- Lynda Myles to be presented with BAFTA Scotland Award for Outstanding Contribution to Film at a special event on Monday 19 August
- Myles was the first woman to ever be appointed as a film festival director anywhere in the world when she was made Director of Edinburgh International Film Festival in 1973
- She went on to win a BAFTA as a producer for The Commitments, which was awarded in 1992
Today, BAFTA Scotland announces that Lynda Myles, the ground-breaking film producer, curator, writer and former Director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival, will be presented with a BAFTA Scotland Outstanding Contribution to Film Award. This Special Award, one of BAFTA Scotland’s highest accolades, is presented to an individual or organisation that has made a significant and inspiring contribution to film through a particular project or work – it will be presented to Lynda Myles at a special event to be held at Johnnie Walker Princes Street, Edinburgh on Monday 19 August during the Edinburgh International Film Festival.
2024 marks a significant reinvention of the Edinburgh International Film Festival, making it a fitting time to honour Lynda Myles, who transformed the festival when she became Director in 1973 – the first woman ever appointed as director of a film festival anywhere in the world. During her eight year tenure, Lynda Myles continually broke new ground, building and solidifying the international reputation of the Festival as a home of debate and critical publication, showcasing boundary breaking films and hosting industry leading conversations.
She is widely regarded as having transformed the Edinburgh International Film Festival into a vibrant, iconoclastic mecca of discovery, championing the work of overlooked auteurs including Alfred Hitchcock, Douglas Sirk, Raoul Walsh and Sam Fuller. A huge supporter of women in the industry, Lynda Myles also made prominent the work of many talented female filmmakers of the era, showcasing their work at the Festival and providing them with a global platform, and initiating alongside feminist film theorists and filmmakers Claire Johnston and Laura Mulvey, a series of debates and screenings in 1972 entitled “The Women’s Event”, the first ever event devoted to women and filmmaking.
Never one to remain static, Lynda Myles left the Edinburgh International Film Festival in 1980 to take on the role of Director and Curator of Film at the Pacific Film Archive at the University of California, Berkeley and shortly thereafter decided to turn her talents to film producing, with her list of credits including the highly acclaimed The Commitments which won the BAFTA for Best Film in 1991; Defence of the Realm; The Snapper (winner of inter alia, the Premio Goya and the Prix Italia) and The Van, both directed by Stephen Frears; When Brendan Met Trudy written by Roddy Doyle and Chen Kaige’s Killing Me Softly.
Lynda Myles’ expansive and impressive career has also seen her assume the roles of Senior Vice–President role at Columbia Pictures, Commissioning Editor for Drama at the BBC, Co-executive director of the East-West Producers’ Seminar (the first training program for young producers in Eastern Europe) and Head of Fiction at The National Film and Television School in 2004, where she mentored some of today’s most innovative new directors, including Rose Glass.
A true innovator herself, Lynda Myles’ career and legacy was recently celebrated as part of The Lynda Myles Project by filmmaker and University lecturer Susan Kemp and filmmaker and former Director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival Mark Cousins who each made a feature documentary film taking different approaches to highlighting the hugely important impact on film that Lynda Myles has and continues to have today.
This enduring and inspiring influence can be seen not only in the filmmakers and curators of today, but in the language we use to talk about film. Myles co-wrote the critically acclaimed book ‘The Movie Brats’ along with author Michael Pye, in turn coining a phrase that has entered the lexicon of film scholars and fans. The central thesis of the book is that the generation of film directors who transformed Hollywood in the 1970s (Scorsese, Coppola, Lucas, Spielberg) all emerged, cine-literate, from their respective film schools. As a pioneering force in how we understand and appreciate filmmaking, Myles has left an undeniable mark.
The Edinburgh International Film Festival will take place in venues across the city from 15 – 21 August 2024. The BAFTA Scotland Awards 2024 will take place on Sunday 17 November at the DoubleTree by Hilton Glasgow Central.
This special event is in partnership with the Edinburgh International Film Festival and Screen Scotland and hosted by Official Whisky Partner to BAFTA Scotland, Johnnie Walker Princes Street.
Lynda Myles said: “I’m deeply touched to be this year’s recipient of the BAFTA Scotland Outstanding Contribution to Film Award. I was fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to run the Edinburgh International Film festival in the 70s and that experience shaped all my future involvement with different aspects of the industry. I’ve enjoyed so many collaborative relationships on which the film industry thrives and am so grateful for the fantastic support I’ve received. Huge thanks to BAFTA Scotland for this honour which I’m delighted to accept.”
Jude MacLaverty, Director BAFTA Scotland said: “Lynda Myles has been a pioneer and champion of film for over 60 years. Her expansive career has seen her assume many roles, from film producer, to curator, commissioner and of course Festival Director. A true inspiration, her appointment as the first ever female director of a film festival anywhere in the world, helped pave the way for many women in the industry and beyond that her passion for and commitment to critical debate and thinking, had a significant impact on filmmaking, encouraging filmmakers to reconsider what film is and can be. We are honoured to present Lynda with the BAFTA Scotland Outstanding Contribution to Film Award at our special event on August 19 and to celebrate her lasting legacy.”
Paul Ridd, Festival Director said: “Since coming into post earlier this year I spent time meeting with former Directors of Edinburgh International Film Festival including Lynda Myles. Lynda is a force of nature and someone whose extensive involvement and tireless work with the Festival has left an indelible mark on its history and its legacy. I felt inspired and energised by our meeting and I am so thrilled BAFTA Scotland will be honouring her this year. I am also thrilled we have found a way to celebrate Lynda in our 2024 programme with our screening of Axel Cheb Terrab’s feature debut GALA & KIWI and Gustavo Rene Sanabria’s short SIESTA, both of which we feel embody her pioneering spirit of creativity and discovery.”
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For more information, please contact:
BAFTA Scotland, Gillian McCormack
E: [email protected]
Notes to Editors: Imagery is available to download via BAFTA Thirdlight
