THIS year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival was not just a critical success (see Alan Morrison’s opinion piece, published on Monday), but it has been a commercial success too.
This was the 60th birthday of the festival and artistic director, Shane Danielsen’s last ‘tour of duty’, after five years in post. And compared to last year’s ticket sales, this year’s were up five per cent.
Over 60 screenings enjoyed the putting up of ‘sold out’ notices, while an interview with festival patron, Sir Sean Connery, was the fastest-selling event – it taking a mere ten minutes before all 530 tickets were gone.
This year, some 40 per cent of tickets were sold online, as opposed to 34 per cent last year.
And the other top sellers were: Reel Life interview: Kevin Smith; Reel Life: Steven Soderbergh; The Flying Scotsman; One Fine Day; Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait; The Host; Driving Lesson; Wristcutters: A Love Story; Night Movers (part of They Might Be Giants American 70s retrospective); and A Few Kilos of Dates for a Funeral.
