For the World Premiere of Berberian Sound Studio, the astounding new film by Peter Strickland (Katalin Varga), Peter was joined on-stage with members of his international cast, led by Toby Jones. I’m a fan of Toby’s father, the beautiful actor Freddie Jones (Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed), so I was thrilled to share a stage with Toby to moderate the Q&A. In Berberian Sound Studio, which is set in Italy in the 1970s, sound technicians working on a horror movie crush and chop up vegetables to create sound effects for grisly scnes (which we, the audience, never see). From my pre-show research I’d learned that Peter was a vegetarian and a member of an avant-garde group called The Sonic Catering Band. He confirmed these facts during the Q&A, adding that to do the foley effects for the many shots of vegetable abuse in Berberian Sound Studio, they actually used pieces of meat. “It’s almost too meta for me,” he quipped.

Director James Marsh had come to EIFF several times in the past, most recently with Man on Wire and Project Nim. For the UK premiere of Shadow Dancer, which concerns the relationship between a female IRA member (Andrea Riseborough) and the MI5 agent (Clive Owen) who forces her to turn informant, James shared the stage with the screenwriter, Tom Bradby. Tom’s experiences covering events in Ireland during the Troubles provided the material for the novel on which the moving and suspenseful film is based. Tom, who was apparently an accommodating collaborator on the film, submitting without protest to a rigorous condensation of his novel, publicly volunteered the opinion that James’s film is better than the book!

As an ignorant American I hadn’t been sure whether the term “the Troubles” might not be considered ideologically loaded, so in describing Shadow Dancer to people I’d tended to use locutions like “it’s set in Belfast in the early 1990s.” Chatting outside Filmhouse after the Q&A, Tom assured me it was perfectly OK to say “the Troubles” and explained that the term, though probably of British origin, had been appropriated “in an ironic way” by the IRA themselves. So… I am slowly learning…

Have you seen a film at the Fest? Review it for us!

All you have to is send us a review of one film you've seen at EIFF 2012.

The best reviews will be selected by the marketing team, and winners will receive a free pair of tickets to their choice of film from the Best of the Fest line-up - all of which screen this Sunday.

So what are you waiting for? Show us your writing chops!

Send us your reviews by leaving a comment here. You could also send a link to an existing review on your blog, or give us a brief review on our Facebook wall, or via Twitter using @edfilmfest or our hashtag #edfilmfest.

We look forward to hearing your thoughts and opinions on the films of the Fest.

Good luck!

We designed the Student Critics Jury, which we’re piloting this year, to support the development of film criticism. I once interviewed Paul Schrader, the director and screenwriter. He said that cinema was like a table with three legs. One leg is filmmaking, another is the audience, and another is criticism. Without any one of these legs the table won’t stand.

All week Genevieve, Jonathan and Liam have been seeing and discussing films together with their mentors, Nick James (Editor, Sight & Sound) and Dana Linssen (Editor-in-Chief, De Filmkrant). The five of them bonded during the festival. I saw them still together late one night, sharing drinks in the Caledonian Hilton Bar after most of our guests had gone home.

On Saturday, when the Festival awards will be announced, one of them will be that of the Student Critics Jury. EIFF will also publish texts by the students on our website. So begins a project that EIFF is committed to expanding next year.

I sat in on one discussion and heard Nick and Dana give great advice to the students about the practical realities of getting published and paid as a film critic. So sound and thorough was their counsel that I could think of nothing to add. But I’ve finally thought of a piece of advice I can give. If you start the evening with a bottle of cherry-flavoured ale from the Filmhouse bar, do not follow it up by going to a whisky tasting. Or if you must do that, definitely do not add gin to the mix.

Exceptional Q&A late last night at Cineworld for the first EIFF screening of Mani Haghighi’s riveting, shockingly humourous Iranian road movie Modest Reception. Such a provocative film. The audience had no end of questions, and Mani answered all of them graciously, gently and wittily. Some of the questions had a strong undertone of “I wasn’t sure how I should react to this film.” Undoubtedly this was exactly the reaction Mani anticipated, and he did a good job of encouraging the audience to interrogate their own responses. Modest Reception screens again at Cineworld today (Thursday) at 18:45.

