Ken Loach Joins Edinburgh Film Festival Speaker Lineup

This year’s edition of the Edinburgh International Film Festival will host British filmmaker Ken Loach and his longtime creative collaborators, writer Paul Laverty and producer Rebecca O’Brien.

The trio will discuss the acclaimed films they have created together over the years including Palme d’Or winners The Wind That Shakes The Barley (2006) and I, Daniel Blake (2016), on Aug. 20. The group will then introduce a special retrospective screening on 35mm print of the The Wind That Shakes The Barley, starring Cillian Murphy, the fest confirmed.

EIFF’s In Conversation strand also features a range of other major filmmaking talent who will discuss their creative careers to date, including director Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland, Touching the Void, One to One: John & Yoko) speaking with his brother, producer Andrew Macdonald (Trainspotting, Civil War, 28 Years Later). Kevin Macdonald will also present a screening of The Cranes are Flying (1957).

Nia DaCosta will discuss her acclaimed work, which spans independent film, horror sequels and major studio comic book adaptations, including The Marvels, Candyman, and upcoming film 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. She’ll introduce a special 4K restoration of Doug Liman’s 90s black comedy Go, EIFF said.

Among the line-up for this year’s speakers is also director-producer duo Ben Wheatley and Andy Starke (Kill List, Bulk, Sightseers) as well as Andrea Arnold, best known for her 2024 Cannes outing Bird.

Jeremy Thomas (Eureka, 13 Assassins, Sexy Beast) will also be in attendance in the Scottish capital to discuss his career, which includes collaborations with Nicolas Roeg, Takeshi Miike and Jonathan Glazer, in a conversation with filmmaker Mark Cousins (A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things, The Story of Film, The Storms of Jeremy Thomas). Thomas will introduce a special 35mm screening of Nicolas Roeg’s Bad Timing (1980), one of his earliest films.

Edinburgh International Film Festival will run from 14-20 August 2025. Said CEO and festival director Paul Ridd: “It is a great honour for us to welcome Ken Loach, Paul Laverty and Rebecca O’Brien for what promises to be a lively and fascinating discussion of their work together, with two Palme D’Ors to their names and a body of work that includes ferociously powerful films produced across decades.”

“We are also delighted to be presenting one of their major films The Wind That Shakes the Barley from a 35mm print. It is a genuine thrill to be able to add this formidable trio to a roster of speakers at EIFF in a programme of In Conversation events which already includes Jeremy Thomas, Nia Da Costa, Andrew and Kevin Macdonald, Andrea Arnold and Ben Wheatley.”