Isabella Rossellini, Gus Van Sant and Apichatpong Weerasethakul are to guest curate their own sections of the coming edition of the Edinburgh International Film Festival, as part of a radical overhaul of its current format.

The first 8 guest curators for the new look Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) were announced today, in a blueprint set out by Mark Cousins and Lynda Myles, who have been brought in to oversee a “radical evolution of the form and content of the festival,” according to newly appointed festival director James Mullighan.

Mullighan confirmed in January that as part of the changes, the festival’s Michael Powell Award is to be abolished.

UK song writer/musician Mike Skinner, independent film-maker Sara Driver and her partner Jim Jarmusch, Scottish author Alan Warner, Black Swan composer Clint Mansell and music writer Greil Marcus will also curate their own sections of the EIFF, which will run 15-26 June.

Mulligan, who was appointed at the end of 2010 following the departure of EIFF’s artistic director Hannah McGill, explained that the guest curators are now “in dialogue with Mark and Lynda about what it is they might bring. Films, music, art, writing, mood. Nothing is off the table at this point.”

He also revealed that the programme for the 65th edition will be announced in a “piecemeal fashion” with the next big announcement due at the beginning of March.

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