KESWICK Film Festival's gala screening on Saturday will be even more of a special occasion as one of the film's stars will be turning up.

Sometimes Always Never is the centrepiece and actor Alice Lowe will be pop into Theatre by the Lake to take part in a question and answer session after the screening, with director Carl Hunter.

Alice is no stranger to Keswick. She starred in and co-wrote the wonderful black comedy Sightseers, released back in 2012, which featured the town's Pencil Museum as a key location in her character’s bizarre and murderous adventures.

Since, she's been a regular face on both the small screen (Inside Number 9, Hang-ups) and the bigger version, notably as writer, director and star of Prevenge.

The festival team has taken the opportunity to screen Prevenge, described as ‘a pitch black, wryly British comedy,’ on Saturday afternoon and joint tickets to see both Prevenge and Sometimes Always Never are available from Theatre by the Lake.

Written by one of the UK’s finest scriptwriters, Frank Cottrell Boyce, Sometimes Always Never, also stars Bill Nighy alongside Jenny Agutter, Sam Riley and Alexei Sayle.

Festival director Ian Payne said that having Alice at the 20th film festival will be the icing on the cake. "She is hugely talented both in front of and behind the camera and her Q&A will be fascinating. I think Keswick has a special place in her heart after Sightseers; when she tweeted that she was coming to KFF she also said @pencilmuseum here we come!'"

Keswick Film Festival runs from today (Thursday) until March 3.

Another British movie kicks off Saturday’s entertainment - Fighting with My Family, a comedy written and directed by Stephen Merchant, the long-time collaborator of Ricky Gervais. It stars Florence Pugh as a would-be wrestler in a role a million miles away from The Little Drummer Girl.

The opening and closing films couldn’t be more different: on Friday, February 28, proceedings open with Jellyfish, an award-winning British film about 15 year-old Sarah who must balance school, caring for her invalid mother as well as a part-time job. She also has a talent for stand-up comedy.

Concluding the festival will be Green Book, a powerful film set in the southern states of the US in the 1960s with Viggo Mortensen who plays an Italian-American bouncer hired to drive a renowned African-American pianist across the country for a series of concerts.

Also in the KFF programme is an intriguing strand of documentaries. Keswick Peace and Human Rights Group has chosen a remarkable pair of films: Citizenfour is the story of the journalists working with Edward Snowden to publish his revelations about NSA surveillance. And A Long Hot Summer in Palestine is Norma Marcos' fascinating account of the impact of conflict on ordinary citizens; Norma will be flying in from Paris to talk about the film and her experiences.

Ian added that they had put together a fantastic weekend of film that will appeal to a broad audience and films from Kenya, Chile, Spain, Italy and China add spice to the festival. He added: “It is a fitting way to celebrate 20 years of the Keswick Film Festival.”

For full details go online at www.keswickfilmfestival.org.