The Edinburgh International Film Festival gets underway tomorrow and there is a mix of well-known directors and first time filmmakers on the programme.
The Incident
There are also an exciting number of female directors on show - some of which are nominated for Audience Award, Best International Feature Film Award, and the Michael Powell Award for Best British Feature Film.
We take a look at some of the female filmmakers who are at the festival and their films that you cannot miss.
- Jane Linfoot - The Incident
Jane Linfoot is no stranger to the director's chair with a string of short projects under her belt, but The Incident will mark her feature film directorial debut. She has already given us Creep, Youth, On Your Own, and Sea View and now she is making the transition into features.
As well as being in the director's chair, Linfoot has also penned the screenplay for The Incident, which will receive its world premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival.
The Incident is a psychological drama that follows Joe and Annabel, a couple who have their ordered live disrupted by the appearance of teenager Lily.
The movie brings together a talented cast as Ruta Gedmintas and Tom Hughes are on board as Annabel and Joe, while Tasha Connor is a name to watch out for over the next couple of years, as she takes on the role of Lily. We have already seen her in When the Lights Went Out and X+Y and this is another great role for her.
The Incident looks set to be a very assured feature film debut from Linfoot and the film has been nominated for the Michael Powell Award for Best British Feature Film.
The British film industry seems to be an exciting place for female directors at the moment and Linfooot really is a new name to watch out for.
- Helen Walsh - The Violators
The Violators is another British movie that will get its world premiere at the festival and sees Helen Walsh on both directing and writing duties.
Walsh is another female filmmaker who is making her debut as she makes the leaps from writing novels to penning screenplays and directing movies.
After testifying against her abusive father, Shelly (15), finds herself rehoused on a sink estate she can barely call home. A petty thief, Shelly spends her days roaming the estate and docklands in search of opportunities. When she attracts the attention of estate loan shark and groomer, Mikey Finnegan (40), Shelly finds herself thrust under the watchful gaze of a mysterious stranger, Rachel (17).
As Shelly's relationship with Mikey develops, so does Rachel's fixation with Shelly. The shock-revelation that Shelly's father is to be given early parole forces Shelly to make a decision that will alter the fates of all three of them - forever.
Not only are we seeing a new name in the director's chair, but The Violators will also introduce us to Lauren McQueen and Brogan Ellis as they make their big screen debuts as Shelly and Rachel.
The Violators is another gritty British drama that is not to be missed at Edinburgh and finds itself in the mix for the Michael Powell Award for Best British Feature Film.
- Marielle Heller - The Diary of a Teenage Girl
The Diary of a Teenage Girl is set to compete for the Best International Feature Film award at the festival and sees Marielle Heller make the leap into the director's chair.
Heller is better known for her acting work, with roles in the likes of A Walk Among the Tombstones and MacGruber and now she is turning her hand to behind the camera for the first time.
As well as directing The Diary of a Teenage Girl, Heller shows off her writing skills with the new feature film.
This may be her directorial debut, but that hasn't stopped Heller from bring together a terrific cast list as Bel Powley, Alexander Skarsgård, Kristen Wiig, and Christopher Meloni are all on board.
Like most teenage girls, Minnie Goetze (Powley) is longing for love, acceptance, and a senseof purpose in the world. Minnie begins a complex love affair with her mother's (Wiig) boyfriend, 'the handsomest man in the world,' Monroe Rutherford (Skarsgård). What follows is a sharp, funny and provocative account of one girl's sexual and artistic awakening, without judgment.
It is always exciting when an actor swaps being in front of the camera for the director's chair and The Diary of a Teenage Girl looks set to be a coming of age film that is not to be missed.
- Isabel Coixet - Learning To Drive
Learning To Drive is one of the American comedy movies on the Edinburgh International Film Festival programme and sees Isabel Coixet back in the director's chair.
Coixet has already brought us movies such as Another Me and Yesterday Never Ends and her latest project is based on a New Yorker article by Katha Politt and adapted into a screenplay by Sarah Kernochan.
Learning To Drive was name first runner up for the People's Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival last year and the movie will receive its UK premiere at the festival.
Learning to Drive is another film that boasts a wonderful cast list as Ben Kingsley, Patricia Clarkson, Grace Gummer, and Jake Weber are all set to star.
As her marriage dissolves, a Manhattan writer takes driving lessons from a Sikh instructor with marriage troubles of his own. In each other's company, they find the courage to get back on the road and the strength to take the wheel.
Learning To Drive is a movie that has already lit up the festival circuit and I am looking forward to seeing how the Edinburgh audience responds to it.
- Karen Guthrie - The Closer We Get
The Closer We Get is set to receive its European premiere at the festival and will screen as part of the documentary programme.
The movie marks the return of Karen Guthrie to the director's chair - she has already brought us documentaries such as Living with the Tudors and Jaywick Escapes and is her most personal movie to date.
This is a powerful and exquisitely shot autobiographical portrait of loyalty, broken dreams and redemption told by its director - reluctantly dutiful daughter Karen, who takes you under the skin of the household she returns to for this long goodbye. Karen's mother Ann suffers a devastating stroke that brings her daughter back home when she least expects it.
But Karen isn't the only one who returns to help care for Ann in the crisis: Her prodigal father Ian - endearing and unfathomable - and who's been separated from Ann for years, also reappears.
Armed with her camera, Karen seizes this last chance to go under the skin of the family story before it's too late, to come to terms with the aftermath of the secret her father had tried - and failed - to keep from them all, and to find that Ann's stroke has in fact thrown them all a life raft.
We are going to be treated to some wonderful documentaries during the festival and The Closer We Get is set to be one of the most powerful and one that is not to be missed.
- Amy Berg - Every Secret Thing
Amy Berg is best known for her documentary work with terrific movies such as Deliver Us from Evil and West of Memphis - now she is making the leap into live action for the first time.
Every Secret Thing is an adaptation of the novel by Laura Lippman and the screenplay has been penned by Nicole Holofcener, who wrote and directed Enough Said in 2013.
As well as having a great female filmmaker in the director's chair, Every Secret Thing sees a trio of terrific actress star as Diane Lane, Elizabeth Banks, and Dakota Fanning are all on board.
The cast list is completed by Danielle Macdonald, Nate Parker, Common, and Colin Donnell.
A detective looks to unravel a mystery surrounding missing children and the prime suspects: two young women who, seven years ago, were put away for an infant's death.
Berg has made so many great documentaries during her career and it is going to be exciting to see her leave this genre behind - only temporarily - to tackle a live action film. Can't wait to see what she delivers.
Other female directors to watch out for at the festival include Talulah Riley (Scottish Mussel), Gina Prince-Bythewood (Beyond the Lights), and Leslye Headland (Sleeping with Other People).
The Edinburgh International Film Festival runs from 17th - 28th June.
Tagged in Edinburgh International Film Festival