A WORLD premiere starring Billy Boyd and Robert Carlyle will be among the highlights at this year's Edinburgh International Film Festival.
The pair, two of Scotland's biggest Hollywood stars, will appear in the comedy drama The Stone of Destiny. It tells the story of Ian Hamilton, a daring young nationalist who raided Westminster Abbey to bring home the Stone of Scone.
Other attracti
ons include the UK premiere of Man on Wire, a documentary about Philippe Petit, a young Frenchman who walked a high wire between the twin towers in New York in 1974.
It was announced last week that Keira Knightley and Sienna Miller are to open this year's festival.
They will be joined by actor Matthew Rhys and director John Maybury at the premiere of The Edge of Love, a biopic of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. The Stone of Destiny has been written and directed by American Graffiti and Untouchables actor Charles Martin Smith, and is based on a book by Mr Hamilton.
He was one of four Glasgow students who took the stone from Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day 1950, sparking an international search. They hid it in Arbroath Abbey before tipping off police. The 450lb chunk of sandstone, reputed to date back to Biblical times, was returned to Edinburgh Castle in 1996.
Glasgow-born Boyd, 39, said: "I can't wait for people who don't know the story to see this amazing tale of Ian Hamilton and his group of Scottish students.
"We had a really wonderful time working on this film. Seeing how they brought Scotland of the 1950s back to life and being involved in this uplifting story, I feel really honoured to be part of it."
Mr Hamilton, who went on to become one of Scotland's top QCs, and friends Gavin Vernon, Kay Matheson and Alan Stuart were never prosecuted for the raid.
For the first time in more than 60 years, the 2008 film festival will be held in June instead of August, in a bid to raise the event's profile. It will run from June 18-29, with the full programme due to be announced on May 7.
REEL-LIFE STORIESDocumentaries showing at this year's Film Festival include:
Encounters at the End of the World, by Werner Herzog. About people who work in Antarctica.
Dreams With Sharp Teeth, by Erik Nelson. Explores the life and work of science fiction writer Harlan Ellison.
Jesus Christ Saviour (Jesus Christus Erloser), by Peter Geyer. A 1971 theatrical monologue by German actor Klaus Kinski, which became an endurance test for the actor.
Alone in Four Walls (Allein in vier wanden), by Alexandra Westmeier. Explores life inside a Russian reform school.
Mechanical Love, by Danish director Phie Ambo. About the developing relations between humans and robots.
Paradise (Paradiset), by Swedish director Jerzy Sladkowski. About a 65 year-old marriage.
Three Miles North of Molkom, by Robert Cannan and Corinna Villari-McFarlane. Quirky rollercoaster ride through the experiences of the participants at a spiritual festival in Sweden.
Fairytale of Kathmandu, by Neasa Ni Chianain. Following Irish poet Cathal O'Searcaigh.
We Went to Wonderland, by Xiaolu Guo. Records a comparison of culture through the filmmaker's first visit to Europe from China.
Sleep Furiously, by Gideon Koppel. Welsh-set study of a rural community.
Obscene, by Daniel O'Connor and Neil Ortenberg. Chronicles the life and times of publisher Barney Rosset.
Pageant, by Ron Davis and Stewart Halpern. Follows contestants in Miss Gay America.
The full article contains 585 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
