Three female directors, including two associated with Scotland, have received significant new funds from the UK Film Council to help make their new films.

Andrea Arnold, whose debut movie Red Road was set and filmed in Glasgow, won a prize at the Cannes film festival in 2006, has received just over £560,000 towards the cost of her second full-length film, Fish Tank, which is currently in its pre-production phase in England.

Morag McKinnon, based in Glasgow, received £350,000 for her first film, Rounding Up Donkeys, which is the official follow up to Arnold's Red Road.

The film is the second collaboration between Scottish-based Sigma Films and Zentropa.

It stars Scottish actors Kate Dickie and Martin Compston, who both starred in Red Road, who are reprising their roles for Rounding Up Donkeys which focuses on a man faced with a life-threatening illness who attempts to make up for his past mistakes.

The film, which has also received aid from the Glasgow Film Office, has been described as "a bitter-sweet, tragi-comic tale of making amends, as well as a mess of things."

James Cosmo plays the role of Alfred Patterson, who learns of his impending death and decides to rebuild his relationship with his estranged daughter and her precocious 12-year-old.

The film council also gave just over £560,000 to Bright Star, the latest film from the Jane Campion, director of The Piano.

Bright Star concerns the ill-fated love affair between 19th century English poet John Keats and his 18-year-old muse Fanny Brawne.

Ben Whitshaw plays the role of Keats with Abbie Cornish taking on the role of Brawne in the movie which is also backed by BBC Films.

The Piano, released in 1993, won the Palme D'Or at Cannes, making her the first woman ever to win the prestigious award.

Lenny Crooks, head of the New Cinema Fund, said: "I am delighted that we are supporting exciting new films from three inspirational female filmmakers and I hope this encourages other women who want to progress their writing and directing careers.

"Andrea Arnold has proved herself to be one of the most exciting filmmakers to have come out of the UK for years.

"She received international acclaim for her first feature and her shorts work and we are delighted that we can help her to progress her career."