Edinburgh Film Festival Hosts 'Goodbye Don Glees' UK Premiere, 'Luck' and More Animation

Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) is one of the UK's most prestigious film fests. After a couple of years impacted by the pandemic, EIFF is back in full force this year. The festival frequently includes animation among its program, and this year is no exception.

The festival will host the UK premiere of the acclaimed coming-of-age anime feature Goodbye, Don Glees.  What's more, writer-director Atsuko Ishizuka (A Place Further Than The Universe) will be in attendance. Anime Limited will release the film in select UK and Irish cinemas later in the year.

Teen misfits Roma, Toto, and Drop call themselves the “Don Glees,” an informal name for their backyard adventures. One day, when the trio gets blamed for a nearby forest fire, they set off into the woods to prove their innocence. As disaster strikes their expedition, tensions flare between the friends as they realize that growing up has taken them on wildly different paths in life.

Director Atsuko Ishizuka follows up her critically acclaimed series A Place Further Than the Universe with her first original feature film. With luminescent animation and lush backdrops, Goodbye, Don Glees! is a tender coming-of-age story about the fearlessness of being young and the bittersweet journey of self-discovery.

 

This year's event also sees the UK premiere of independent filmmaker Signe Baumane's long-awaited and deeply personal My Love Affair With Marriage. Partially crowdfunded, the film has taken more than five years to make it to the screen.

With humour, science and song, Signe Baumane’s second animated feature considers the gender roles we are taught from childhood and the dangers of being different in a world where conformity is the norm. Over two decades, we follow a woman's quest for the perfect relationship and her attempts to play the good wife. We meet the men she is intimate with, the Sirens who guide her and narrator Biology who sheds light on the impulses behind the characters’ behaviour. 

In more mainstream fare, the festival will also host a screening of Luck, the debut feature from Skydance Animation. Directed by Peggy Holmes, the film has attracted some controversy over Skydance's decision to hire shamed ex-Pixar bigwig John Lasseter as Chief Creative Officer. Original star Emma Thompson left the film in protest at the move. The film will also be released on Apple TV+ from August 5.

From Apple Original Films and Skydance Animation comes the story of Sam Greenfield, the unluckiest person in the world! Suddenly finding herself in the never-before-seen Land of Luck, she must unite with the magical creatures there to turn her luck around

Additionally, EIFF will be screening Makoto Shinkai's fan favourite Your Name and three programs of animated shorts- McClaren Animation 1 and 2 and International Animation.

The 75th Edinburgh International Film Festival will take place from August 12 until August 20. For more information visit the festival website.