The 56th Edinburgh International Film Festival (August 14 - 25) will open with the UK premiere of Lynne Ramsey's acclaimed Morvern Callar and close with Christopher Nolan's hit thriller Insomnia.

Gala screenings joining previously the announced titles: Tadpole, The Guru, Rabbit Proof Fence, 8 Femmes and Changing Lanes include Mark Romanek's One Hour Photo, Bill Paxton's Frailty and Oliver Parker's The Importance Of Being Earnest.

Morvern Callar heads a strong British section that confirms Edinburgh's position as the prime Festival showcase for UK production. Titles includes Mike Leigh's All Or Nothing, Shane Meadows Once Upon A Time In The Midlands, David Mackenzie's The Last Great Wilderness, Marc Evans Big Brother-style chiller My Little Eye, Francesca Joseph's Tomorrow La Scala! , Damien O'Donnell's Heartlands, Alex Cox's Revengers Tragedy and Isaac Julien's blaxploitation documentary Baadasssss Cinema.

UK distributor Icon elected not to screen Ken Loach's Cannes prize-winner Sweet Sixteen at Edinburgh, favouring a Glasgow premiere later in the year, and the Festival is also lacking Peter Mullan's The Magdalene Sisters which will premiere at Venice.

The first festival under new artistic director Shane Danielsen also remains true to the event's strong documentary roots with around twenty tiles screening including Damian Pettigrew's Fellini: I'm A Big Liar, J David Riva's Marlene Dietrich-Her Own Song, Harry and Joe Gantzs' Sex With Strangers, Chantal Akerman's De L'Autre Cote and Sophie Fiennes Hoover Street Revival.

Guests so far expected to attend the Festival include Mike Leigh, Christopher Nolan, Bill Paxton, Roberta Torre for Angela, Virginie Ledoyen for 8 Femmes and veteran editor Anne V Coates who will discuss a career that includes Lawrence Of Arabia, Murder On The Orient Express, Elephant Man and Out Of Sight.

FULL PROGRAMME

Galas
8 Femmes (Francois Ozon)
Buffalo Soldiers (Gregor Jordan)
Frailty (Bill Paxton)
Her Majesty (Mark J Gordon) - family gala
Insomnia (Christopher Nolan) - closing night
One Hour Photo (Mark Romanek)
Rabbit Proof Fence (Phillip Noyce)
Tadpole (Gary Winick)
The Guru (Daisy von Scherler) - world premiere

Special Events
Decasia (Bill Morrison)
The Importance Of Being Earnest (Oliver Parker)
Changing Lanes (Roger Michell)
Breath Control: The History Of The Human Beat Box (Joey Garfield)

British Galas
Morvern Callar (Lynne Ramsey) - opening film
All Or Nothing (Mike Leigh)
Heartlands (Damien O'Donnell)
Once Upon A Time In The Midlands (Shane Meadows)
Out Of Control (Dominic Savage)
Revengers Tragedy (Alex Cox)
The Last Great Wilderness (David MacKenzie)
This Is Not A Love Song (Bille Eltringham)
Tomorrow La Scala! (Francesca Joseph)

Eyes Of The World
Une Affaire Privee (A Private Affair) (Guillaume Nicloux)
Un Oso Rojo (A Red Bear) (Adrian Israel Caetano)
All About Lily Chou Chou (Shunji Iwai)
Angela (Roberta Torre)
Baader (Christopher Roth)
Balzac And The Little Chinese Seamstress (Dai Sijie)
Itiraf (Confession) (Zeki Demirkubuz)
Yazgi (Fate)(Zeki Demirkubuz)
In Fiecare Zi Dumnezeu Ne Saruta Pe Gura (Every Day God Kisses Us On The Mouth) (Sinisa Dragin)
Go (Isao Yukisada)
Nan Ren Si Shi (July Rhapsody) (Ann Hui)
Sex Is Comedy (Catherine Breillat)
Toter Mann (Something To Remind Me) (Christian Petzold)
Spider (David Cronenberg)
Ten (Abbas Kiarostami)
Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet (various)
Matir Monia (The Clay Bird) (Tareque Masud)
El Hijo De La Novia (The Son Of The Bride) (Juan Jose Campanella)
O Invasor (The Trespasser) (Beto Brant)

Rosebud
Abouna (Our Father) (Mahamat-Saleh Haroun)
Australian Rules (Paul Goldman)
Ku Qi De Nu Ren (Cry Woman) (Bingjian)
Oyenstikker (Dragonflies) (Marius Holst)
Intacto (Juan Carlos Fresnadillo)
Irreversible (Gaspar Noe)
Japon (Carlos Reygadas)
Le Souffle (Deep Breath) (Damien Odoul)
Szep Napok (Pleasant Days) (Kornel Mundruczo)
Un Crabe Dans La Tete (Soft Shell Man) (Andre Turpin)
Avazhaye Sarzamine Madariyam (Songs From My Mother's Country) (Bahman Ghobadi)
Strass (Vincent Lannoo)
Ko-yang-i-rul-Boo-tak-hae (Take Care Of My Cat)(Jeong Jae-Eun)
Thirteen Conversations About One Thing (Jill Sprecher)
Heremakono (Waiting For Happiness) (Abderrahmane Sissako)

Late Night Romps
Bundy (Matthew Bright)
Honogurai Mizuno Sokokara (Dark Water) (Hideo Nakata)
My Little Eye (Marc Evans)
Tattoo (Robert Schwenkte)
Katakuri-ke no Koufuku (The Happiness Of The Katakuris) (Miike Takashi)
Whasango (Volcano High) (Kim Tae-Gyun)

Documentaries
Baadasssss Cinema (Isaac Julien)
Im Toten Winkel: Hitlers Sekretarin (Blind Spot: Hitler's Secretary) (Othmar Schriderer, Andre Heller)
Black Sea Brodwey (Broadway) (Vitali Manski)
Cinemania (Angela Christlieb, Stephen Kijak)
Asurot (Detained) (Anat Even, Ada Ushpiz)
Digging For Dutch: The Search For The Lost Treasure Of Dutch Schultz (Laura Levine)
Fellini: Sono Un Gran Bugiardo (Fellini: I'm A Big Liar) ( Damian Pettigrew)
De L'Autre Cote (From The Other Side) (Chantal Akerman)
Hoover Street Revival (Sophie Fiennes)
How To Draw A Bunny (John Walter)
Tomer Ve-Hasrutim (It Kinda Scares Me) (Tomer Hetmann)
Marlene Dietrich-Her Own Song (J David Riva)
Sex With Strangers (Harry Gantz, Joe Gantz)
The Backyard (Paul Hough)
El Juego De Cuba (The Cuban Game) (Manuel Martin Cuenca)
De Stand Van De Zon (The Eye Of The Day) (Leonard Retel Helmrich)
The Fire Within (Leanne Whitney)
Etre Et Avoir (To Be And To Have) (Nicolas Philibert)
Tribute (Rich Fox, Kris Curry)

Retrospectives
Swedish Cinema Of The 1960s
Here's Your Life (Jan Troell)
Who Saw Him Die'(Jan Troell)
Loving Couples (Mai Zetterling)
Night Games (Mai Zetterling)
Raven's End (Bo Widerberg)
The Pram (Bo Widerberg)

Kon Ichikawa
11 titles covering 1955-1965