At the Grolsch-sponsored party at Opal Lounge for The Fourth Dimension, what did people do? Drank a lot of Grolsch. Danced. Smoked cigarettes in the smokers’ pen beside the door. Met some new arrivals to Edinburgh. I was told that within a few hours of landing at the airport one of our guests succeeded in having “some of the best sex of [his or her] life.” With that, together with the critical response to Exit Elena and praise for the film I had feared would be the least well received in the Shinji Somai retrospective (Luminous Woman) I think we can call this festival a success.

Also at the party I was present at an interesting conversation between two young Scotsmen, visitors to the festival. One, a man from Fife, had some rebranding ideas for EIFF. The other, a Dundonian, thought the other’s suggestions misguided. They were both quite sure of themselves, and the argument lasted a long time. I found it interesting that though their opinions were very strongly expressed they carried on the dispute in a respectful manner, each man letting the other make his statement, then briskly demolishing it. I have no idea how the debate ended because the DJ started “Whip It” and I had to excuse myself to go to the dance floor.
 

Mao Mao came from Beijing with Here, Then, a stunning study of young lives adrift in a desolate resort town in China. As the World Premiere of a debut feature, yesterday’s screening of the film was also the first Q&A of Mao Mao’s life. He did fine. Trained as an actor, Mao Mao also worked as an assistant director on Wang Bing’s The Ditch, which we showed a few days ago. Mao Mao told me he learned a lot from the seriousness with which Wang Bing approached his work. I predict a bright future worldwide for Here, Then, which screens again at Filmhouse 2 on Thursday at 18:15.

Last night was also the UK premiere of the exquisite Girimunho, by Helvécio Marins Jr and Clarissa Campolina. Set in a small town in Minas Gerais, the film details the everyday life of an elderly widow and depicts her joyful passion for life. The people in the film play themselves and provided the material for the script, which the filmmakers wrote during an extended period of observing their subjects’ lives. The result, a unique mixture of documentary and fiction, screens again at Cineworld tonight (Wednesday) at 20:50, with Helvécio back once again to speak with the audience.

Gastón Solnicki’s brilliant family portrait Papirosen, which won the award for best Argentine film this year at BAFICI (Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema), had its last EIFF screening last night. The audience’s contributions to the Q&A seemed a bit restrained, probably because my remarks were too heavy-footed, leading off with “the gaze of the newborn child at the camera and at the world.” I must shut up more.
 

For the uninitiated, Best of the Fest is the final chance to see the most popular films of EIFF 2012.

All of the selected films will screen on Sunday 1 June to finish out the Fest, and tickets cost from £6 (£5 concessions).

The line-up will be announced at noon tomorrow, Thursday 28 June.

WIth that in mind, what's your Best of the Fest so far? What would you like to have a final chance to see? And what films did you love that you would recommend others see if they are part of Best of the Fest?

Tell us below in the comments, or send us your selection on Twitter, Facebook, or on the Web Members Forum.

'Til then, make sure your finger is on the button to refresh the Best of the Fest page for tomorrow's 12 noon release as tickets will go fast!

Mania Akbari, an Iranian filmmaker and actor (Abbas Kiarostami’s 10) now living in London, came to EIFF to present her beautiful One.Two.One. With the aid of two local interpreters, she told the appreciative audience at the Cameo about the importance of the face in Iranian culture, where for women who must appear in public with their bodies otherwise veiled, the face becomes the part of the body where all expressiveness is invested. The questions from the audience were very precise, showing their attentiveness to details of mise en scène and gesture and testifying to the power of Mania’s passionate and meticulous work.

For Katarzyna Klimkiewicz’s stylish Flying Blind, the Polish filmmaker was joined by one of the stars, Najib Oudghiri, and Alison Sterling, the British producer. Alison recounted how while searching for a director who could bring “a European style” to a Bristol-set story of love and suspense, she discovered Klimkiewicz by way of an award-winning short film. Flying Blind was made under the microbudget initiative iFeatures and bodes well both for the initiative and for the future career of Klimkiewicz, whose direction is vigorous, poised and sustained. You can read our interview with Katarzyna here.

