THE country’s only festival dedicated to the adaptation of books into films is giving audiences the chance to see hotly-tipped films before their release date.

The latest coup for the West Dorset-based Page to Screen festival is the chance to preview the Richard Ayoade film The Double on April 3, followed by a post-film question and answer session with producer Andy Stebbing, whose films include The Harry Hill Movie, 360, and Submarine.

The Double will not be released across the UK until April and stars Jesse Eisenberg and Mia Wasikowska.

The film is based on the novel The Double by Fyodor Dostoyevsky and is about the trauma of a man usurped by a doppelganger.

Bridport Arts Centre director Polly Gifford said: “We are delighted to be hosting the preview screening of The Double and it just adds to the amazing line up at From Page to Screen this year.”

At the festival launch masks were donned in homage to Frank Sidebottom, the eponymous hero of curator Jon Ronson’s movie about the comedy character, which will be the opening night film and is being shown in advance of its May release.

This year the festival, running from April 2 to 6, features some of the most talked about adaptations ever made, including Oscar winner 12 Years A Slave, The Railway Man, Nick Hornby’s A Long Way Down and Stanley Kubrick’s Lolita.

Mr Ronson is a journalist, documentary filmmaker and author of non-fiction books including The Men Who Stare at Goats, the film version of which stars George Clooney and also features in the festival.

Ronson has also chosen the film Badlands – to reflect his fascination with psychopaths.

He will be introducing this movie with a talk on psychopaths.

Showing more than 20 films over five days at Bridport Arts Centre and The Electric Palace, most films will be accompanied by a guest speaker involved in the writing or film-making process.

Highlights include A Long Way Down, with guest speaker author Nick Hornby, and The Railway Man with guest speaker Andy Paterson, who co-wrote the screenplay for the rarely screened Picnic at Hanging Rock.