NEW films by Mike Leigh and lauded Scottish director Lynne Ramsay will be part of a series of Olympic world premieres held in Edinburgh this summer.
Four films commissioned by the London 2012 Festival, the cultural wing of the Olympics, will be first shown at the capital's international film festival in June, a day before their London premiere. The London showing will be part of a "simulcast" across 50 other UK cinemas.
The short films include A Running Jump by Mike Leigh, starring Eddie Marsan, The Swimmer by Ramsay, director of We Need to Talk About Kevin, What If, directed by Streetdance duo Max Giwa and Dania Pasquini, and The Odyssey by Asif Kapadia, the Bafta award-winning director of Senna.
The London festival also announced plans for the Turner Prize-winning Scottish artist Douglas Gordon to create a film titled The End of Civilisation.
The film will feature the burning of a grand piano on the Scottish and English border to be shown in Newcastle in July.
Along with the short films, and to tie in with the Olympics, Twentieth Century Fox are issuing a remastered version of the acclaimed movie Chariots of Fire, which features the story of Scottish athlete Eric Liddell.
The four short films will receive their world premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival on June 24, it was announced yesterday.
Chariots of Fire will be in cinemas across the UK from July 13, giving new audiences a chance to see the multi-Oscar winning movie directed by Hugh Hudson and produced by Lord Puttnam.
In addition, the Shetland Film Festival, the UK's most northerly film festival, curated by Linda Ruth Williams, will present A Hansel of Film, a "unique cinematic relay project for 2012".
The arrival of the Olympic Torch in the islands will signal the start of a "relay" of screenings around the UK, from Shetland to Southampton and back again, culminating in an awards ceremony in Shetland on the last day of the Paralympic Games and London 2012 Festival.
The festival is looking at films of no longer than five minutes from people of all ages.
Ruth Mackenzie, the director of the London 2012 Festival, said: "The film programme for the London 2012 Festival not only showcases the UK's leading talent but importantly, when the eyes of the world are on us, gives a platform for young and emerging filmmakers to showcase their work on a world stage."
Chris Fujiwara, the new artistic director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival said: "We're thrilled to be part of the celebration of the arts that will take place during the UK's largest ever nationwide festival.
"In hosting the world premiere of these four newly commissioned films, the Edinburgh International Film Festival is continuing its tradition of supporting British filmmaking.
"We are also continuing our relationship with superb filmmakers who have brought their work to Edinburgh in the past."
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