Taiwanese director DJ Chen, fresh from the airport, came with her Young Dudes, an atmospheric, very trippy film about young people facing the impending apocalypse. I admitted at the start of the Q&A that I had a less than clear idea what the film, which I’d seen three months earlier at its world premiere in Hong Kong, was supposed to be about. The director didn’t seem to mind. Her talk, half in English half in interpreted Chinese, was fuelled by cheerful nervous energy. Turns out Young Dudes will open on 18 to 20 screens in Taiwan on 31 August. There is hope for the world.

Forever Loved - 17:50 at Filmhouse
Another gem from the Philippines - Christopher Gozum creates an intimate, evocative and hypnotic mixture of documentary, poetry, and fiction.

Papirosen - 18:00 at Cineworld
See how this dramatic documentary of an Argentine Jewish family compares with your home movies.

What is this Film Called Love? - 18:00 at Filmhouse
Mark Cousins returns to EIFF after his 15-hour epic The Story of Film: An Odyssey with this ad lib piece where he takes an imaginary companion on a walking tour of Mexico City. Friends, real and imaginary, welcome.

Isn't Anyone Alive? - 18:25 at Cineworld
Tarantino fans will love this Japanese film bursting with farcical comedy, dread, and absurdist observations from one of his biggest influencers - cult Japanese director Gakuryu Ishii (formerly known as Sogo Ishii).

Au Pair - 18:35 at Cineworld
Check out the Focus on Denmark with this striking documentary on the exploitation of au pair women who come from overseas to work in richer countries.

Here, Then - 19:00 at Cameo
If you're looking for a director in the 2012 programme with a cooler name, you won't find it. China's Mao Mao captures young people in contemporary China in this alluringly low-key and enigmatic portrayal of the alienation, disillusionment and loss of direction. One for the graduands.

One Mile Away - 20:00 at Cineworld
Join us for this Michael Powell Competition and World Premiere screening of Penny Woolcock and the members of rival Birmingham gangs who attempt to broker a peace agreement to a cool hip-hop soundtrack.

The Mirror Never Lies - 20:00 at Filmhouse
This lyrical first-time feature for Indonesian director Kamila Andini combines a strong environmentalist message with a timeless coming-of-age story. One of the biggest critical hits of the Fest so far.

The Rest of the World - 20:45 at Cineworld
EIFF regular Damien Odoul (Errance, En attendant le deluge) returns. An absorbing drama from one of France's most distinctive filmmakers.

Vivan Las Antipodas! - 21:00 at Cineworld
Contemplate what's going on at the exact opposite end of the earth. Award-winning Russian director Victor Kossakovsky's playful, evocative and stunningly cinematic film contemplates life in four antipodal pairs - Russia and Chile, China and Argentina, Botswana and Hawaii, and Spain and New Zealand.

Girimunho - 21:15 at Cameo
Embrace life! This slice of life film explores the life of an elderly woman with no fear of death and who relishes the day-to-day - and it is truly life-affirming.

Kotoko - 22:00 at Filmhouse
Japanese folk rock artist Cocco delivers an astonishing performance as Kotoko, a woman for whom the thin line between good and evil is something she traverses daily and in the most shocking of ways. Enjoy its dark humour and don't forget it in a hurry -- because you won't be able to.

Tickets for all of these films are available to book online, in person at the Filmhouse box office, and by phone on 0131 623 8030.

Jim Hickey, the brilliant former Artistic Director of EIFF, loves Somai. So does David Cairns, a writer and filmmaker who is one of our submissions viewers. David has already written something on Somai for his great blog, Shadowplay. People I’ve never met come up to me in the Filmhouse bar to say how much they are enjoying discovering Somai’s work.

Two of our visiting filmmakers, Atsushi Funahashi (Nuclear Nation) and Toshi Fujiwara (No Man’s Zone), generously agreed to introduce screenings of Somai films over the past few days. Jamie Dunn in The Skinny quoted Atsushi’s description of Somai as a director in a “battle against gravity.”

