry Homepage to discover the full benefits and to register.
A selection of Industry Events is open to the public. Browse and book via the What’s On page or by following the links below.
10.00 – 11.00 Networking Brunch in partnership with Women In Film & TV
12.00 – 13.00 Industry Talk: Christine Vachon
14.30 – 16.00 In Conversation: Ken Burns
17.00 – 18.30 In Conversation: Ewan McGregor
18.30 – 19.30 Networking Drinks in partnership with BAFTA Scotland
20.00 – 21.15 The Business of Film Roadshow
09.00- 10.00 Networking Brunch in partnership with British Film Institute
11.00 – 12.30 UK Film Conference Keynote: Ben Roberts in Conversation with Clare Binns
13.15 – 14.00 UK Film Conference Industry Talk: Low Budget, High Ambition
14.45 – 15.30 UK Film Conference Industry Talk: Would This Get Made?
16.15 – 17.00 UK Film Conference: Industry Talk: New Nightmares
09.30 – 10.30 Networking Brunch in partnership with Film4
15.00 – 16.30 In Conversation: Kenneth Branagh
17.30 – 18.30 Industry Talk: Beyond the Debut with BIFA Springboard
19.30 – 20.30 Networking Drinks in partnership with Screen Academy Scotland
09.30 – 10.30 Networking Brunch in partnership with The ScreenSkills Film Skills Fund
13.00 – 14.00 Industry Talk: From Page to Screen
15.00 – 16.30 In Conversation: Bruce Dern
18.00 – 19.00 Networking Drinks
09.30 – 10.30 Netwoking Brunch in partnership with Park Circus
16.30 – 17.30 Industry Talk: Lights, Camera, Capital with Screen Scotland
18.00 – 19.00 Networking Drinks
20.00 – 21.00 Industry Talk: Unmaking the Colonial Gaze in Cinema
Only accredited Press & Industry delegates can access this event using their accreditation.
Christine Vachon is amongst the most prolific and exciting producers working in modern cinema. Her collaborations with a host of iconic directors including Todd Haynes, John Cameron Mitchell, Rose Troche and Celine Song have garnered awards recognition and acclaim across a career that has championed queer voices, bold subjects and truly independent filmmaking at every turn. We are thrilled to welcome her for a discussion on her trailblazing work in independent producing.
Hosted by Wendy Mitchell.
Press & Industry delegates can access this event using their accreditation.
A titan of documentary filmmaking for decades, with credits to his name including Oscar-winning features and epic series on The American West, Vietnam and most recently the American War of Independence in The American Revolution, Ken Burns is amongst the most skilled and versatile investigators of history, memory and our shared pasts. We are delighted to be joined by him for a conversation spanning his wide ranging work and career.
Press & Industry delegates can access this event using their accreditation.
Gaining international recognition following his breakout role in seminal Scottish classic Trainspotting (1996), celebrating its 30th anniversary at EIFF this year, Ewan McGregor is one of Scotland’s biggest global stars working across film, TV and theatre. A Golden Globe and Emmy award-winning actor, McGregor has shown extraordinary range and skill across a diverse array of films including Moulin Rouge! (2001), Star Wars (1999-2005), The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009) and The Impossible (2012) as well as major TV series Fargo (2017), A Gentleman in Moscow (2024) and Long Way Home (2025) and successful theatre runs in Guys and Dolls (2005), Othello (2007) and The Real Thing (2014). We are honoured to welcome him to EIFF for an exciting onstage discussion, a true icon of Scotland and screen.
In partnership with BAFTA Scotland
Press & Industry delegates can access this event using their accreditation.
Only accredited Press & Industry delegates can access this event using their accreditation.
With the film industry in a constant state of reinvention and evolution, it has never been more crucial to engage with key stages of the process that ensure your productions make it beyond the development phase. Join us for this session where leading industry experts share exclusive insights about the business side of the sector.
Our roadshow includes the following pit stops:
Hosted by Mia Bays, Director of BFI Filmmaking Fund.
Press & Industry delegates can access this event using their accreditation.
Only accredited Press & Industry delegates can access this event using their accreditation.
The mission of EIFF is to be the home of independent cinema in the UK and the inaugural UK Film Conference is a key part of that mission. We present a one day conference on Saturday 15 August that will be a state of the nation for independent film in the UK situated at the heart of EIFF’s Industry offering at the Festival Hub at Central Hall. Beginning with a lively and wide-ranging headline discussion with BFI CEO Ben Roberts in conversation with Picturehouse Creative Director Clare Binns to engage with the future of independent film in the UK.
