Mr. Turner among first 12 films named in the RIFF line-up.

British filmmaker Mike Leigh has been named the guest of honour at the Reykjavík International Film Festival, ahead of its 11th edition (Sept 25 - Oct 5).

His latest film, Mr. Turner, which picked up a Best Actor prize for Timothy Spall at the Cannes Film Festival in May, will be screened at the festival.

Previous RIFF guests of honour include Milos Forman, Lukas Moodysson and Jim Jarmusch.

More than 80 features will be screened at the festival and 12 films by new directors will compete for the Golden Puffin in the New Visions category.

Other strands include Open Seas, featuring a variety of recent prize-winning films; green movies, comprising documentaries on environmental matters, in strand titled A Different Tomorrow; Icelandic short films; and a variety of docs.

Ahead of releasing the full line-up, an initial 12 titles have been teased out. As well as Mr. Turner, these include:

The War You Don’t See (UK)
dir. John Pilger

Difret (Ethiopia)
dir. Zersenay Mehari

Villa Touma
dir. Suha Araf

Before I Disappear (US)
dir. Shawn Christensen

Two Step (US)
dir. Alex R.Johnson

Bonobo (US)
dir. Matthew Hammet Knott

Penthouse North (Sweden)
dir. Johanna St.Michaels

Eina (Faroe Islands)
dir. Andrias Høgenni

Kismet (Cyprus)
dir. Nina-Maria Paschalidou

The Stone River (Italy)
dir. Giovanni Donfrancesco

Mystery of the Arctic Cairn - New Land (South Africa /Norway)
dir. Kyle O’ Donoghue

In addition, RIFF Industry Days will run from Oct 1-4, comprising a series of workshops and talks. The focus this year is emerging talent in Iceland.

This focus will include an introduction to screen composers such as BAFTA winner Olafur Arnalds; a visit to RVX-Reykjavík Visual Effects  whose owners include Baltasar Kormákur (Two Guns, Contraband) and Daði Einarsson, (Gravity, Boardwalk Empire); and an introduction to Icelandic film making.

There will also be a location scouting trip outside of Reykjavík to see some of the landmarks that have appeared in famous international projects.

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