We’ve already shown some of the greatest films by this too-little-known giant: PP Rider, The Catch, Typhoon Club, Moving. Over the coming days we’ll continue with Somai and hope more people will come to catch the wave.

James Rice, our Programme Manager, the hardest-working man in show business, told me that his brother, not a cinephile, saw three films at EIFF on Saturday: Somai’s Moving, Wang Bing’s The Ditch, and Miguel Gomes’s Tabu (pictured). James’s brother said it was the best day at the cinema he’d had in his life. I think it could be the best film-viewing day anyone ever had, period.

Miguel’s Q&As after our two screenings of Tabu were fantastic: I didn’t ask a single question; he just talked, brilliantly, at length and with humour. Yesterday night while we were on stage another guest, Gastón Solnicki (Papirosen), brought us glasses of Glenburgie, which probably overrelaxed the person who was supposed to ask the questions but did nothing at all to hinder the one who was there to answer them.

Sunday night ended at the Traverse Theatre with a 90-minute improvised concert by The Brockas, a Philippine band comprising filmmakers Khavn De La Cruz (Mondomanila; Philippine New Wave), Lav Diaz (Florentina Hubaldo CTE; Lav finishes his work on our International Competition jury today) and Emerson Reyes (whose MNL 143 had its World Premiere yesterday and screens again on Wednesday). I joined them on bass, and a really great local drummer named Paul Canavan played drums. Lav, his back to the audience, played loud, feedback-drenched guitar solos. I couldn’t really make out what Emerson was doing on guitar but he looked fabulous. Khavn, playing keyboard and occasionally singing, was responsible for the melodic interest of the music. I concentrated on getting into a groove with Paul and trying not to clash with Khavn, which wasn’t hard since he usually played in E minor.

Click through for ticket booking, trailers, and info on each film.

Early Afternoon at EIFF...

Tahrir: Liberation Square - 1pm at Cineworld
You say you want a revolution? Check out this exhilarating, immersive, and impressionistic account of the Egyptian revolution. Director Stefano Savona's camera weaves through crowds chanting slogans in this hypnotisingly superb on-the-ground documentary.

Siblings - For Better or Worse - 1.10pm at Cineworld
Short films on little ones - Siblings is a delightful series of four short documentaries about the relationships between sibling children. Bring your brother and sister, or even a wee one, along.

THE 99 Unbound - 1.20pm at Cineworld
Avengers will do their avenging, but THE 99 Unbound - the super-heroes of Naif Al-Mutawa’s comic strip ‘THE 99’ - is packed with action and intrigue. Welcome this feature debut from British animator Dave Osborne and celebrate unity amongst diversity.

Dr Seuss' The Lorax - 2pm at Cineworld
If I write it in verse, won't you come and converse... oh bother, just come along and meet The Lorax, guardian of the colourful Truffula trees, in 3D! It's one for all the family.

Mid-Afternoon Delights...

In Person: Masterclass with Wang Bing - 3pm at Filmhouse
Learn from one of the greats in Chinese documentary filmmaking - Wang is an artist whose work with time and space marks him as one of the most significant filmmakers of our time. Hear his insights, in person, today. Opportunity only knocks once!

Never Too Late - 3.15pm at Cineworld
Expatriates and anyone with a touch of wanderlust will lust for Never Too Late - a delicate and moving tale about a young man returning to Israel after years spent living in South America.

Pre-theatre at the Cinema...

Short Films 3: Strange Geometry - 5pm at Cameo
From geography to geometry - this Short Films programme is the perfect opportunity to catch something you wouldn't see outside of the Festival. Salute eccentric characters and the extent of the human imagination with this life-affirming selection of shorts.

The King of Pigs - 6pm at Cineworld
One for animation fans, this Korean feature examines inequality. This dark and gritty animation portrays the brutal world of school bullying to haunting effect.

Sexual Chronicals of a French Family - 6.10pm at Cineworld
Ohh la la! Dress down for this show at Cineworld in which sexual frankness of a very Gallic kind abounds. Mum, Dad, Brother, adopted sister and Granddad are all at it – but we'd recommend bringing your friends along for this one.

