Brian Cox says Scots film festival was too small for his film premiere - after getting £540k of taxpayer cash
But Succession actor Brian Cox has snubbed his homeland for the launch of his latest film, even though it was handed cash by the Scottish Government.
In a typically-forthright outburst, the star says the Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) - which begins on Thursday - needs to 'get its s*** together'.
Instead, Cox will unveil his directorial debut, Glenrothan, at a rival event in Canada.
It's one of four new films backed by the quango Screen Scotland which have chosen to make their premiere in Toronto next month.
Cox, 79, told the Herald: 'You can't sell anything at the Edinburgh International Film Festival.
'Nobody is bothered about that element of it - how you sell the f****** product.
'There is something immensely practical about art - it's all about how you sell it.'
Referring to a financial crisis in 2022 in which the EIFF came close to extinction, Cox added: 'It is the oldest film festival there is, but with the big chaos they had a few years ago it has lost viability.
'They have got to get their s*** together. It needs to be a festival where you can sell stuff and you invite people to buy it.
'We knew that the best place to be doing it would be at one of the really proper film festivals.
'Getting it into Toronto was a big plus for the film. I would have liked to have shown the film in Edinburgh, but once the deal is done, that is it.'
Glenrothan, which was shot in Edinburgh, Glasgow and rural Stirlingshire, is the tale of ex-pat who returns from the US to the Highlands to take over the family whisky distillery.
The film, which was given £540,000 by Screen Scotland to help bankroll its development and production, stars Cox and fellow Scot Alan Cumming.
Both actors have pursued successful careers across the Atlantic, but frequently support calls from nationalist to rip Scotland out of the Union.
Other Screen Scotland-funded movies choosing to launch in Toronto instead of Edinburgh include California Schemin' - directed by James McAvoy - the thriller Fuze and a remake of Frankenstein.
Between them, the movies received £1.7m of Scottish taxpayers' money.
EIFF director Paul Ridd said: 'There were a number of terrific films we considered where the stakeholders ultimately made the decision to premiere elsewhere later in the year. This is all part of the process.
'We respect the decisions of filmmakers, producers and key players behind these films and their launch strategies.'
Cox's snub for the EIFF is an about-turn from a previous broadside he made in 2019 when he criticised bosses for not showing another of his films, Rory's Way.
He said at the time: 'I was well p***** off because they wanted it at Edinburgh one year and the film wasn't quite ready.
'We tried to get it in the second year and they didn't want to know, which I thought was a shame, because my character is not only a Scot, but a Gaelic speaker.
'I thought that was the one place it should have been was in the Edinburgh International Film Festival.'
Dundee-born Cox, best known for playing media tycoon Logan Roy in the award-winning HBO series Succession, left Scotland aged 20 to find work in England and now splits his time between New York and London.
He has previously ruled out ever moving back to Scotland because he doesn't like the weather.
But that hasn't stopped him frequently weighing in on the independence debate.
He publicly quit Labour for the SNP in 2015 in the wake of the referendum.
Earlier this month, he said: 'Let's get on with it and let's get it done. We can do it.
'It's been tough as there's a great deal of undermining that has gone on.'
A Screen Scotland spokesperson said: 'Scottish filmmakers are internationally renowned for their craft and regularly selected to play at major international festivals which are often the launchpad for international sales.
'EIFF's revitalized offer positions it as a global player celebrating the very best that cinema has to offer in a modern, energised context and very much part of the wider cultural offering taking place in Edinburgh in August.
'The world premiere competition strand in particular is attracting a growing industry presence alongside local and international audiences looking for a sense of discovery, experimentation, and cross-arts collaboration.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
5 minutes ago
- The Independent
Famous Sheffield club has been gutted in act of ‘wanton destruction', says owner
The owners of the building which housed Sheffield's famous Leadmill music venue say they have found a scene of 'wanton destruction' as they took possession after a bitter eviction battle. Electric Group said it moved in to the premises on Wednesday evening, weeks after it was successful in its long legal battle against the operators of The Leadmill. In a statement, the firm said: 'The Leadmill, one of Sheffield's most iconic music venues, has been returned to its owners in a wrecked state – stripped of fixtures, vandalised, and left wide open to the elements. 'Electric Group, which took possession of the building late on Wednesday evening, were met with a scene of destruction, even the front doors had been taken.' It said: 'The stage where world-famous bands once performed has been ripped out, the sprung dancefloor torn up, bars and lighting removed, and the venue stripped back to bare brickwork.' It said the reusable materials have been 'all dumped rather than being recycled, reused, or donated to community projects'. The firm also criticised attempts which have been made to remove a well-known Mike Disley frieze sculpture from the frontage of the building – which has been halted by Sheffield City Council. Electric Group co-founder Dominic Madden said: 'It's devastating to see the building like this. It's so important to people.' He said: 'Stepping into this building and seeing the wanton destruction that has taken place is the sum of all my fears. 'What has happened these last few weeks behind closed doors is devastating, how anybody can do so much damage is beyond belief. 'We knew they'd take their belongings, but we also thought they valued this place. Their treatment of it proves otherwise.' Mr Madden said he was now 'even more determined to do whatever it takes' to re-open the building as the Electric Sheffield music venue in February 2026. The existing Leadmill venue closed at the end of June, with a final gig by indie favourite Miles Kane, after losing a long-running eviction battle with Electric Group. After it lost an appeal in May, The Leadmill described the decision as a 'heartbreaking moment not just for our team but for the entire Sheffield community' which 'feels like a betrayal of the cultural fabric of our city'. The appeal ruling came three months after a judge ruled in favour of Electric Group, which owns the building and runs Electric Brixton in London plus venues in Bristol and Newcastle. The Leadmill opened its doors 45 years ago and played host to countless bands including Pulp, Coldplay, Arcade Fire, Muse, Oasis, Stone Roses, The White Stripes, Jorja Smith and Michael Kiwanuka. A plaque on the building marked Pulp's first gig, which was at the venue in August 1980. Ian Lawlor, general manager of the Leadmill Ltd, told the Sheffield Star they had been open with Electric Group about their plans to remove their belongings, adding that 'any claims by them on the contrary is just fiction to make us look like the bad guys'.
