Ryan film opens London festival

Ryan plays an academic involved with a detective

Actress Meg Ryan's raunchy thriller In The Cut had its UK première on Wednesday night at the launch of the London Film Festival.

Ryan and her co-star Mark Ruffalo attended the screening to mark the start of a fortnight of more than 30 first nights and gala showings.

Among visitors to the 47th festival were Sir Anthony Hopkins, Gwyneth Paltrow and Nicole Kidman.

Ryan's film has caused some controversy in the US for its strong sex scenes.

Directed by Jane Campion, who directed The Piano, it stars her as a lonely New York academic who becomes involved with a detective investigating a murder in her neighbourhood.

Gwyneth Paltrow plays poet Sylvia Plath in Sylvia

Ryan, 41, appears naked in a role that is a world away from her traditional romantic comedies.

The London festival, which attracts major stars and directors from around the world, is expected to draw about 100,000 visitors.

It is showing films from 45 countries, ranging from three-minute long shorts to an experimental Chinese epic lasting more than nine hours.

In a strong year for women, alongside Ryan, Kidman and Paltrow it also features films directed by Sofia Coppola, Emily Young and Iranian sisters Samira and Hana Makhmalbaf.

The festival also marks Sandra Hebron's first as its sole artistic director.

It will close with Sylvia, starring Paltrow as American poet Sylvia Plath and Road To Perdition star Daniel Craig as her husband Ted Hughes.

Kidman has two titles in the festival, Dogville, directed by Lars von Trier, and The Human Stain, in which she stars alongside Sir Anthony Hopkins.