Film festival rolls out big names for city’s 72nd annual celebration
Oscar- winning actress Anna Paquin, Bafta- winning writer David Hare, comedy stars Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan, and rising British actor George Mackay will take centre stage at this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival, organisers have revealed.
It is hoped Samantha Morton, Billie Piper, Natalie Dormer and Ben Elton will be among the other stars on the red carpet at the event.
The 72 nd annual festival will feature new films starring Sadie Frost, Margot Robbie, Johnny Vegas and Kylie Minogue, who last appeared at the EIFF 18 years ago.
Expected highlights of the event–to be opened by Scottish actress Kelly Mac donald with the unveiling of new mystery drama, Puzzle–will include a sneak preview of Disney- Pixar sequel Incredibles 2, the return of legendary Scottish film-maker Bill Forsy th and a new biopic of tragic pop star Whitney Houston made by Oscar-winning Scottish director Kevin Macdonald.
Morton and Piper star together in new British coming- of- age drama Two For Joy, while other home- grown films include Mar y Shelley, a new biopic on the author of the classic horror tale Frankenstein, and new comedy Eaten By Lions, which will see Johnny Vegas star alongside Jack Carroll and Asim Chaudry.
Minogue and former Neighbours co- star Guy Pearce will be reunited in new Australian comedy Swinging Safari.
New Scottish work includes Dirt Road to Lafayette, the first film penned by award-winning author James Kelman, and Christmas zombie horror musical Anna and the Apocalypse, which was filmed in Port Glasgow.
Rising star Sophie Kennedy Clark has two films in the lineup – alongside Sadie Frost and Billy Zane in Lucid, in which a shy young man is taught to seduce through dream therapy, and Obey, about a young boxer adjusting to life after foster care.
Travis frontman Fran Healy will launch Almost Fashionable, a documentary which unfolds after a music journalist who has repeatedly criticised the band is invited to join them on tour in Mexico.
Meanwhile, visual artist Rachel Ma clean will be unveiling her new“part-comedy, part- horror,” about a group of women trapped in a cruel reality TV- style competition.
However, artistic director Mark Adams admitted he was disappointed at missing out on major new Scottish films including Mary Queen of Scots and Robert the Bruce bi opic Out law King due to their release dates being well after the festival, which runs from 20 June to 1 July.
Welsh comic Brydon will be “in conversation” ahead of closing the festival with his new film Swimming With Men, a new British comedy about a group of middle- aged men who form a synchronised swimming team.
Hare, one of Britain’s leading screenwriters, whose previous films and TV series include Collateral, The Hours and The Reader, and rising British star George Mackay, whose credits include Sunshine on Leith, For Those In Peril and Captain Fantastic, will be appearing at other “in person” events.
True Blood stars Anna Paquin and her actor- director husband Stephen Moyer will be discussing their careers as well as unveiling new film The Parting Glass, which also stars New York governorship hopeful Cynthia Nixon.
Game of Thrones star Natalie Dormer plays a blind musician stalked by killers in new psychological revenge thriller In Darkness, which set in London’s criminal underworld.
Mr Adams, who is at the helm of his fourth festival, said: “We remain one of the world’s most venerable and acclaimed film festivals and we’re delighted to be able to offer audiences the chance to see some of the most exciting and innovative new film talent, in a setting steeped in history.
“I’ ve always tried to strike the right balance with the various elements of the pro - gramme and the types of films we show.
“It’s taken a bit of time to get to know the people who come here and love the festival. Certain sorts of films work really well with them.”