Press release -
Ready, set jet, go!
Visitors to this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) are being encouraged to go on “set-jetting” trips to explore the real Scottish locations they see on the silver screen.
Some of the country’s most iconic attractions and stunning scenery will be showcased at this year’s festival and VisitScotland, the national tourism organisation, says the sight of places such as Eilean Donan Castle in Highlander and St Andrews Cathedral in Tommy’s Honour will inspire cinephiles to follow in the footsteps of their celluloid heroes.
The EIFF, which is supported through EventScotland’s International Funding Programme, will be screening a total of 161 features from 15-26 June, with a number of them shot on location in Scotland.
Scotland-set films include:
- Tommy’s Honour (15 June, Opening Night Gala, Festival Theatre): The world premiere of Jason Connery’s true story about Scottish golf pioneers Old Tom Morris and Young Tom Morris was filmed in a variety of locations around Scotland, predominately in East Lothian and Fife. Locations include: Musselburgh Old Course, the world’s oldest golf course, Gilmerton House (Haddington), Gosford House (Longniddry), Falkland and St Andrews (Fife)
- The Correspondence (17 June, Filmhouse 1 and 19 June, Odeon 2): A love story filmed and set in Edinburgh and starring Oscar-winner Jeremy Irons and former Bond girl Olga Kurylenko
- 2001: A Space Odyssey (18 June, Filmhouse 1): Harris gained a well-earned reputation for being ‘out of this world’ when it doubled for the surface of Jupiter in Stanley Kubrick’s legendary science fiction adventure
- Highlander (18 June, Cineworld 7): The 30th anniversary screening of Russell Mulcahy’s fantasy film sees Christopher Lambert’s character of Connor MacLeod back at Eilean Donan Castle, which doubles for the village of Glenfinnan. Eilean Donan also serves as the Scottish headquarters of MI6 in the 1999 James Bond film The World is Not Enough
- Trainspotting (19 June, Filmhouse 1): The opening scene of Danny Boyle’s cinematic version of Irvine Welsh’s novel, currently filming a sequel in Edinburgh, sees Renton (Ewan McGregor) and Spud (Ewen Bremner) being pursued down Princes Street by security staff
- Whisky Galore! (26 June, Closing Night Gala, Festival Theatre): The remake of the classic Ealing comedy, which was originally shot on the Isle of Barra, was filmed mainly in Aberdeenshire, at Pennan (of Local Hero fame) and Portsoy. Among the numerous other locations are St Monan’s Parish Church in the East Neuk of Fife (also used in The Railway Man), Luss Village Hall in Loch Lomond and Loch Thom in Greenock
Scotland will also be seen in the coming-of-age comedy Moon Dogs, Gaelic language drama Bannan and Shooting the Revel – Re-Discovering Edinburgh College of Art’s Revel Films of the 1930s and 1940s. Documentary Lost in France explores Scotland’s independent music scene, while Bridging the Gap: Women, is a series of short documentaries made in Scotland.
Malcolm Roughead, Chief Executive of VisitScotland, said:
"The Edinburgh International Film Festival is a wonderful celebration of the magic of cinema, giving visitors the chance to enjoy brilliant movies in a beautiful and vibrant capital city.
“After taking in the films, we would urge visitors to explore some of stunning locations featured on the big screen during the festival, from the iconic Eilean Donan Castle, as seen in Highlander, to the historic splendour of East Lothian and Fife in Tommy’s Honour.
“Set-jetting is a hugely popular pastime which helps Scotland’s visitor economy. This causes a ripple effect that touches every industry, business and community in the country – from laundry services to life sciences.”
Mark Adams, EIFF Artistic Director, said:
“Scotland is the first location choice of so many incredible films and film makers and this year’s Festival showcases some of the best and most beautiful settings the country has to offer.
“Not only do our Opening Night film Tommy’s Honour and our Closing Night film Whisky Galore show off some wonderful locations, but other new films such as Moon Dogs display Scotland at its best. Audiences will be blown away by the breath-taking backgrounds of Scotland and may recognise a few familiar sites along the way.”
Councillor John McMillan, East Lothian Council’s spokesperson for Economic Development and Tourism, said:
“East Lothian is delighted to have played its part in many films and TV series which raises the region's profile, attracts visitors and shows a positive economic impact.”
