After confusion over her role ... Film Festival ambassador Tilda Swinton won’t even be going

She is not alone. Several of the EIFF’s high-profile “guest curators” – including actress Isabella Rossellini and director Gus Van Sant – will not be attending either.

These fresh blows come after a week of confusion over the exact role Swinton was to play in this year’s revamp of one of the world’s oldest film festivals.

The Oscar-winning star of such films as Michael Clayton and The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe was recruited as an unpaid “artistic adviser” for the EIFF, to work on a blueprint for its future along with former festival directors Mark Cousins and Lynda Myles.

But Swinton, who is also a patron of the event, said she had been recruited for a specific task, now ended, and claimed festival management were suggesting her involvement went beyond that.

She issued a statement last week saying: “It was originally, erroneously, announced last year that I was part of a line-up to curate the festival. I was never a part of such an initiative and I was clear from the start that I wanted this misinformation corrected by the festival. However, my understanding is that such a correction never took place.”

But the statement only hints at her unhappiness. Christian Hodell, her agent, close friend and confidante, told the Sunday Herald that she did not intend even going along to the festival this summer. “She won’t be at Edinburgh, I think,” he said.

He said she had committed to make a film in the US in June, when the festival takes place. She is part of the cast of Moonrise Kingdom, the new Wes Anderson film which also features Bruce Willis, Owen Wilson, Bill Murray and Ed Norton.

EIFF management said Swinton had got it wrong, that her comments were the result of a misunderstanding and that she was not really criticising the festival. The EIFF blamed the media’s “misreporting” of Swinton’s role and said it believed it had corrected the situation.

But Hodell said: “Tilda is happy to stick with her statement.”

In February, the film unveiled several “guest curators” of this year’s event, including Rossellini, Van Sant, The Streets singer Mike Skinner, author Alan Warner, director Jim Jarmusch, writer Greil Marcus, and composer Clint Mansell. But EIFF management confirmed that many will not be able to attend.

Gavin Miller, chief executive of the Centre for the Moving Image, the body that oversees the festival, said: “We hope some will come. Some won’t be able to come due to other commitments. That won’t detract from the programme.”

He added that there has been no major rift between the festival, which appointed James Mullighan as director in January, and the team that delivered the blueprint.

“Absolutely not at all,” he said. “Mark is making a film, Lynda has a full-time role in London, Tilda does her work. The plan was their work was done in February when they handed over the blueprint. But to various degrees of input, they are still involved. Lynda will ring up with suggestions for films. They are ambassadors.”

Miller also denied the EIFF had made mistakes in communicating how this year’s festival is taking shape, and who is doing what role.

However, Swinton’s comments and the confusion over titles reflect wider uncertainties and fears about the festival.

The programme is secret. The budget is well down, though the figures are under wraps. The Swinton team’s blueprint is regarded as “intellectual property” and is therefore secret. There were suggestions that the festival will take a radical new look at venues, including church halls and even a cricket ground.

THE EIFF has confirmed that the University of Edinburgh’s Teviot Building would become the festival’s “hub” for its 10 days in June. The building will be the delegate centre, video-screening hub, and host debates, screenings and events for the public. By bringing the public and professionals together, it will “democratise” the festival, Miller said.

He added: “It will be the glue that brings everyone together. We want to create a hub of discussion, debate, argument information and knowledge-sharing. That is unique and reflective of what we want from the festival. And it’s open to the public. It shows where we need to be as a festival. We want to be the cutting edge of this discussion.”

Despite this, industry insiders are critical about what they see as a lack of direction. Some staff have also been voicing concern in private. Miller said that was inevitable in any organisation undergoing major changes.

One industry individual said: “I am very concerned that two festivals have now been partly planned – the conventional one that was being assembled by the staff prior to the appointment of an artistic director, and Mark’s more outlandish vision – neither of which appears to be happening. The programme should be fixed by this point, and selling, according to Gavin’s stated plans.”

Miller had blamed a fall in ticket sales last year on the fact that the programme was not announced until May. He said it had to be earlier – but the festival has just confirmed that once again the programme will not be announced until next month.

One insider said: “Miller keeps saying he wants the festival to be like Meltdown [a London music festival with a fresh curator every year]. Well, I can tell you he’s got what he wants – it’s meltdown right now.”

Jim Hickey, who was director of the festival in the 1980s and hosted gala premieres for ET and Blade Runner, said Mullighan had promised a major announcement for the beginning of March.

“I was puzzled when nothing appeared in March,” he said. “It’s surprising that even now they haven’t said, ‘This is where we’re at.’ I think what we are looking for is some positive announcement about the programme.”

He said he was particularly worried about the apparent lack of any new sources of finance and added that the uncertainty and negative publicity were likely to put potential backers off.