Edinburgh International Film Festival Unveils 2012 Lineup

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LONDON – The 66th edition of the Edinburgh International Film Festival(EIFF) this year will play host to 19 world premieres and 13 international bows, organizers said.

Among the world debuts will be Richard Ledes’ Fred, a drama starring Elliot Gould, Stephanie Roth Haberle and Fred Melamed and Nathan Silver's comedy drama Exit Elena.

Also making its world debut during the Scottish capital set festival is Benjamin Pascoe's Leave It On The Track, a documentary about a roller derby battle for the Calvello Cup.

Festival organizers said the shindig aims to showcase 121 features from 52 countries, including 11 European premieres and 76 U.K. premieres in addition to the world and international fresh bows included.

The lineup also inlcudes Lu Sheng’s Here, There and Yang Jung-ho’s Mirage in the festival's debuting section New Perspectives, also boasting Benicio DelToro, Pablo Trapero, Julio Medem, Elia Suleiman, Gaspar Noé, Juan Carlos Tabio and Laurent Cantet’s 7 Days In Havana.

Bobcat Goldthwait’s God Bless America is programmed for the Directors’Showcase.

Incoming festival artistic director Chris Fujiwarahas re-introduced the festival's Competition strands after they had been controversially abandoned last year by the EIFF backers and producer.

British films competing for the Michael Powell Award this year will include, for the first time, documentaries contending alongside narrative films.

Peter Strickland’s Berberian Sound Studio, Day Of The Flowers by John Roberts, Katarzyna Klimkiewicz’s Flying Blind, Maja Borg’s Future My Love, Alex Barrett’s Life Just Is, One Mile Away by Penny Woolcock and Pusher by Luis Prieto all line up to contend for the Michael Powell Award alongside Bart Layton’s The Imposter, Shadow Dancer by James Marsh and Martin Wallace’s Small Creatures.

There will also be an award for best performance in a British movie and an international feature nod.

Fujiwara said: “Our audiences will be able to explore a wide range of outstanding films from around the world, including work by established masters and films from new and emerging talents. There are also some no less exciting discoveries to be made this year in our Retrospectives. Altogether it’s a rich and diverse program that tells, I believe, a fascinating story about where cinema is today, what it can learn from the past, and where it is going in the future.”

The Festival will also host 29 older titles in retrospectives and special screenings, bringing the total number of feature films to 150 across the12-day event.

It will include a showcase of a digital restoration of Lawrence of Arabia.

The 66th Edinburgh International Film Festival opens with William Friedkin’s Killler Joe and closes with the European premiere of Disney/Pixar’s Brave.

The festival runs June 20 to July 1.