Kenneth Branagh and Ewan McGregor to headline Edinburgh Film Festival

Kenneth Branagh and Ewan McGregor will be 'in conversation' at the 79th edition of the Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF).

Branagh will also be awarded the inaugural EIFF Outstanding Contribution to Cinema Award while his 1996 classic Hamlet, which features the star as actor, writer and director, will shown in the morning on the day of his appearance at the festival.

A 30th anniversary screening of Trainspotting starring McGregor with live commentary from cast members will also be held, with author Irvine Welsh to play a DJ set after the event.

This year's festival will debut 21 feature films, Deadline reports, 10 of which will screen in competition for the Sean Connery Prize. These include Mission, starring George MacKay, and The Mad World of Harvey Kurtzman, a documentary feature about the American cartoonist.

The Incomer, a film about two siblings living on an isolated Scottish island starring Gayle Rankin and Harry Potter actor Domhnall Gleeson, will open the festival, following its screening at Sundance in January.

The annual festival, which takes place in August, is now in its third year of the new format, following the collapse of the arts charity behind it in 2022.

"Heading into the third edition of our revamped, reimagined and reinvigorated Edinburgh International Film Festival feels like hitting a stride we have been working towards since the start of 2024," Paul Ridd, CEO and Festival Director of the EIFF, shared in a statement.