Booking is now open for the Edinburgh International Film Festival, 18-29 June. The move from August and the Edinburgh Festival as a whole marks a rebirth for the world’s longest running film bash. With most of Hollywood heading for Cannes, Edinburgh has opted to fly the flag for British cinema, with both opening and closing galas home grown. There are still plenty of international titles, many of which are receiving a world premiere in Edinburgh, and star appearances. Here’s our guide to the must sees:

Wed, June 18
The Edge of Love. Passion, poetry and tea dresses as Keira Knightley and Sienna Miller compete for the affections of Dylan Thomas (Matthew Rhys).
Thurs 19, Sat 21
A Complete History of My Sexual Failures. Chris Waitt howls at the moon for our amusement.

Fri 20, Sun 22
A holiday in hell laid bare in the thriller Donkey Punch.

Sun 22, Mon 23
Coming of age in the Cotswolds in Duane Hopkin’s debut feature, Better Things, also showing in Cannes.

Thurs 26, Fri 27
Don’t look down in James Marsh’s Man on Wire, a documentary account of Philippe Petit’s 1974 walk between the Twin Towers.

Fri 20, Sat 21
Teen star Thomas Turgoose, brilliant in This is England, returns as a runaway in the new Shane Meadows’ drama, Somers Town.

Sat 21, Mon 23
Robert Carlyle and Billy Boyd are among those recounting a certain heist from Westminster Abbey in Stone of Destiny.

Thurs 19, Fri 20
A gala premiere for Santosh Sivan’s epic romance Before the Rains.

Thurs 19, Sun 22
Sir Ben Kingsley and Penelope Cruz attempt to do justice to Philip Roth’s The Dying Animal in Elegy. Kingsley also appears in Jonathan Levine’s New York-set comedy drama The Wackness (Fri 20, Sat 21).

Sun 22
Manhunter, Bourne, Rushmore, Zodiac - hear Brian Cox’s account of them all in an unmissable Bafta interview. Also: Ray Harryhausen, special effects genius, in conversation with Tony Dalton (Wed 25); giants of cinematography Roger Deakins (No Country for Old Men) and Seamus McGarvey (Atonement) discuss their craft (Sun 22); and Shane Meadows on making it big in British film (Sat 21).

Sat 21, Wed 25
Horror, Brit style, in Mum and Dad. It all begins, funnily enough, at an airport...

Tues 24
The Surprise Movie. No idea what it is, surprise, surprise, but sure to be a goodie.

Wed 25, Fri 27
Policing Brazilian style in the tough action thriller Elite Squad.

Thurs 26, Fri 27
Laughs of the darkest kind in A Film With Me In It. Dylan Moran and Keith Allen star.

Sat 21, Tues 24
Affairs of the heart take a turn for the wicked in Forties-set drama Married Life, with Pierce Brosnan and Chris Cooper (Syriana, Breach).

Wed 25, Fri 27
Amy Adams, the bewitching star of Enchanted, weaves another spell in Miss Pettigrew Lives for A Day.

Sat 21, Sun 22
The atrocities at Abu Ghraib are laid bare in Errol Morris’s documentary Standard Operating Procedure.

Fri 27, Sat 28
Woody Harrelson and Emily Mortimer rue the day they go trainspotting in the thriller Transsiberian.

Sat 28
One little robot, a whole lot of heartwarming fun in this year’s big family gala film WALL*E. Pixar, makers of Ratatouille, once again leave the animation competition weeping.

Sat, 28
Straight from Myspace to your screens, British comedy Faintheart.

For full listings, see the programme in print or online (www.edfilmfest.org.uk ). Bookings can be made online or by phone on 0131 623 8030.


Coming soon
Next week: Scotland’s Ewan McGregor and Ireland’s Colin Farrell play London brothers under pressure to raise money in Woody Allen’s Cassandra’s Dream. www.cassandrasdreammovie.com

May 28: You can run but you can’t hide from Sex and the City. www.sexandthecitymovie.com

June 6: Party animals come out to play in the horror Prom Night. www.anighttodiefor.com

June 13: Marianne Faithfull plays a not so glamorous granny taking up a new and, er, unusual career in Irina Palm. www.irinapalm-themovie.com

June 20: Keira Knightley, Sienna Miller and Cillian Murphy are the pretty young things living dangerously in The Edge of Love. Also premiering at the EIFF on June 18.


Pick of the week
Charlie Bartlett - if only for another star turn by Robert Downey Jr.