Scottish Film Events: August 2025

We preview Edinburgh Film Festival (14-20 Aug) elsewhere in the mag and on this website, but it’s not the only UK festival of note this summer. Bristol has just hosted the wonderful Cinema Rediscovered, which brings old films, many of them rare or underseen, back to the big screen, and some highlights are going on tour. Both Filmhouse and GFT will be hosting Against the Grain: 1980s British Cinema, a season of creative British films that emerged under the nose of Thatcher’s hostile-to-the-arts government. Think Stephen Frears’ queer romance My Beautiful Laundrette, Neil Jordan’s poetic debut Angel and the little-seen Ping Pong, a caper set in and around London’s Chinatown from British-Chinese director Po-Chih Leong. That trio, plus others, screens at both cinemas; see websites for dates and the full programme.

GFT will also host other gems from Cinema Rediscovered in August, including newly restored prints of masterpieces like Jean-Jacques Beineix’s Diva (8 & 10 Aug) and Charles Burnett’s Killer of Sheep (9 & 11 Aug) as well as three titles that are new to me and sound fantastic: Kazakhstani epic The Fall of Otrar (17 Aug), biting satire Chameleon Street (18 Aug) and In Fading Light, a drama set within the Northeast of England’s declining fishing industry (24 Aug). 

Talking of cinema from the 1980s in defiance of Thatcher, be sure to catch a season of the Comic Strip Presents… films at the Fringe (Just the Tonic, 2-10 Aug). For those unfamiliar, Comic Strip were a collective of some of the biggest names in the UK's 80s alternative comedy scene (think Ade Edmondson, Rik Mayall, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders) and they made a tonne of hilarious TV films together, many of which were written and directed by Peter Richardson, who’ll be presenting some at the Fringe alongside guests like Alexei Sayle and Keith Allen. Classics Supergrass and The Strike are already confirmed, with more to be announced. 

DCA are celebrating the talents of Mamoru Hosoda, for many, the natural successor to Hayao Miyazaki in the world of anime. The mini-season features two of the Belle and Mirai director’s early gems: Summer Wars (3 & 5 Aug) and Wolf Children (17 & 19 Aug). The DCA are also marking the 100th anniversary of Alfred Hitchcock’s debut feature The Pleasure Garden, which screens with a live score from Dundee composer Steven Gellatly (16 Aug).

Cameo in Edinburgh continues its year-long David Lynch tribute with a programme of Lynch shorts (2 Aug), a day-long screening of Twin Peaks: Season One (9 Aug) and a rare outing for that TV show’s heartbreaking cinematic prequel, Fire Walk with Me (23 Aug). And this month’s Lynchspiration is Blake Edwards’ 1962 noir Experiment in Terror (16 Aug), which was reportedly a big influence on the uncanny atmosphere of Twin Peaks.

We also recommend seeking out Dag Johan Haugerud’s Oslo Stories Trilogy. Not to be confused with Joachim Trier’s loose Oslo Trilogy, Haugerud’s trio of films – titled Dreams, Love and Sex – are relationship dramas told from different perspectives. They’re designed to be watched in any order and work as standalone pieces, but together they promise a rich study in intimacy and desire. Dreams is released 1 Aug, Love on 15 Aug and Sex on 22 Aug.