The Guardian
6 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Petrassi: Concertos for Orchestra Nos 7 & 8 album review – dramatic power from rarely heard Italian master
Though his music is rarely heard in the UK these days, Goffredo Petrassi was one of the most significant and influential Italian composers of the mid 20th century. Born in 1904, just a few months after Luigi Dallapiccola, Petrassi's early works were firmly neoclassical, but after 1945 he began to incorporate elements from his younger contemporaries in the European avant garde. He was also a distinguished teacher; among the many who studied with him were Ennio Morricone, Peter Maxwell Davies and Cornelius Cardew. Petrassi's eight concertos for orchestra are at the core of his orchestral output, and Naxos has now released recordings of all of them. The pairing of the last two, composed in 1964 and 1972, are typical of his later music, trenchantly argued, with fierce contrasts between strings and wind. It's music of great resource and dramatic potency, even when the musical ideas themselves are not especially memorable. The performances from the Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma under Francesco La Vecchia feel utterly secure, and as a bonus they add the Sonata da Camera, for harpsichord and 10 instruments, which Petrassi composed in 1948. This article includes content hosted on We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as the provider may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click 'Allow and continue'. Stream it on Apple Music (above) or on Spotify
Daily Mail
6 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Rachel Zegler and new boyfriend Nathan Louis-Fernand look smitten as they enjoy the sunshine in London
and her new boyfriend Nathan Louis-Fernand looked smitten as they roamed around Primrose Hill in London on Wednesday. The actress, 24, and her new backing dancer partner, 27, enjoyed a romantic dog walk with their pooch Lenny. The Snow White star cut a trendy figure in a red Adidas top and denim shorts, while her handsome hunk flexed his muscles in a sleeveless white vest top. The couple are believed to have met during Evita rehearsals, which began in April for Jamie Lloyd's adaptation of the Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. Over the past year, Nathan has worked as a stripper on the Magic Mike Live show - a performance created by Channing Tatum based on the films he starred in by the same name. The 90-minute experience sees a cast of male dancers performing provocative routines, acrobatic acts and musical hits which 'celebrates female desires'. The dancer is very close with his parents and older brother, preferring yoga sessions over late-night partying and drinking. He bonded with Rachel over their shared love for musical theatre. The new couple have spent weekends away with one another, with the rest of the Evita cast, as Rachel, who plays the lead role Eva Peron, has grown very close to them. Last month, the Disney star shared a slew of pictures to her Instagram of a trip away to the countryside and she referred to Nathan as 'the darling man'. The Snow White star has been staying in London while she stars as Eva Peron in the West End musical. Her new romance comes eight months after rumours swirled she had split from her boyfriend of three years, Josh Andrés Rivera - though the pair never confirmed they had broken up. Rumours that the West Side Story co-stars had parted ways began to circulate in November 2024 after fans noticed Rachel had edited Josh out of photos on her Instagram feed. The couple began dating in 2021, after meeting on the West Side Story remake - for which she won the role of Maria in an open audition aged just 16. Rivera played the character of Chino. Then in February 2022, Rachel hard-launched their relationship on Instagram, but the post has since been deleted. The couple are believed to have met during Evita rehearsals, which began in April for Jamie Lloyd's adaptation of the Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber musical The Snow White star has been staying in London while she stars as Eva Peron in the West End musical Rachel put on an animated display on their walk The actors appeared to make their romance Instagram official on Valentine's Day that year when Rachel shared a black-and-white selfie photo of the couple on Instagram. 'Committing valen-crimes,' captioned the actress, who went on to post video that showed Rivera feeding her during a romantic dinner: 'Happy love day from me n mine.' And in 2023, Rachel wished Josh a happy birthday in May by gushing about him in the caption of a video that showed them staring into each other's eyes. 'You are everything I love about this world wrapped into one incredible man. Happy birthday, Joshua. In this life, I like just doing laundry and taxes with you.' After their West Side Story collaboration, the pair then featured together again on the Hunger Games prequel. Rachel took on the lead role of Lucy Gray Baird in the 2023 film The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, with Josh playing Sejanus Plinth, mentor of the male tribute of District 2.
