The slate for the 66th edition of the Edinburgh International Film Festival has been announced. The line-up, which is vastly expanded from last year, was announced by incoming artistic director Chris Fujiwara at Edinburgh Filmhouse and features 121 features from 52 countries, including 19 world premieres and 13 international premieres.
Fujiwara said the programme, which has a strong Asian inflection - including a previously announced Shinji Somai retrospective, spotlights on Japanese cult director Shinya Tsukamoto and Chinese documentarian Wang Bing, and a strand dedicated to Philippine New Wave Cinema - "reflects the exceptionally vibrant state of cinema today".
He added: "The rich and diverse programme is about where cinema is today, what it can learn from the past and where it can go in the future".
Categories familiar to pre-2011 festivalgoers, such as second-time director strand Rosebud and galas have been jetisoned in favour of categories that spotlight regional cinema - including a focus on Denmark, featuring gonzo documentary The Ambassador, and Looking South, which showcases filmmaking from Argentina, Chile and Uruguay.
American independent films making the cut, include the European premiere of Bobcat Goldthwait's God Bless America, the world premiere of Nathan Silver's Exit Elena and Robert Carlyle starrer California Solo.
Ten British features are in competition for the Michael Powell Award - which is this year opened to documentaries as well as narratives for the first time. Fourteen international films will also compete for an award.
Speaking about the regional focus of some of the festival's strands, Fujiwara said that he felt Scottish filmmakers could learn a lot from the way that movie makers in other parts of the world formed co-operatives in order to strengthen their film output.
As previously announced the festival will open with the UK premiere of William Friedkin's Killer Joe - a comedy thriller about a dim-witted drug dealer who plans a murder - and close with the European premiere of Pixar's Scottish-set animation Brave.
We'll be bringing you the full line-up as part of our ongoing Edinburgh Film Festival coverage soon.
