Chris Fujiwara, Artistic Director of the Edinburgh Film Festival, has unveiled the programme for the 66th edition of the event (June 20-30).

The programme includes 121 new films, 19 World Premieres, 13 International Premieres, 11 European Premieres & 76 UK Premieres.

These films come from 52 countries. There will also be another 29 including retrospectives on film-makers Gregory La Cava and Shinji Somai, special screenings and a late-night selection entitled night moves.

The Festival will open with Killer Joe, starring Matthew McConaughey and directed by William Friedkin, on 20 June. This year also sees the return of awards, with the Michael Powell Award Competition returning to crown the Best British Feature Film. There will also be an International Competition. 14 films, including 5 dox, will compete from countries as far off as Chile and Brazil.

New and up-and-coming directors will be highlighted in New Perspectives. More established directors are also foregrounded in the Directors” Showcase, a selection of 15 classics of the future from international auteurs. Everything wraps up on 30 June with Pixar’;s Brave.

In a separate announcement, Edinburgh Film Festival also outlined its core funding partners for the delivery of the 66th edition.

The BFI has awarded Edinburgh Film Festival £250,000 of Lottery funding which will contribute towards the Festival”s core programming and industry events, as well as supporting initiatives to develop new filmmaking talent. This accompanies ongoing financial support for the Edinburgh Film Festival from both Creative Scotland the City of Edinburgh Council.

The Festival has also received funding from the Scottish Government through the Edinburgh Festivals Expo Fund and Event Scotland, which supports a number of Edinburgh Film Festival elements including the Opening Night Gala.

New support for Edinburgh Film Festival 2012 comes from the British Council towards international filmmaker attendance and VisitScotland contributing towards Edinburgh Film Festival”s Closing Night Gala, the European premiere of Disney-Pixar”s BRAVE. New and returning sponsors include Innis & Gunn, easyJet, Cineworld, A F Noble Subaru and Mackie”s of Scotland.

Commenting, Ken Hay, CEO of Edinburgh Film Festival, said “We are grateful to all of our partners this year for their support of the Festival. Without the support of public funders and our corporate partners we simply could not undertake the wide range of programme and events that we do.”

Why not read more about the festival programme here?