On Friday 2 October, I attended the closing ceremony of the Edinburgh International University Film Festival. Aside from getting to see the amazing selection of shortlisted films, I had the opportunity to speak to the filmmakers behind some of the nominated and winning films. I had the pleasure of speaking to Robbie Anderson, the editor of Adeline (2026), Heather Wallace, the director of Gone Fishing? (2026) and Devon Peterson, director of Finding Home at The Pianodrome (2026). In a quiet corner of the Scottish Storytelling Centre, amid the buzz of the festival’s final night, I brought the three filmmakers together in an open conversation about being a young filmmaker and gaining a large-scale platform such as EIUFF.
I started by asking about the journey that led them to finding the festival: “It was our producer who found the festival,” started Robbie. “We studied in Edinburgh, and being able to show it in Edinburgh, and have the first screening in Edinburgh was great for us.” Robbie’s film Adeline, which won in the festival’s Waves Of Loss category, is an Edinburgh Napier University graduate project.
“Similarly, I was looking for local festivals, and also student ones,” explained Heather, whose film Gone Fishing? is a short documentary exploring the subject of the fishing industry through the lens of local people in a coastal Scottish town. “My film takes place in Edinburgh, so I liked it being shown here,” said Devon, whose short documentary Finding Home at The Pianodrome had also been featured at Edinburgh International Film Festival just this past August. “I also live here. I’ve been to this festival before, last year,” he added.
All three of my interviewees expressed the desire to find local Scottish platforms for film. After experiencing so many amazing international films that evening, speaking with local filmmakers who intended to make films in Scotland and prioritise local resources as well as filmmaking networks was a testament to EIUFF’s ability to blend local and international students.
Since all films shown at EIUFF were short films, my next question for the filmmakers was what they found useful working with limitations. “I don’t see a short film as a shorter feature film or an incomplete feature film; it’s like its own format,” said Robbie “It pushes you to try and convey as much emotion and messages as you can as
quickly and effectively as possible,” he continued. I also asked what they thought a challenge of the format could be, and Heather stated, “A challenge would be, with documentaries, trying to narrow the scope of a big issue; figuring out how to make that story fit the format was a new challenge, but I really liked it for that.”
I asked each nominee to share their unique creative process on their films. “When you come on as an editor, you’re not always there from the beginning, but on Adeline I was lucky enough to be there from the very start,” said Robbie. “Being there from the beginning of the conceptual stages and talking through the themes did inform a lot of my decisions in the edit because I had a strong idea of the feeling we were going for.”
Heather expressed that the creative process on Gone Fishing? was a lot different, having originated as a project for a university class. “It was an interdisciplinary module. Some of our group were marine biology students, some sustainable development, some history, and some film. So quite a variety,” she said, initially approaching it like a research project. Heather explained her change of attitude towards the school project came from realising that the subject matter, as well as the local townspeople she had interviewed, had inspired her creatively. “I thought, ‘okay, so the story’s really interesting, how do we make it entertaining?’” She continued, “I reworked it over the summer to make it into a short film that would be as informative but maybe a little bit more engaging.” Devon elaborated, “I’ve worked in video for a long time, so having had various jobs and being a person who has done everything has been helpful, and often when I’m filming, I think about how I’ll be editing it.”
For my next question, I addressed the fact that my interviewees were all young and emerging filmmakers—I was curious to know if they thought young filmmakers today had a unique perspective. “It’s a tough question; I already kind of feel old,” joked Devon, “making films is so much more accessible than even when we were young. There are generations below me making films that are amazing because they’re so accessible. I would’ve loved to have an iPhone as a kid.”
“I would say emerging filmmakers, young people or students, or under-represented backgrounds, we often aren’t handed a massive budget or support or training sometimes, which can lead to unique outcomes. I guess emerging filmmakers have to think outside the box,” continued Heather. I then followed up by asking what challenges they thought young filmmakers faced today. Devon started, “I kind of think the biggest challenge in a way is just volume. Just because it’s so accessible, there are so many things being made, and there’s so much to distract a person.” He said, “Content is everywhere, and the ability to make content is everywhere; that can either help you or hurt
you.”
“We were lucky enough to make this through the uni and through my course. That’s not always an outlet people have,” said Robbie, before adding, “a lot of work is being done locally though, like The Film Cult,” referring to a filmmakers’ network in Edinburgh. “Yes, there are some really great institutions and programmes in Scotland to support young filmmakers, which is amazing, and I think Scotland is a really good place if you want to make films,” agreed Heather.
Congratulations to Robbie, Heather and Devon on their respective successes at EIUFF. I can’t wait to see where their creativity takes them next.
Image by Iga Suszyńska.