The Lifeguard - 7pm at Cameo
Ever heard of a lifeguard who wouldn't get in the water? This brilliant feature documentary debut has the intensity of a short story, swimming from quirk to shock as the story progresses...

Exit Elena - 7.20pm at Cineworld
The World Premiere of this this no-budget, docu-style drama melds indefinable tension, mystery, and utterly real performances. We think it's one to watch.

Night-time Treats

Papirosen - 9pm at Cameo
Ever wanted to record your own life? Young filmmaker Gastón Solnicki spent more than a decade recording the lives of various members of his Argentine Jewish family on video to create this dramatic documentary. Take a look and see how it compares to your home videos.

Bestiaire - 9.15pm at Cineworld
If you don't get a chance to meet the pandas at Edinburgh Zoo, check out Denis Côté’s contemplative portrait of animals in captivity at Quebec’s Parc Safari. Startling imagery and complex themes will give you plenty of time, and food, for thought.

One Mile Away - 9.30pm at Filmhouse
Don't make me rhyme again...  Just check out the Birmingham hip-hop Dylan and Shabba, members of rival Birmingham gangs, attempt to broker a peace agreement after being introduced by filmmaker Penny Woolcock. A compelling tale of courage and determination with a smooth hip-hop soundtrack - and your ticket will get you into tonight's party, too.

In previous years we've given you recommendations across the programme strands in the form of posts titled Six of the Fest.

This year, Pathways in the programme and on our website (here) are designed to lead you to films that are often in different strands of the programme but which fall under particular themes.

So far there have been Teenage Kicks, Just for Laughs, and Pushing Boundaries, to name but a few.

In the News section we've had For the Family - and now we want you to create your own.

Is there a particular theme we haven't covered? Perhaps you've seen a selection of films featuring animals, burlesque, scenes of cheese eating, or something completely esoteric.

We want you to create your personal Pathway and share it with the world.

All you have to do is identify a theme, pick up to six films that fit it, and put your list together. You can post this to us on our Facebook wall, share it with us on Twitter @edfilmfest, or by posting it on our web members forum. If you'd like to make it longer you could post it on your blog and share the link with us.

We're looking for your personal Pathway to be creative, concise, and have a snappy title.

We'll feature some of the best ones in a blog post very soon!

So what are you waiting for? Send us your personal Pathway.

It’s nice when people like the films one programmes. Earlier in the evening Elliott Gould raved to me at length about one of the films in the International Competition (for which he chairs the jury). “I’ve never seen a film like this before,” he said. “I had no idea work like this was being done anywhere.” I was as happy to hear him say this as I know the filmmaker will be.

Three highlights of the party at the Metro Brasserie:

(1) Meeting Grover Crisp, head of film restoration at Sony Pictures Entertainment, who had come to take part in our panel on digital restoration. Grover revealed he had just restored Otto Preminger’s Bonjour Tristesse, one of my favourite films, and would shortly be premiering the restoration at Il Cinema Ritrovato in Bologna. Grover still loves Bonjour Tristesse, even after having watched it innumerable times during the restoration work. We also both love another Jean Seberg film he has recently restored for Sony, the almost unknown Robert Parrish masterpiece In the French Style.

(2) As I was talking with Grover, an excited young man whom I had never met before introduced himself. He was Nathan Silver, the director of the marvellous and surprising Exit Elena, which will have its World Premiere at Cineworld on Sunday evening. He told me how thrilled and grateful he was that the film had been selected for EIFF. He also told me that the programmers of several other festivals to which he had submitted Exit Elena wrote back saying that even though they loved the film they could not programme it. Why not? Apparently because it was too “small,” too low-budget. An incredible and absurd reason for a festival to refuse a film.

(3) Nadya Cazan, who appears in another EIFF World Premiere, Maja Borg’s visionary documentary Future My Love (interview with Maja here), spent much of the party shooting video footage in which people look at the camera, introduce themselves and say, “I live here.” The idea is that everyone lives on the same planet and we are all connected. Nadya showed me scenes she had made earlier in the day of Tilda Swinton, Atsushi Funahashi and Lav Diaz (three takes). When the film is edited it will be a very special record of EIFF 2012.

