Having previously been a Young Programmer for the festival, the Edinburgh International Film Festival has always been an important part of my life and whilst at University, I continued to be apart of the festival in a voluntary role and taking on a number of roles between 2016 until 2018.

In 2016, I was a Videotheque Volunteer where I was apart of the team supporting the running of the festival’s videotheque, a VOD center for pass holders to use throughout the festival. This was mainly through manning it’s reception and registering in pass holders, supporting them with any issues that occur during their visit. This was a really great opportunity to meet a variety of press, industry and fellow volunteers during the festival, discussing the festival and our industry at the time which was very insightful. It was also beneficial to my administration and customer service skills.

In 2017 & 2018, I was a Display Volunteer and, working within the marketing team, helped support the branding and general appearance of the festival including transporting film posters & banners, managing printed materials and helping set-up venues for large-scale events such as red carpets or galas. Team working was a massive aspect of being in the display team, It would be incredibly difficult to do this alone and we had a fantastic team which really helped with the work that we did during the festival.

Due to working on my dissertation, I did not return to the festival in 2019 and sadly, due to the pandemic, the 2020 edition of the festival was cancelled. I hope to return to the festival once it returns in 2021.