From 27 June 2025, Edinburgh’s landmark cinema Filmhouse will re-open its doors with a hand-picked programme of the very best films the cinema missed out on playing during the venue’s two-and-a-half-year closure. The programme will have a strong emphasis on films that did not screen in the city because of its absence. Tickets are on sale now via the Filmhouse website.
Filmhouse has long been celebrated as a cultural cornerstone, showcasing world cinema in all its brilliance and diversity, from crowd-pleasing favourites and to avant-garde arthouse works, restored classics, and curated retrospectives.
The first film to welcome audiences back to the venue will be the much-loved film gem and ode to the beauty of the cinemagoing experience, Giuseppe Tornatore’s Cinema Paradiso (1988).
On opening weekend, audiences can also enjoy Martyn Robertson’s acclaimed new film Make It To Munich, an inspiring documentary which follows 18-year-old Ethan Walker, who just months after nearly losing his life in an accident, embarks on a 1200km cycle ride to Munich for Scotland’s Euros opening game against Germany. Ethan himself will attend a special Q&A screening on Filmhouse’s opening day, alongside the film’s director Martyn Robertson and former Motherwell, Chelsea, Everton and Scotland winger Pat Nevin.
Edinburgh based filmmaker Matt Palmer will present a free double-bill of his gutsy thriller Calibre (2018) starring Jack Lowden and Tony Curran alongside his hit horror Fear Street: Prom Queen(2025) which debuted at No.1 on Netflix on its release earlier in the year and will have its first ever public cinema screening at Filmhouse. Matt will also take part in a Q&A after the screening.
Lotte Reiniger’s classic feature length paper cut animationThe Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926)will screen in a special event soundtracked with live music by Edinburgh based musical improvisers and innovators S!nk in a transportive performance filled with swirling, spiralling strings, saxophones, accordion, percussion and voices.
Also screening at the cinema are a selection of recent acclaimed films from around the world from new and established filmmakers, and 70mm engagements at the cinema will include Brady Corbet’s award-winning The Brutalist and Christopher Nolan’s epic OppenheimeralongsideRobert Egger’sNosferatuon 35mm.
More upcoming screenings will be announced soon.
Over the next few months, Filmhouse will once again partner with many of Scotland’s film festivals offering a fabulous space in which to welcome their audiences, alongside technical and marketing packages: French Film Festival UK, Edinburgh Spanish Film Festival, Take One Action!, Edinburgh Short Film Festival and Iberodocs Film Festival amongst many others. Alongside this, the cinema will also screen events such as National Theatre Live for the first time, with more details to be confirmed in the coming months. Details of Filmhouse’s involvement with this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival are yet to be announced.
Rod White, Programming Director of Filmhouse, said “Looking into the films that simply didn’t make it on to Edinburgh cinema screens at all during Filmhouse’s closure only hammered home the need for it in this great City of Culture. It’s been tough – whilst Filmhouse was closed – to watch some brilliant films come and go from cinemas without being able to offer a venue to watch them in… The good news is, Filmhouse has never been a better place to watch a film (and talk about it afterward!) than it is today and we simply cannot wait to welcome everyone back, or, for the first time!”
The cinema will announce new membership offers and multiple-tier ticket pricing over the next few weeks.
Jim Welsh
Radio Summerhall Arts 