So what is the Twittersphere recommending? We've compiled some of the top Twitter reviews to help you find your picks of the Fest.

Grabbers
@GoldenPun: Really enjoyed GRABBERS. Doesn't reinvent the horror wheel, but a very fun & funny mix of Father Ted & Benchley's The Beast. @edfilmfest

The Life & Times of Paul the Psychic Octopus
@mondoghosto: Paul the Psychic Octopus? I have grown more and more fond of his charm as the day wears on... #EdFilmFest

The King of Pigs
@EndTitlesBlog: Just saw 'King of Pigs', Korean animation. Interesting style and brutal story. Very good. #edfilmfest #kingofpigs

The Ambassador
@G_RantonTweet: The Ambassador, what a superb picture. #edfilmfest

Tondo, Beloved
@MarkCousinsFilm: @edfilmfest this morning, saw philippino doc Tondo; classically beautiful, like the best of Maysles...and, again, so moving.

Never Too Late
@ShadowsRich: Never Too Late: intimate Israeli drama suggests that moping around the countryside is just the tonic for overcoming years of guilt.

Rent-a-Cat
@NathanealSmith: #edfilmfest? Rent-A-Cat: if I see a more adorable film this festival, I'll eat my press pass. Absolutely bonkers, but ridiculously sweet.

The Imposter
@Film4: A massively heartfelt Follow Friday to the talented folk behind @theimposterfilm at @edfilmfest. Released in UK cinemas in August. #FF

Gattu
@FilmFan1971: First film of the day: Gattu. Charming Indian drama about a kite-flying street urchin. #edfilmfest

... and from our partners at The List:

@GailTolley: The @edfilmfest coverage continues @thelistmagazine: Interview with Maja Borg on her experimental doc Future My Love.

"At once thought-provoking and emotionally-provocative." -- Miles Fielder, The List
 

Don't forget to tweet us your film reviews and general thoughts using @edfilmfest or our official hashtag #edfilmfest. You can also Like and chat with us on Facebook.
 

Next time we'll be asking for your own lists of picks - so keep an eye out for the next blog!
 

Together with Harriet Warman, our tireless Programme Coordinator, I joined EIFF’s British and International Shorts Juries just as they were gathering at the first restaurant. The three members of our British competition jury – Rita Azevedo Gomes, Edith Bowman and Gerald Peary – were there, together with Erwin Houtenbrink of the International jury (his fellow members, Ewen Bremner and Javier Porta Fouz, were detained by other business). Gerry told us about his chat with Elliott Gould the night before. Rita was still trying to remember the name of the actor in Werner Schroeter’s Palermo oder Wolfsburg who reminded her of Gina Gershon (Killer Joe). Edith came to Rita’s aid with her smartphone: it’s Ida Di Benedetto. What I had to say about the jury work took just a few minutes to tell: the rules and expectations, few in number and simple but also very important, for the awards the juries have to give.

Before lunch was served Harriet and I were off to the next restaurant to meet two of our International Feature Competition jurors, Julietta Sichel and Lav Diaz. The third juror, Elliott Gould, was absent. We were told he wanted to see films all the time and wondered why there were breaks in his schedule. Considering he has to see four competition films a day, I thought this showed some dedication. I hadn’t met Elliott before Opening Night, though we’d spoken on the phone several times. I’ve known Julietta and Lav from many festivals in the past. Three powerful personalities to say the least – I’ll be very interested in watching how this jury gets on together over the next few days.

Our last stop on the jury lunch circuit was with the Michael Powell Award Competition jury: Jim Broadbent, Kiki Sugino and Tiina Lokk. Kiki and Tiina not being native English speakers, I wondered how they had managed at their morning screening of Small Creatures, whose dialogue is spoken in strong Liverpool accents. Apparently Jim had been a great help in clearing up some points in the after-screening discussion. He also showed himself to be exceptionally professional, serious and nice as we talked about the jury’s duties. The perfect jury chairperson. Kiki let me have a bite of her avocado salad, so I finally managed to eat something.

Ordinarily, the scope of this intervention is limited. With differently, Molussia, however, the filmmaker, Nicolas Rey, requires the projectionist to determine the order in which the parts of the film will be shown.

