This year, the Edinburgh International Film Festival will welcome acclaimed film editor Thelma Schoonmaker for a special “In Conversation” event to discuss her late husband Michael Powell‘s life and filmmaking career.
Schoonmaker — best known for her Oscar-winning work on Raging Bull, The Aviator and The Departed — will take the audience through her partner’s career, which started with him directing low-budget films in the 1930s prior to his acclaimed 1937 film The Edge of the World (also screening in a restoration at EIFF 2025).
Powell is perhaps best known for his creative partnership with Emeric Pressburger, which produced some of the most brilliant British films of the 20th century, including The Life of Death of Colonel Blimp (1943), A Matter of Life and Death (1946), Black Narcissus (1947) and The Red Shoes (1948).
Public outrage at Powell’s solo directorial effort, the disturbing horror Peeping Tom (1960) has since turned to praise and Powell is now considered one of the most important British filmmakers of the 20th century. This is, in part, thanks to the efforts of Schoonmaker and Martin Scorsese since the 1980s, with their championing of his films and efforts to restore them.
Thelma will also introduce a special screening of Powell’s classic film The Edge of the World (1937) at Edinburgh, presented in a digital restoration. In Conversation: Thelma Schoonmaker on Michael Powell will take place Sunday, Aug. 17, joining a host of sessions with huge names including Ken Loach, Kevin Macdonald and Nia DaCosta.
EIFF also confirmed on Wednesday that the guest at 90 Minutes or Less FilmFest Podcast (Live) on Aug. 17 will be acclaimed comedian Rose Matafeo, star of Starstruck, Baby Done and Junior Taskmaster. 90 Minutes or Less is a podcast in which host Sam Clements discusses a film under 90 minutes in length with special guests.
The Edinburgh International Film Festival will run Aug. 14-20.