The films made by The Beatles' George Harrison's movie company, and the work of ground breaking playwright Tom McGrath, are to be celebrated by Edinburgh's international film festival this year.
The works of Harrison's HandMade Films and McGrath, the playwright and jazz pianist, are part of a series of retrospectives are to celebrate the 70 year history of the Edinburgh International Film Festival.
A reading of McGrath's The Hard Man will cast a new light on the play by casting Scottish actress Kate Dickie in the central role.
The Future is History retrospective, curated by senior programmer Niall Greig Fulton looks at three themes: Great Britain, The Western World of the Future and Scotland.
He said: "Inspired by Britain’s decision to leave the EU during our last edition, and touching on the Festival’s long held passion for debate and discovery, The Future is History turns the clock back to the 1970s and 1980s to explore the vital question of identity in a world undergoing seismic political and cultural change."
The works of George Harrison's HandMade Films, which was formed in 1978, will be part of the retrospective theme looking at Great Britain, while the early 1980s cinema of science fiction will also be remembered.
Movies made by HandMade Films to be screened include The Long Good Friday, Time Bandits, Scrubbers, A Private Function, Mona Lisa, Withnail & I, Bellman and True, How to Get Ahead in Advertising and a screening of the original Scottish language version of John Mackenzie’s A Sense of Freedom.
To mark McGrath’s influence on jazz in Scotland, jazz saxophonist Tommy Smith will lead the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra in a musical tribute to McGrath at the Queens Hall featuring the music of Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Freddie Redd and other jazz greats.
This performance will be complemented by readings of McGrath’s poetry by actor Tam Dean Burn.
There will be two additional live stage readings of McGrath’s plays from the era, The Hard Man (1977) and The Android Circuit (1978), both directed by Tam Dean Burn.
The festival will also show McGrath’s rarely seen 1982 BBC Play for Tomorrow: The Nuclear Family, a science-fiction set in Scotland.
Diane Henderson, deputy artistic director, said: "This year’s special retrospective programme celebrates the 70th Anniversary of Edinburgh’s world famous festivals, and presents a clear look at, and contribution to, the evolving identity of EIFF and its provenance.
"It will provide a truly exciting journey of screen, stage and music and allow audiences to experience a selection of the featured era’s most important art."
French director René Laloux will be remembered with two screenings of his cult animated feature films La Planète Sauvage (1973) and Gandahar (1988).
The main programme of the festival will be announced by EIFF Artistic Director, Mark Adams, on 31 May.
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