prize5-5, Exercise 2: "The oldest film festival in the world"

Model answer (check the details):

The claim: the Edinburgh International Film Festival began in 1947 and has run continuously since, which is often described as making it the oldest continuously running film festival in the world.

What to check:
1. The definition. "Oldest" could mean first held, or oldest that has run without a break. Some festivals, such as Venice (1932), began earlier, so the claim has to be "continuously" and under a stated definition (check).
2. The record of continuity. Has it run every year since 1947? Were there gaps, changes of name, changes of organisation or periods of closure (check)?
3. The festival's own history compared with independent sources such as film histories and newspaper coverage.
4. The wording used by the festival itself, and whether it uses a qualified phrase.

Likely outcome: the claim is defensible under a careful definition, and should be stated with that definition attached.