Edinburgh Film Festival to Spotlight Michael Powell With Iconic Editor Thelma Schoonmaker in Conversation and Restored Screening of ‘The Edge of the World’
Legendary film editor Thelma Schoonmaker will return to the Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) this August for a special In Conversation tribute to her late husband, acclaimed British filmmaker Michael Powell.
The event, taking place Aug. 17 at the city’s Tollcross Central Hall, will see Schoonmaker reflect on Powell’s pioneering career from early independent features to his celebrated collaboration with Emeric Pressburger and his enduring influence on generations of filmmakers, most famously Martin Scorsese.
The tribute also includes a newly restored screening of Powell’s 1937 breakthrough feature “The Edge of the World,” introduced by Schoonmaker on Aug. 16 at Cameo 1. Shot in the remote Shetland Islands, the film explores the tension between tradition and change in an isolated Scottish community, and is widely regarded as a defining early work in Powell’s filmography.
“We are over the moon that the living legend Thelma Schoonmaker will be returning to EIFF this year to present a terrific film, and to talk with us about the life and work of her late husband Michael Powell, a filmmaker who left such an indelible mark on the history of cinema,” said Paul Ridd, EIFF CEO and festival director.
Powell’s creative partnership with Pressburger produced some of the most iconic British films of the 20th century, including the epic “The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp,” perhaps David Niven’s best role in “A Matter of Life and Death,” the technical marvel that is “Black Narcissus,” and arguably their pinnacle in “The Red Shoes.”
Though Powell’s solo 1960 feature “Peeping Tom” was initially reviled, it has since been hailed as a landmark psychological thriller, largely thanks to Schoonmaker and longtime collaborator Martin Scorsese’s efforts to restore and reintroduce his work to new audiences.
Schoonmaker was last at the Edinburgh Film Festival in 2024, where she lent her name to the festival’s newly established Shorts Competition. The 2025 edition of EIFF runs Aug. 14–20.
