Asked if it was true that he had once head-butated a critic at the Berlin Film Festival, he confessed that it was something of a "John Prescott moment" for him

"It was my Scottish heritage coming out. The guy was just being a bit of a fool. He behaved badly in the interview and then came up to me afterwards and picked a fight. It was nine days into the Berlin Film Festival and I had survived as I always do on about three hours of sleep a night. I was completely wired and my tolerance was not at a high point."

Danielsen has pledged himself to raise the Edinburgh Film Festival’s

profile, including trying to attract more stars to the festival than have been seen in Edinburgh in the recent past.

"It would be lovely to have big names come here but at the same time I realise that it is difficult to attract them here, because of timing and scheduling differences. It’s not that George Clooney does not want to come to Edinburgh - I know for a fact he could think of nothing nicer than coming to Edinburgh. Any star will be lionised and treated well. It is a glamorous experience, but it clashes with filming commitments and other publicity commitments."

The Danielsen wish-list includes Clooney, "a nice bloke - you go away wishing he was your mate", and Sharon Stone, who he insists exudes the kind of old-fashioned glamour missing from the current crop of starlets.

"I tend to like actresses," Danielsen says. "Glenn Close and Meryl Streep would be great."

Danielsen has already worked as artistic director of the 2001 French Film Festival in Sydney during March, which enjoyed the largest box office returns in its history, while last year he programmed the Edinburgh Film Festival’s retrospective on the films of Max Ophuls. Today he insists the festival is in the rudest of health, thanks to the endeavour of Lizzie Francke. "It now has a visibility that it never had in the past, so I come to it with that advantage."

What Danielsen would like to do is give the festival an identity stretching beyond the confines of August and even Edinburgh. The Australian would like to see exhibitions touring across Scotland as well as securing a bigger presence in London. He will be entering into talks with the National Film Theatre in the British capital to organise events and screenings bearing the EIFF stamp. "I want to make the public in London as aware of the festival’s prominence in promoting world cinema as the industry has become."

Edinburgh’s Previous Filmfest Directors

LIZZIE FRANCKE

THE festival’s previous director, Lizzie Francke, may have made her name hobnobbing with the stars - she was once spotted in Sean Connery’s limo on Lothian Road - and coming a respectable 37th in Scotland on Sunday’s 100 most eligible women last year, but it is no secret that she is happiest at home, cooking for her friends. A particular fan of risotto, Francke brought a risqué edge to the festival, screening X-rated movies such as Skin Flick - which featured male rape and Nazi sex fantasies - and the highly controversial Romance. But after five festivals in the driving seat, her highlight remains Lynne Ramsay’s Ratcatcher. She even cried at the premiere.

MARK COUSINS

Mark Cousins grew up in Northern Ireland, wanting to be Alfred Hitchcock. So after his family were forced out of Belfast by paramilitaries, Cousins left Ireland to study film and media at Stirling University. Yet to hit the big-time as a feature director, Cousins spent his early twenties writing and directing documentaries before being offered the Edinburgh Film Festival directorship in 1995. Leaving two years later, Cousins has since carved a name for himself as a successful critic, going on to present BBC2’s Scene by Scene and interviewing some of Hollywood’s biggest names.

LYNDA MYLES

Director from 1973-1980, Myles boosted the festival’s international image, selling the event to a wider audience and pulling in stars from across the Pond. Since leaving, Myles has become a successful producer, earning early credibility with hit film The Commitments. While her most recent project, Roddy Doyle’s When Brendan Met Trudy, has been well received, life after the festival hasn’t all been plain sailing. After receiving a million-pound grant from Scottish Screen to make Life of Stuff, chins started wagging when box-office figures showed that only 304 people had gone to see it.