Press & Industry delegates can access this event using their accreditation.
Innovation in independent filmmaking is not a new concept. With tight finances, short shoot times and a compact crew, many professionals are refocusing on creative methods to get their latest film off the ground. This essential talk will focus on low budget filmmaking and how UK producers are adapting to an ever-changing landscape.
Press & Industry delegates can access this event using their accreditation.
In this lively, irreverent session about the modern film climate, we welcome industry professionals from major parts of the development, production and distribution pipeline to ask what their approach would be if a range of projects from the past from Whisky Galore! and If… to Trainspotting or Four Weddings and a Funeral came across their desks in 2026. Who would finance the film? Who would release the film? Who would the audience be? And what would be the magic thing that would get these films made?
Speakers include producer Christine Vachon, Stefanie Fahrion (Film4), Alice Ojha (BBC Film), Laura Wilson (Altitude) and Simon Renshaw (Casarotto).
Hosted by Wendy Mitchell.
Press & Industry delegates can access this event using their accreditation.
As horror continues to stay firmly in the hearts of UK and international audiences, we catch up with a group of British filmmakers making innovative and exciting genre work for TV and film and discuss the current state of genre embracing its moment. Speakers include filmmakers Max Minghella, Prano Bailey Bond, Chee Keong Cheung (Bad Day at the Office) and Joby Stephens (Abandoned).
Hosted by Chris Mayo.
Press & Industry delegates can access this event using their accreditation.
Only accredited Press & Industry delegates can access this event using their accreditation.
One of the most accomplished, versatile and skilled character actors of his generation, as well as a champion long distance runner, Bruce Dern is known and loved for the intensity, depth and integrity he brings to each of his roles. With such a distinctive flair for improvisation that the term ‘Dernsie’ was coined for the off-script contribution he so often makes to a scene, and a career that includes astonishing Oscar-nominated performances in Hal Ashby’s Coming Home (1978), screening at EIFF this year, Alexander Payne’s Nebraska (2013) and EIFF 2026 World Premiere William Scoular’s Northbound, Dern has collaborated with Alfred Hitchcock, Quentin Tarantino, Roger Corman, Walter Hill and Joe Dante. He is a true titan of cinema and we are honoured to welcome him to EIFF to discuss his phenomenal career and unique contribution to independent film.
Press & Industry delegates can access this event using their accreditation.
BIFA Springboard is the British Independent Film Awards’ pioneering programme. Running annually since 2020, BIFA Springboard is designed to support writers, directors and producers to develop their careers after producing a first feature. We are joined by a panel of BIFA Springboard alumni to discuss their journeys from first to second film and beyond, including financing and funding; timeline and process; casting; sales and distribution and next steps.
Speakers include Springboard alumni Kate Byers.
Press & Industry delegates can access this event using their accreditation.
Only accredited Press & Industry delegates can access this event using their accreditation.
Only accredited Press & Industry delegates can access this event using their accreditation.
A rich thread of literary adaptation runs through this year’s EIFF programme, with original works adapted for the big screen often in collaboration with the authors themselves. This fascinating session brings together the authors, screenwriters, producers and directors from EIFF official selection films Extra Geography and Borges and Me, to discuss the creative processes behind literary adaptation and screenwriting.
Speakers include Sarah Brocklehurst and Miriam Battye (Extra Geography), Jay Parini and Marc Turtletaub (Borges and Me).
Press & Industry delegates can access this event using their accreditation.
Only accredited Press & Industry delegates can access this event using their accreditation.
Only accredited Press & Industry delegates can access this event using their accreditation.
Screen Scotland, joined by angel investor Lynne Cadenhead, will bring a panel of business angels and producers together to delve into the world of angel investment for screen. The panel marks the launch of Lights, Camera, Capital, a new pilot programme connecting angel investors directly with Scotland’s screen producers and creating new opportunities for investment in development and production.
Press & Industry delegates can access this event using their accreditation.
Only accredited Press & Industry delegates can access this event using their accreditation.
Edinburgh-based, bi-racial British Chinese filmmaker Paul Sng, director of last year’s EIFF closer Reality is not Enough, presents an innovative session that will discuss the generational impacts of colonialism on the moving image. Moving beyond critique, the conversation will focus on how contemporary filmmakers can actively decolonise their practice.
Speakers include Campbell X, Raisah Ahmed, Anthony Andrews.
Hosted by Paul Sng.
