A Scottish movie, David Mackenzie's Hallam Foe, is to open this year's Edinburgh International Film Festival, it was announced last night.

In the first festival under new artistic director Hannah McGill, former film critic of The Herald, there will also be a core "theme" for the first time since the event's inception in the 1940s - "the written word" - and more talks, discussions and question-and-answer sessions with prominent stars and filmmakers.

Although the showing of Hallam Foe, set in Edinburgh and starring Jamie Bell, Ciaran Hinds, Sophia Myles and Claire Forlani, will be the UK premiere, it had its world premiere at Berlin Film Festival in February.

Based on the novel of the same name by Peter Jinks, the film is about a boy - played by Bell, who rose to prominence as the title character in Billy Elliot - who is a voyeur of other people's lives.

Ms McGill said the movie is a "stunning achievement" and "a film with an unforgettable atmosphere and some of the finest performances of the year. We're enormously proud to have the film open what we anticipate to be a landmark film festival."

The director admitted the film had a dark undercurrent but said it was essentially a "romantic film, upbeat, with light and shade" that would have a broad appeal.

David Mackenzie is one of Scotland's most acclaimed young directors, having made the multi-award-winning Young Adam, which starred Ewan McGregor and Tilda Swinton.

Ms McGill added: "I am delighted to be opening the festival with a Scottish film. It is very much an Edinburgh film. It is delightful and very upbeat but has the right degree of darkness to it.

"I was not specifically looking for a Scottish film but having Hallam Foe available was a great coincidence.

"Opening films are not the be-all and end-all for a festival but I do think they really set the tone, and I think it is important it is a British film because part of our remit is the promotion of British talent.

"I cannot say whether Hallam Foe will be a hit or not but it has a major distributor behind it (Buena Vista International) and I think it will be a major event in British cinema, and it includes a definitive performance by Jamie Bell."

Hallam Foe was filmed on location in Edinburgh and in the Borders and is due in cinemas on August 31.

It is hoped the cast will attend the opening night of the film festival on August 15.

"We are going to support more and more emerging talent; I don't think our audiences are interested in seeing stars who say the same thing in interview after interview when they are promoting a film," Ms McGill added.

"We will still have the big names but we will hopefully get them in new and interesting ways."

Ms McGill said this year's programme would include a greater number of smaller debates and question-and-answer sessions than previous years, as the audiences wanted something more than "red carpets".

"I think this is the first themed event since the 1940s. We are doing it because I think discussion and debate are key to the festival, but it is an experiment and I hope it pays dividends,"

she said.

Robert Mitchell, managing director of Buena Vista International, said: "Hallam Foe is a hugely accomplished piece of film-making it presents a beautiful vision of Edinburgh and is crafted by one of Scotland's most respected filmmakers."

The full programme of the Edinburgh International Film Festival is due to be revealed on July 11.