TY - JOUR T1 - End of an era? The 61st Edinburgh International Film Festival JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 844 LP - 845 VL - 57 IS - 543 AU - David Watson Y1 - 2007/10/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/57/543/844.abstract N2 - John Huston once called it ‘the only film festival worth a damn,’ but times change and even before this year's distinctly lacklustre programme began, it was announced that the Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) would be moving to June in 2008.The official party line espoused by debutante Artistic Director Hannah McGill is that the move to June will enable the EIFF to emerge from the shadow of August's wider Edinburgh Festival and become ‘the only show in town’ allowing the EIFF the ‘breathing space to expand and create our own distinct identity, allowing us to further develop our reputation as one of the more innovative, cutting-edge and challenging film events.’ But apparently there's a deeper problem. You see, according to the EIFF board of directors, in recent years Edinburgh's been missing out on the big stars and the big films because of its proximity to the Venice and London Film Festivals and it's someone's bright idea that a move to June (closer to Cannes) will apparently help. As Mrs Olfactory used to say on BBC Scotland's Chewin' the Fat ‘I can smell shite.’Now, I love Edinburgh. Particularly in August. Sometimes, every now and then, the rain magically stops, the clouds part, and the sun puts his hat on. Sometimes it's even warm. But no matter how sunny it gets, you're never going to mistake Edinburgh's Royal Mile for Cannes' La Croisette. And I don't think your average Hollywood star is liable to make the mistake either. And there lies the problem. Who wants to eat vinegar-soaked chips from a newspaper on a windswept Portobello Beach when they could be squiring a topless starlet on the Cote D'Azur?Edinburgh isn't Cannes or Venice, it's not just a cattle market where Hollywood parades its latest blockbusters and its lack of … ER -