Braveheart sequel tops Edinburgh film festival

Scottish actor Angus Macfadyen plays Robert the Bruce in the headline film at Edinburgh International Film Festival

A sequel to Braveheart will take top billing at next month's Edinburgh International Film Festival.

Scottish actor Angus Macfadyen reprises his role from the Oscar winning film to play Robert the Bruce being pursued by his enemies through the Highlands.

The film festival will open with the European premiere of Ninian Doff's Boyz in the Wood.

Elsewhere, rock band Biffy Clyro contributed to Balance, Not Symmetry, a tribute to art, music and Scotland.

Another highlight is Scheme Birds, set in Motherwell and described as a compassionate and engrossing documentary that tells the gritty and amusing real-life story of teenage "scheme bird" Gemma.

Set in in the Highlands, Boyz in the Wood is about four city teenagers who try to escape a mysterious huntsman

Festival artistic director Mark Adams said: "Edinburgh International Film Festival has a long history of supporting and showcasing the very best Scotland has to offer and 2019 will be no exception.

"I am thrilled to be able to give this year's audiences the chance to enjoy a huge range of films, talks, events and talent that highlight the very best of Scottish craftsmanship and skill."

'Brimming with talent'

The Robert the Bruce film - which will be released on 28 June in the UK - starts where Braveheart ended and follows the former King of Scotland over a long winter in the Highlands where he eventually takes shelter with a woman and her children.

In addition, Scottish actor Brian Cox will star alongside Blythe Danner in the thriller Strange But True and Scottish-born producer Sophia Shek brings comedy drama Go Back to China to this year's festival.

Directors Ellen Fiske and Ellinor Hallin at the screening of their film Scheme Birds at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival in New York

Scottish actor and activist Tam Dean Burn will join other guests in a special event before the screening of Best Before Death in which Irish filmmaker Paul Duane follows artist and musician Bill Drummond over a two-year period during his 12-year world tour.

Meanwhile, actor Peter Mullan will join Scottish composer Craig Armstrong in a conversation entitled The Magic of Collaborations.

Isabel Davis, executive director at Screen Scotland said: "This year's festival shows that Scotland is brimming with talent, from the high octane cast in Ninian Doff's Boyz in the Wood, to the phenomenal feature documentary Scheme Birds, bringing this TriBeCa [film festival] award winner home to Scotland."