Established in 1947, Edinburgh International Film Festival is renowned around the world for discovering and promoting the very best in international cinema - and for heralding and debating changes in global filmmaking. Intimate in its scale, ambitious in its scope, and fuelled by pure passion for cinema in all its manifestations, 2016 marks its 70th edition making it the longest continually running film festival in the world.
For more information about the EIFF, go to www.edfilmfest.org
For more information about film tourism, go to https://www.visitscotland.com/see-do/attractions/tv-film/
Topics
- Tourism
Categories
- corporate communications
- film tourism
- edinburgh international film festival
- highlander
Regions
- Scotland
Notes to Editors
- Follow us on twitter: @visitscotnews
- VisitScotland is Scotland’s national tourism organisation. Its core purpose is to maximise the economic benefit of tourism to Scotland.
- The organisation’s core objective is to contribute to the Tourism 2020 Strategy ambition of growing tourism revenues by £1 billion by 2020.
- This will be supported by seven overarching strategies:
- Marketing: we will market Scotland and its outstanding assets to visitors from all parts of the world, including the promotion of Scotland to people living in Scotland to visit different parts of the country
- Events: we will support the national events strategy and its delivery, and sustain, develop and promote Scotland’s international profile as one of the world’s foremost events destinations
- Internationalisation and International Engagement: we will utilise all our platforms to enable Scottish-based tourism businesses to better understand international opportunities and market to a global audience and we will work within One Scotland Partnerships to optimise the potential of Scotland’s Diaspora and our strategic partners at regional, European and global levels
- Customer Experience: we will provide information and inspiration to visitors both locally and globally via their preferred medium of choice
- Quality and Sustainability: we will provide support and advice to businesses, with the goal of improving the quality and sustainability of the tourism sector in Scotland. We will provide quality assurance to visitors through our Quality Schemes
- Inclusive Tourism: we will strive to make tourism in Scotland inclusive and available to all
- Working in Partnership: we will listen to and work with the industry, partners and communities to shape our offering and support
- VisitScotland works together with tourism businesses to make tourism a success for everyone and ensure the industry continues to grow.
- The organisation employs 700 people and has offices and VisitScotland Information Centres across Scotland.
- Spending by tourists in Scotland generates around £12 billion of economic activity in the wider Scottish supply chain and contributes around £6 billion to Scottish GDP (in basic prices). This represents about 5% of total Scottish GDP.
- The Scottish Government is the Managing Authority for the European Structural Funds 2014-20 Programme. For further information visit www.gov.scot or follow @scotgovESIF
- For VisitScotland’s press releases go to http://www.visitscotland.org/media_centre.aspx, tourism statistics and frequently asked questions go to http://www.visitscotland.org/
- Where possible, a Gaelic speaker will be made available for broadcast interviews on request (Far an tèid iarraidh, agus far am bheil sin nar comas, bruidhinnidh neach le Gàidhlig aig agallamh)
- For holiday information on Scotland go to www.visitscotland.com
- For information about business events in Scotland go to www.conventionscotland.com
Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design 2016 - 2016 will shine a spotlight on Scotland’s achievements in innovation, architecture and design through a wide-ranging, variety of new and existing activity.
- The Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design begins on 1 January 2016 and ends on 31 December 2016 and will build on the momentum generated by the 2015 Year of Food and Drink as well as previous years including Homecoming Scotland 2014, the Year of Creative and the Year of Natural.
- Through a series of exciting events and activity, the year will showcase Scotland’s position as an “innovation nation”, its outstanding built heritage, and its thriving, internationally acclaimed creative industries sector.
- The Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design is a Scottish Government initiative being led by VisitScotland, and supported by a variety of partners including Scottish Government, Creative Scotland, Architecture + Design Scotland, Scottish Tourism Alliance, Scottish Enterprise, The National Trust for Scotland, Historic Environment Scotland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS).
- The Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design events fund is managed by EventScotland, part of VisitScotland’s Events Directorate.
- Join the conversation at #IAD2016
- Events can join the 2016 Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design Partner Programme throughout the year by visiting http://www.eventscotland.org/YIAD_partner_programme
