Red-carpet kick off at Edinburgh Film Festival

Ugly Betty star America Ferrera and husband Ryan Piers Williams at the Edinburgh International Film Festival which opened last night and saw stars of both movies and TV turning out for the red-carpet treatment.

America Ferrera and Ryan Piers Williams arrive for the world premiere of Hyena at the Festival Theatre. Picture: Ian Georgeson

Ferrera shone as she attended the world premiere of Hyena, a gritty British gangster film.

The actress stars in the film X/Y, which is part of the festival programme and directed by her husband.

Other actors and celebrities attending the opening of the 68th festival included Line of Duty star Martin Compston, Filth’s Gary Lewis, comedian Greg Hemphill, Dr Who star Noel Clarke and Local Hero and Gregory’s Girl director Bill Forsyth.

Gerard Johnson, director of Hyena, which opened this year’s prestigious event, praised organisers for choosing a “risky” curtain-raiser.

Johnson said: “It’s quite a controversial film to open the festival with. But you have to take risks as a film festival, that’s clearly what they’re doing.

“They want to be recognised and keep up with the best festivals in the world. It’s a bold move, but hopefully a distinctive choice.”

Chris Fujiwara, the festival’s director, insisted the film – which tackles issued of police corruption, international gang warfare and sex-trafficking in modern-day London – is an “exceptional example” of the kind of work the event has championed over the years.

In the festival programme, Fujiwara described it as “a film of raw and unrestrained emotion” and said it was “lacerated by the violence that its plot necessitates”.