The film arrived at Filmhouse last week in a wonderful leather case containing nine short 16mm film reels, nine coloured cards and detailed instructions (in French and English). Each card represents a reel of the film. The instructions explain that the cards should be drawn in a random order before each screening to determine the order in which the reels are shown.

For the press and industry screening on 19 June, Programme Manager James Rice picked the cards. For the first public show on Thursday 21 June, I drew them. Perhaps we'll get an audience member at that screening to pick the order for the final show, which will take place on Sunday 24 June.

A travelogue of an imaginary country, set in an unreal time, differently, Molussia draws on an anti-fascist book written in the early 1930s by a future exile from Nazi Germany, the philosopher Günther Anders. Called The Molussian Catacomb, the book describes an imaginary totalitarian system. The film Rey generates on the basis of this text is yet another closed system, imitating the closure of the system of Anders’s novel (in which prisoners of the Molussian state tell one another stories about the outside world), which in turn responded to the closed system of the fascist state that was in the process of transforming reality.

By letting the projection order be randomly determined, Rey opens all these closed systems to chance, while acknowledging, in an extraordinary manner, the uniqueness of each screening of a film.

As always, we like to give you an opportunity to follow along and keep up-to-date with what the tastemakers are saying.

The List Magazine (@thelistmagazine) is our official media partner. Follow their updates as well as FIlm Editor Gail Tolley's (@gailtolley) throughout the festival. You can also find loads more at their website and in the latest issue of the magazine, which is available to purchase at the Filmhouse Box Office now.

We also have ever-faithful top tweeters at Eye For Film (@eyeforfilm) along with their writers Amber (@NinjaWorrier) and Scott (@scott_eff).

Look out also for London film critics visiting the festival: Matthew Turner (@FilmFan1971), Guy Lodge (@guylodge), and RIch Cline (@shadowsrich) during their stay.

Look out also for Twitter-sized reviews from Glasgow Evening Times' @PaulEGreenwood, and Scotsman critics Siobhan Synnot (@siobhansynnot) and Alistair Harkness (@aliharkness). 

More blogs making a comeback from last year include @observealot and @endtitlesblog. Bloggers @unclefrankfilms, @grindzmyreels and @mondoghosto are back, too.

We also recomend following Tom Grater (@tomsmovies) who's here with New Empress Magazine (@NewEmpress), as well as the cinephiles at @CineVue and @TheCinementals whose coverage is already going strong.

Check in also with our Twitter pals Jamie Neish (@jamieneish) and Patrick Gamble (@PatrickJGamble), Stephen Carthy (@GoldenPun) and @NathanaelSmith.

The @ReelScotland team is back - you can follow co-founders Ross Maclean @El_Duderino81, and Edinburgh Evening News columnist @Jon_Melville.

Last but not least, former EIFF Artistic Director and Scottish film treasure Mark Cousins (@MarkCousinsFilm) is also tweeting about the Fest and is well worth a follow.

Got your own blog and Twitter presence? Leave your @name in the comments!

As ever, please follow us on Twitter @edfilmfest for the latest news and updates. Our official hashtag #edfilmfest. Tweet us your reviews and comments and they could be featured on the next Top Tweets blog.

We're getting active this year with lots of blogging coming up throughout the Fest.

Want to hear what Festival-goers have to say? We'll be chatting with the public post-screening and finding out what everyone wants to see.

We'll also be featuring the top films in each Strand of the Festival programme - an interactive Pathways if you will - to help you navigate our programme which is bursting with unseen gems.

You'll also have a chance to get involved as we'll be featuring the Festival's Top Tweets and featuring the best film reviews from across the blogosphere. We will also be hosting some special opportunities for bloggers and active web members, so check back to see what's in store for you.

And the cherry on top of this year's blog will be an excusive daily diary from the Creative Director himself - Chris Fujiwara.

Don't forget to check out our News pages too - that's where we'll be announcing special guests and giving you all of the headlines from EIFF.

So hit subscribe on your RSS feed, follow us on Twitter and Facebook (@edfilmfest), and read along with us this EIFF.

