Trailblazers

Established in 2007, Trailblazers is the EIFF’s flagship talent showcase, on which we are proud and happy to collaborate with Skillset. We choose our Trailblazers from the EIFF’s feature programme, and from selected new work submitted to us by the UK’s Skillset Screen Academies, which is screened in the Festival’s Trailblazing Shorts programme. We seek by this selection to provide a snapshot of the range of work currently being produced by UK and UK-trained talent, and to ensure that our chosen individuals are presented with every opportunity to forward their careers via the Festival’s structures and services.

This year, we’re delighted by the work that we have seen and by the potential obviously inherent in this set of up- and-coming talent. Whether triumphing in the true labour of love that is shoestring-budget independent production, confidently blurring the lines of genre divisions and audience expectations, or simply executing the kind of performance that screams ‘star in the making’, these individuals have all distinguished themselves to a particularly high standard in 2009.

The aim of EIFF as a festival of discovery is to be generative rather than merely responsive: we don’t just want to screen films, we want positive change and new artistic endeavours to be born as a result. That means aiding our filmmakers to secure publicity, contacts and networking opportunities into the future – as well as enthusiastic public audiences at the Festival itself. We look forward to seeing our 2009 Trailblazers benefit from these opportunities, and we congratulate them all warmly on their work.

Hannah McGill
Artistic Director, EIFF