The curtain went up and the red carpet was rolled out for the opening gala film of Glasgow Film Festival last night.

A star-studded guest list arrived at Glasgow Film Theatre to watch Noah Baumbach directed While We're Young, starring Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts.

Until March 1 there is a whole host of premieres, screenings of cinema classics and emerging talent for film buffs to indulge in.

Tonight sees the Scottish premiere of Catch Me Daddy, starring Outlanders actor Gary Lewis and Conor McCarron, who was in the Bafta-winning film Neds.

While Die Hard and Harry Potter star Alan Rickman will be making an appearance in Glasgow on Saturday for the Scottish premiere of A Little Chaos, directed by him and featuring Kate Winslet.

Legendary Scottish writer William McIllvanney, better known as the Godfather of Tartan Noir, will be guest of honour at the screening of the world premiere of William McIllvanney: Living With Words.

And veteran British actor Richard Johnson, of Never So Few, The Haunting and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, is expected for the Scottish premiere of Radiator.

Among the world premieres at this year's festival are 88, directed by and starring April Mullen, the youngest and first female director to shoot a film in stereoscopic 3D with Dead Before Dawn.

And Wasted Time, a unique, wrenching drama about life in prison directed by David Hayman Jr and Moe Abutoq, with a cast featuring David's father.

Fans of Small Faces can see a special screening to mark the film's 20th anniversary.

The closing gala on March 1 is Force Majeure, writer and director Ruben Ostlund's exploration of the flaws and cracks in a marriage.

"As ever, we've tried first and foremost to create a programme that our audiences will enjoy, and our Special Events strand in particular should be great fun for all," said co-director Allison Gardner.

" There are certain happy accidents that you only notice once you've pulled the programme together - in particular, we have exceptionally strong ranges of East Asian cinema and documentary film making this year, with very exciting UK and European premieres from some of the world's most highly-regarded directors.

"Again accidentally, there's a strong feminist slant running through this year's selection, with some hugely talented female directors coming to the fore, a number of events addressing women in - and on - film, and a series of exceptionally strong lead roles for women in all areas of the programme.

"We didn't set out to create a 50/50 gender-balanced shortlist for our inaugural Audience Award - these are the programming team's ten top films across the programme by early-career directors - but the fact that it happened anyway speaks to the increasingly large number of female directors finding ways to make brilliant, innovative cinema, and is we hope a really positive sign that the historic imbalance in the industry is changing."