Edinburgh International Film Festival

28 May 2014, 12:10 | Updated: 28 May 2014, 12:13

This year's Edinburgh International Film Festival has expanded to show 156 movies, including 11 world premieres.

The line-up has been selected to appeal to all tastes, with a blend of big name stars and "provocative'' films, organisers said.

The late Philip Seymour Hoffman, James Franco, Elijah Wood and Tilda Swinton will all have major new films screened at the event, which runs across the Scottish capital from June 18 to 29.

Other big names involved include Nicolas Cage, Eddie Izzard, Kristen Wiig and Aaron Paul.

In the documentary section, Anthony Baxter's A Dangerous Game, the follow-up to the award-winning You've Been Trumped, will feature.

In total, 156 features from 47 countries will be shown, with 11 world premieres, seven European premieres and 95 UK premieres. Last year the festival screened 146 films.

Artistic director Chris Fujiwara said: "A film festival must keep trying to remain challenging, provocative and responsive, and I believe the programme we're unveiling today shows our success at doing that this year.

"It's a diverse and artistically strong programme that will delight and surprise our audiences, both old and new, and that will reward those who share our passion for exploring cinema in all its forms.''

High-profile films highlighted by organisers include Anton Corbijn's A Most Wanted Man, one of the final films starring Seymour Hoffman before he died, and Castles In The Sky, the story of Scottish engineer and radar creator Robert Watson-Watt, played by Izzard.

The best of Scottish and British film will compete for the Michael Powell Award, and tributes will also be paid to Scottish film-maker and animator Norman McLaren to mark the centenary of his birth.

The world premiere of Hyena, starring Peter Ferdinando and Stephen Graham, will open the festival, while the closing gala will feature We'll Never Have Paris, a film co-directed by Simon Helberg - one of the stars of The Big Bang Theory - and starring Zachary Quinto and Alfred Molina.