Cult genre movies directed by Steven Spielberg, Michael Mann, Tobe Hooper, Sam Peckinpah and Walter Hill are among the first screenings to be announced for the Edinburgh International Film Festival 2015. Spielberg's highway thriller 'Duel', Mann's prison drama 'The Jericho Mile', Hooper's Stephen King adap 'Salem's Lot' and Peckinpah's western 'Noon Wine' are all to be screened as part of the 'Little Big Screen' strand at the fest, celebrating the early, made-for-TV work of some of America's top directing talent. Running alongside it will be 'Walter Hill: The Early Years', a career retrospective of the director's work featuring Charles Bronson fighter flick 'Hard Times'; Ryan O'Neal car chase vehicle 'The Driver' (which later inspired the videogame franchise of the same name); seminal New York gang movie 'The Warriors'; Jesse James western 'The Long Riders'; Vietnam-echoing domestic war film 'Southern Comfort'; and Eddie Murphy/Nick Nolte buddy movie '48 Hours'. In case you're unfamiliar with any of that lot, you can check out trailers for some of 'em below.
The above movies - and you should almost certainly call them 'movies' as opposed to 'films' - show that the EIFF 2015 won't be shy of catering to more populist tastes. This could be a stabilising tactic given the change of top-level personnel late last year: Chris Fujiwara stepped down as Artistic Director in September following a successful three-year tenure; his replacement, Mark Adams (latterly Chief Film Critic for Screen International), is due to pick up the reins in March. That said, the recent programme announcement also ticked the more niche and international boxes: there'll be a focus on the cinematic output of Mexico and a Masters of Animation retrospective on acclaimed animator Barry Purves, who is booked to attend the fest in person. We've picked out Purves' charming stop motion piece, 'Next', below.
Duel (Steven Spielberg, 1971)
![]()
The Jericho Mile (Michael Mann, 1979)
![]()
Salem's Lot (Tobe Hooper, 1979)
![]()
The Warriors (Walter Hill, 1979)
![]()
Next (Barry Purves, 1989)
![]()
The Edinburgh International Film festival will run from Jun 17-28.