For a couple of weeks in August, John Hurt won’t be appearing in movies – he’ll be watching them instead. For his latest role, the veteran actor takes on the duties of chairman of the Michael Powell Award jury at this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival. Hurt is joined in Scotland by an eclectic bunch – local boy in Hollywood Michael Caton-Jones, Booker Prize-winning novelist John Banville, Danish director Lone Sherfig (Italian For Beginners and Wilbur Wants To Kill Himself) and rock star Chrissie Hynde from The Pretenders.
Together they’ll sort out the cinematic wheat from the chaff, ultimately giving the annual award – named after the legendary director of The Red Shoes and Black Narcissus – to the best British film screening at the festival. Previous winners include Derek Jarman’s Blue (1993), Michael Winterbottom’s Jude (1996) and David Mackenzie’s Young Adam (2003). Last year, the award went to Tsotsi, which then went on to win the Oscar for Best Foreign Film. This year, competitors include British photographer Rankin’s feature film debut Lives Of The Saints, Marc Evans’ Snow Cake (starring Sigourney Weaver, who’ll be in town for the premiere) and Brothers Of The Head, the latest from Lost In La Mancha directors Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe.
The 60th Edinburgh International Film Festival kicks off on Monday 14 August with the world premiere of The Flying Scotsman - a biopic of Scottish cyclist Graham Obree which will also be in the running for the Powell Award.
Alan Morrison