The Edinburgh International Film Festival programme began on Monday with the world premier of The Flying Scotsman, a suitably Scottish production chronicling the life of cycling legend Graeme Obree.

Speaking at the screening, Shane Danielsen, the EIFF's outgoing artistic director, described the festival as "a young sixty�as dedicated today as much as it ever was to the notion of discovery and the fostering of new talent."

Also attending were cast members Brian Cox (25th Hour, The Bourne Identity), Billy Boyd (Lord of the Rings) and Laura Fraser (A Knight's Tale).  The only marked absence being that of lead Johnny Lee Miller � apparently busy fist-fighting with Ray Liotta in LA. 

Director Douglas Mackinnon expressed his relief at finally getting the film onto the screen, hinting at the financial controversy which had led yet-to-be-paid actors and crew to threaten protests at the event.  Obree himself also appeared, receiving the loudest applause of all.

On Tuesday, the festival gathered momentum with Sigourney Weaver's Reel Life interview.  The star took questions on her portrayal of an autistic woman in Marc Evans' Snowcake, which premiered later that day.

The Flying Scotsman and Snowcake were then joined by the next of the competitors for the Michael Powell Award for best new British feature by The Killing of John Lennon:  Andrew Piddington's telling of the life and times of assassin Mark David Chapman.

Meanwhile, Mitchell Leisen's 1934 film Death Takes a Holiday began the festival's retrospective on the director, who EIFF bosses claim has been inexplicably overlooked as one of the auteurs of Hollywood's golden age.
 
The festival's documentary selection started with an obvious focus on the Middle East. 5 days about the forced removal of Jewish settlers from Gaza in 2004; My Country, My Country, an independent account of post-invasion Iraq hailed as the most valuable piece of filmmaking about the conflict so far; and Voices of Bam, documenting the slow recovery of the Iranian town levelled by an earthquake three years ago.

On Wednesday, German documentary Mr Pilipenko and his Submarine, following one Ukrainian farmer's dream to sail his homemade a submarine in the Black sea, proved an unexpected favourite.

Following Sigourney Weaver, Charlize Theron appeared on the Reel Life stage where she was interviewed about her career to date, as well as East of Havana: a documentary about Cuban hip hop produced by the Oscar-winning actress, appearing in the festival's Mirrorball section this year.

New talent was showcased with Laurie Collyer's direction of Maggie Gyllenhaal as a struggling ex-con in Sherrybaby; Diaspora drama Birds of Heaven; and Neo Ned, following the unlikely romance between a white supremacist and a black single mother, who believes she is the reincarnated soul of Adolf Hitler.

Directors who have already made their mark in their native countries were also given UK exposure in the Directors' Showcase.  South Korea's Bong Joon-ho wowed audiences with his take on the rampaging monster movie in The Host.  Ray Lawrence's Jindabyne adapted Raymond Carver's So Much Water, So Close to Home to the director's native Australia.  And Belgian director Lucas Belvaux followed 2002's Cavale with the fiercely political The Right of the Weakest.

Friday saw screenings of two more competitors for the Michael Powell Award.  The world premier of London to Brighton absorbed audiences with its heartfelt but shockingly realistic story of a prostitute and a child runaway attempting to escape the London underworld.  While a screening of Brothers of the Head from Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe (Lost in La Mancha) signalled a shift from documentary to mockumentary for the co-directors: with a fictional history of the tragic rise and fall of conjoined twin rock stars the Howe brothers.

On the same day, the film's writer Tony Grisoni held a scriptwriting masterclass, drawing on his experience of projects including Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Lives of the Saints, also appearing at this year's EIFF.

The Gala premier of Art School Confidential showed Ghostworld collaborators Terry Zwigoff and Daniel Clowes level their acerbic wit at art, artists, art colleges and � as one critic argued � film festivals.  Indeed, the festival's more esoteric fare found its counter point with the first UK screening of Clerks II.  Kevin Smith's sequel to his 1994 micro-budget hit providing light relief by pushing taste boundaries with bestiality, racial epithets and the ubiquitous Jay and Silent Bob.

EIFF 2006 ends this bank holiday weekend on Sunday 27th August.