In the meantime, don't forget to plan your My EIFF schedule and book your tickets for the Opening Night Gala!

Congratulations firstly to Danfung Dennis whose breath-taking debut, Hell and Back Again, is nominated in the Documentary Feature category. Embedded with the US Marines Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, Dennis explored both life on the front-line battling the Taliban, and life back home in the US tackling the pain, addiction and memories that arise once the gunfire stops. Amazingly shot using a unique "wearable camera," Hell and Back Again contains electrifying battle scenes juxtaposed with haunting portrayals of the modern American solider, in a film that will stay with the viewer long after they have left the cinema.

Our second congratulations go to Peter McDonald whose short film Pentecost is nominated in the Short Film (live action) category. Pentecost was first spotted by our Deputy Artistic Director, Diane Henderson, back at the 2010 Cork Film Festival. Since then the whole Festival has fallen in love with this wonderful story about a young boy who is called last minute to serve as an alter boy at a very important mass. However, it means missing out on his greatest passion: football. How will he face this difficult decision?

Finally, the Festival also wants to wish all the best to Afarin Eghbal whose animation Abuelas, is nominated in the Short Animation category at the Orange British Academy Film Awards.

All three films are directorial debuts and reflect some excellent storytelling and unique filmmaking through the medium of film. EIFF was very proud to include them as part our 2011 programme celebrating 65 years of the Festival. We wish Danfung, Peter and Afarin, as well as all the other nominees, all the best come awards night.

The BAFTAs will be taking place on Sunday 12 February with the Oscars® following two weeks later on Sunday 26 February. Time to dust off those glad rags!

@NinjaWorrier: Adored Tomboy. Intimate, natural direction. Great performances from the kids.#edfilmfest

@sirinbryson: Troll hunter @edfilmfest was one of a kind, fun fable that exceed its budget. Def shouldn't be missed!

@mondoghosto: Adding Shut Up, Little Man to the list of great documentaries caught this year #EdFilmFest

@endtitlesblog: Screening of Tomboy just finished. Beautifully observed & shot, with wonderfully natural acting from the child cast #edfilmfest

@PhilipJEMiller: It seems Troll Hunter @edfilmfest is causing a bit of a stir. Has had a lot of positive reviews.

@PaulEGreenwood: Music fans should check out the excellent doc Troubadours at @edfilmfest. Carole King, James Taylor et al - California in 1970 can't be beat. 

Event Reviews:
@Kineticaonline: At Domino Records' Cut & Paste event @edfilmfest - great insight into how a forward thinking label handles filmmaker/musician relationships

@RichPicks: Nice feeedback for RP event @edfilmfest last Sat. A GP "learnt more from reflecting on the films than from a whole day of formal training."

@quiettrickster: Great selection of Animated Mythologies @edfilmfest - variously funny, surreal and beautiful. Always my favourite strand(s) at the festival.

Top stories:
@thelistmagazine: Edinburgh International Film Festival List Awards at #edfilmfest Did any of your favourite films from the Fest win? http://bit.ly/iT6Ld0

@SundanceNOW: Read how @edfilmfest has reinvented the festival panel http://bit.ly/kM2iD9

@BAFTAScotland: View photos from the @BAFTAScotland interview at @edfilmfest with Bill Nighy last Sunday http://t.co/mJ2dqSL

What you're up to:
@daisys_grace: Bob Marley @edfilmfest with a slice of home-baked cake. Irie-I, rastafari

@lauriedunsire: If you liked Sound it Out, get following the twitter page for this great little documentary - @sounditoutdoc #edfilmfest

@blainebrothers: Well och, aye and indeed, the noo. I'm finally at #edfilmfest so if
you are too come and say hi.

@DooWop_Daydream: Last day at #edfilmfest :( going to eat lots of chocolate cake with @wee_x_nat!

You can also follow the EIFF webteam on Twitter! Susan is @SusanGRob and Nicola is @robotnic. 

And finally, of course, don't forget to follow us! We're @edfilmfest - follow us, tweet us your reviews, and take part by using the #edfilmfest hashtag.

Who are your favourite Twitterers to follow this Festival season?