Films to catch at EIFF

Henry Pettigrew and Lorn Macdonald in The Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde Photo: Courtesy of EIFF

The start of Edinburgh International Film Festival, under the wing of the city's International Festival tonight marks the end of a turbulent year for the world's longest continuously running film festival. The collapse of its parent charity the Centre For The Moving Image (CMI) after last year's edition cast doubt on the future of the event, although the recent installation of Scots producer Andrew Macdonald as the chair of the festival board going forwards bodes well for the future, even as the fight to save the city's Filmhouse continues.

This year's edition is a slimmed down affair, although there are still a handful of world premieres in the programme, including the opening night film, Silent Roar, Johnny Barrington's comedy drama about a young surfer dealing with grief, which was shot on Skye. The Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde, which began its journey as a hybrid stage production in the city last year and features the very talented up-and-comer Lorn Macdonald in the lead, will also have its premiere along with a documentary about Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh.

If you're struggling to choose what to see, here are our recommendations.

Past Lives

Past Lives Photo: Courtesy of San Sebastian Film Festival

A hit at Sundance and subsequently garnering equally positive reviews out of Berlin, this is a delicately woven relationship drama that examines the severed and rediscovered connection between two South Koreans after Nora (played by Greta Lee in adulthood) migrates to Canada with her parents at the age of 12 when she is just on the cusp of her first love with Hae Sung (Teo Yoo). The film checks back with the pair 12 years later when they suddenly find themselves back in touch, before taking another leap of 12 years before they again reconnect some years after Nora has married her husband Arthur (John Magaro). There's a rare delicacy to the way in which writer/director Celine Song handles all the relationships, giving each of the trio equal emotional weight and exploring the immigration experience as well as the ties that bind. If you can't catch it EIFF, then make sure you see it when it goes on general release in the UK on September 8. Full review coming soon.

Afire

Afire Photo: Courtesy of Sideshow and Janus Films

Christian Petzold successfully turns his hand to comedy in this tale of writer Leon (Thomas Schubert) whose plans for a summer writing retreat with his mate Felix (Langston Uibel) don't exactly go to plan. A playful character study that also packs some environmental bite, the tale unfolds as Leon tries to work on completing his novel at the same time as coping with the way that he feels about the unexpected female guest (Paula Beer) who is already staying at the house they have arrived at. Petzold lets the push and pull of the relationships provide a lot of humour and not a small amount of poignancy as summer holds heat that is unexpected. Read what Petzold told us about the film. The film screens at EIFF on Tuesday and Wednesday before going on general release across the UK on August 25.

Raging Grace

Raging Grace

Jennie Kermode writes: When Joy (Max Eigenmann) stumbles into a job as housekeeper for a prim white woman with a large and elegant house, she's so relieved that she may finally be able to save up the money to buy citizenship papers for herself and her daughter Grace (Jaeden Paige Boadilla) that she stifles her discomfort at the woman's racist remarks and takes a chance on being able to keep Grace's presence a secret. That's not easy, as the girl doesn't really understand the precarity of their situation, and wants to stand up to injustice at every turn. Things really come to a head, however, when Joy begins to suspect that the old man kept in a bed upstairs is in fact not ill at all, but is being deliberately kept in a coma. As a qualified nurse who has sworn an oath to help people in trouble, she faces a moral quandary - and there's worse to come. Paris Zarcilla's stylish thriller blends the high drama of the Gothic tradition with acute observation of the day to day abuses faced by migrant domestic workers, and the ugliness of the UK's entrenched racism and classism more generally. Dark secrets are revealed as Joy confronts her worst fears and Grace begins to discover the real complexities of the world in which she lives.

Trenque Laquen

Trenque Lauquen Part I Photo: Courtesy of San Sebastian Film Festival

Don't be put off by the four-hour running time of this two-part film from Laura Citrella, it's well worth it. A film that is as much about the nature of story and storytelling as it is the tale of a woman who has disappeared, Citrella folds stories of feminism and self-determination, of self-sacrifice and love into her narrative. Over the course of the films, the life of Laura (Laura Paredes) will be interrogated, while she, in turn, investigates other mysteries she encounters. This is a slowburn watch that isn't scared to glide between genres, including historical romance and science-fiction. As Citrella told us: "This is like a moving film, a mutant film. Suddenly you have these fantastical elements and they become like a detective-esque film, but then it is a little bit romantic and then it is contemplative. You don’t realise exactly the moment where the film changes, because it's changing all the time." Hers is a film of multiple pathways, each a journey worth taking. This is the sort of film its tricky to catch outside of a festival so don't miss it - screening Monday and Wednesday.