An Oscar-winning director, a Bollywood superstar and a host of well-known industry experts are set to descend on the Capital for the 63rd Edinburgh International Film Festival.
The illustrious event has previously seen the likes of Sir Sean Connery, Sigourney Weaver and Keira Knightley grace the red carpet, and this year's 12-day event is offering plenty for movie fans to get excited about.
The festival's opening night g
ala on Wednesday will be a screening of Away We Go at Cineworld.
Director Sam Mendes, who won an Academy Award for American Beauty in 1999, will attend the screening alongside stars John Krasinski, Maya Rudolph and Maggie Gyllenhaal.
Away We Go is an indie comedy that tells the story of a young couple travelling across the United States in search of the perfect place to raise their family.
At the same venue the following evening, fans will be able to listen to Mendes discuss his hugely successful career in detail.
Simon Mayo and Mark Kermode's movie reviews are essential listening for film fans, and the Five Live duo will be discussing all the latest releases in front of a live Edinburgh audience at Cineworld on Friday, 19 June at 1pm.
Later that evening, acclaimed Kiwi actress Kerry Fox will attend a 15th ann-iversary digital restoration screening of Shallow Grave, the Danny Boyle break-through movie in which Fox stars alongside Ewan McGregor and Christopher Eccleston.
Filmed in Glasgow, the thriller is the story of three flatmates whose lives and personalities are transformed when they discover a suitcase full of cash. The screening takes place at Cineworld at 6.45pm.
Film writer Mark Cousins describes Sharmila Tagore as "the Elizabeth Taylor of Indian cinema".
Festival-goers will have the chance to judge this for themselves when the Bollywood superstar and UN ambassador drops in at Cineworld for an exclusive interview on Saturday, 20 June.
"It's a total thrill that one of the great women in cinema is coming to the Festival this year," says Cousins.
After making her debut at 14 in legendary director Satyajit Ray's Apur Sansar, Tagore went on to star in other critically acclaimed works by Ray, including Devi and Days and Nights in the Forest (also screening at EIFF), and became a cultural icon during her career in Bollywood.
Tagore was one of the first women to daringly wear a bikini onscreen in the mid-60s.
So respected is she in world cinema, that she was invited to be a jury member at this year's Cannes film festival.
Although perhaps best known for her comedy characters on BBC sketch show Goodness Gracious Me, Meera Syal has also dabbled in the film industry, adapting her own autobiographical novel Anita and Me for the 2002 film directed by Metin Huseyin. The audience with Syal will take place in Filmhouse 1 on Monday, 22 June at 4.30pm.
The following day sees a rare appearance from one of Scotland's most celebrated directors at Cineworld. Bill Forsyth, the man behind classics such as Gregory's Girl and Local Hero, will talk to Dr Jonny Murray of Edinburgh College of Art about a film career of ups and downs. The event takes place at 7.30pm.
Another movie great, Roger Corman, who is credited with giving the likes of Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola their break in the business, will be answering questions at Cineworld on Wednesday, 24 June at 6pm.
Meanwhile, Joe Dante, the man responsible for unleashing the Gremlins in 1984, will be talking to fans at Cineworld on Thursday, 25 June at 6pm.
• For details of personal appearances, screenings and work-shops at this year's EIFF, visit
www.edfilmfest.org.uk