The Edinburgh International Film Festival started yesterday and it boasts an impressive programme of movies from around the world.
Edinburgh International Film Festival
The festival is celebrating its landmark 70th year and will showcase 161 feature films from forty-six countries and feature twenty-two world premieres.
While there are films from around the world showing at the festival, we take a closer look at some of the British films that you need to watch out for.
- Away
Away marks the return of David Blair to the director's chair for his first feature film since The Messenger last year.
Away is one of the British films that's not to be missed at the festival and will be receiving its world premiere this week.
The movie sees Blair team up with Timothy Spall and Juno Temple, who take on the central roles of Joseph and Ria. They are two of the most exciting British acting talent around and I cannot wait to see them share the screen together.
Matt Ryan, Susan Lynch, Tony Pitts, Reece Noi, and Terry Stone will join Temple and Spall on the cast list.
Away follows two lost souls seeking solace under the lights of Blackpool. It is set to be a touching and heart-wrenching drama and one of the British films on the programme that I am looking forward to the most.
- Bliss!
There are some exciting female filmmakers on the programme at Edinburgh this year and Rita Osei is one to watch out for. Osei is set to make her feature film directorial debut with Bliss, which will have its world premiere at the festival.
Osei is no stranger to the director's with short films Too Much Love, Room to Let and The Curry Club already under her belt and I am exciting to see her make the transition into features for the first time.
Bliss will introduce us to the acting talents of Freya Parks, who takes on the central role of Tasha Robson. While the actress has appeared in Creation and Jane Eyre, this is the biggest film role of her career and could be a major breakthrough role for her.
Parks is joined on the cast list by David Leon, Montserrat Lombard, Reece Noi, Joshua Osei, and Lars Arentz-Hansen.
Tasha Robson, 16, has run away from home! While she rides the waves aboard the large ferry heading from South Shields, England to Scandinavia in search of her unknown father, "The Viking" all is less than calm in the Robson household.
The festival will boast many directorial debuts from exciting new filmmakers and Bliss! really is being tipped as a movie that is not to be overlooked.
- Brakes
Brakes is another of the British movies that will receive its world premiere at Edinburgh International Film Festival this year as Mercedes Grower takes up the director's chair for the first time.
Grower is best known as an actress with a string of film and television roles under her belt, but Brakes will see her make her directorial debut.
As well as being in the director's chair for Brakes, Grower has also penned the film's screenplay and will take on the role of Layla.
She has assembled a terrific cast for the movie as Julian Barratt, Julia Davis, Noel Fielding, Kerry Fox, Paul McGann, Steve Oram and Roland Gift are set to star.
Brakes is a raw, dark comedy about endings and beginnings. A failed relationship is rarely predicted but always reviewed, and the film adopts this reverse narrative. Split into two halves, the film follows the tumultuous stories of nine couples.
It plunges straight into the brutal and absurd endings of their relationships, and travels back in time to the moment when the spark of love between them first emerged. Using London as there matchmaker, each of their stories is unique, yet familiar to us all.
- Kids In Love
Kids In Love is a movie that is set to hit the big screen here in the UK at the end of August and is another film that will receive its world premiere at the Edinburgh Film Festival.
Chris Foggin is another up and coming filmmaker to watch out for as he is set to make his feature film directorial debut with Kids In Love.
Foggin is no stranger to the director's chair with short films Queen of Hearts and That Night and a segment of Stars in Shorts already under his belt. I am looking forward to seeing him make the leap into features and there's already some excitement building around Kids In Love.
The movie also sees Sebastian De Souza and Preston Thompson show off their writing skills for the first time. As well as penning the screenplay, the duo is also on the cast list alongside Will Poulter, Alma Jodorowsky, Jamie Blackley, and Cara Delevingne.
A group of friends live their lives in London, imitating art and enjoying a fast-paced lifestyle.
If you are a fan of the coming-of-age genre of film, then Kids In Love is a movie not to miss at the festival and when it is released into cinemas later this summer.
- Starfish
Joanne Froggatt is one of my favourite British actresses and she is set to return to the big screen with her latest film project Starfish, which will receive its world premiere at the festival.
Starfish will mark the return of Bill Clark to the director's chair for what will be the second feature film of his career; it comes nearly a decade after he made his debut with The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey.
Starfish marks the first time that Clark has teamed up with Froggatt, who will take on the central role of Nicola Ray.
She is joined on the cast list by Phoebe Nicholls, Tom Riley, Michele Dotrice, Simon Bamford, and Daisy Moore.
Starfish is based on the true-life story of Tom (Riley) and Nicola Ray (Froggatt), whose lives changed overnight and beyond recognition when Tom contracted a rare and life-threatening illness. Tom survived, but at a price.
Starfish is an independent British Film and is promising to be touching and powerful family drama.
- The White King
If you like your dystopian drama, then The White King is a movie that you cannot afford to miss during the Edinburgh International Film Festival as Alex Helfrecht and Jörg Tittel team up in the director's chair.
The White King marks the feature film directorial debut of both Helfrecht and Tittel, who have previously worked together on the short project The Sip.
As well as being in the director's chair, the duo has also penned the film's screenplay, which is an adaptation of the novel by György Dragomán.
Agyness Deyn continues to build her acting career and takes on the role of Hannah. She is joined on the cast list by Jonathan Pryce, Olivia Williams, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Greta Scacchi, and Fiona Shaw make up the impressive cast list.
The White King is a futuristic tale that follows Hannah, who joins her son on his mission when the pair are labelled as traitors. The movie mixes elements of science fiction, drama and adventures and, for me, is one of the stand out films on the programme.
The movie will receive its world premiere at the festival and I cannot wait to see what Helfrecht and Tittel deliver.
Other British movies that are not to be missed include The Carer, Moon Dogs, and White Island.
The Edinburgh International Film Festival runs from 15th - 26th June.