Classic movies for Edinburgh Film Festival

CLASSIC blockbusters including ET and Back to the Future will be shown outdoors on The Mound as part of this year's Edinburgh International Film Festival, it was announced today.

The Film Festival Under the Stars event – which will be held next to the National Gallery – will be one of the highlights of this year's festival, which also includes appearances from stars such as Sir Sean Connery and recent Oscar winner Tilda Swinton.

The programme for the festival, which runs from June 18-29, was announced at a press conference in the Capital today.

The festival will host 15 world premieres, including John Maybury's The Edge of Love, starring Keira Knightley and Sienna Miller, on the opening night.

Artistic director Hannah McGill said: "We have a terrifically exciting programme this year, which is the happy result of a very enthusiastic response from distributors and filmmakers.

"From powerful artistic and political statements to works of pure, escapist entertainment, I think this is a festival that reflects an active, vibrant world film culture and suits the diverse and daring tastes of our audience."

The festival will showcase 142 feature-length films from twenty nine countries, including 113 new features.

Highlights include the new Pixar title Wall E and This Is England director Shane Meadows' new film, Somers Town.

Other films include the documentary Encounters at the End of the World by acclaimed director Werner Herzog.

Commenting on this year's festival, Culture Minister Linda Fabiani said: "Scotland's diverse and vibrant cultural life is one of our defining features.

"It is the energy, commitment and creativity of Edinburgh's festivals which together make Edinburgh the world's pre-eminent festival city, attracting tourists and showcasing Scottish talent on the international stage.

"As the world's longest continuously running film festival, the Edinburgh International Film Festival holds a very special place in the hearts of film enthusiasts and professionals. The EIFF undoubtedly deserves its excellent reputation and I am sure they will build on this with the 2008 programme and their move to a new position in the calendar."

Also included in the line-up is a series of short films marking the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights directed by filmmakers including Irvine Welsh, Mark Cousins and Tilda Swinton, who along with Sir Sean, is a patron of the festival.

Scots actor Brian Cox, who recently starred in the The Bourne Supremacy, will be among those taking part in discussion groups.

Other films to be screened at Film Festival Under the Stars include Baz Luhrmann's Strictly Ballroom, which was the opening night gala film at the EIFF in 1992, and Local Hero by Bill Forsyth.