Scottish Hollywood actor Alan Cumming said a typically quirky thank-you to �Queenie� last night for his OBE at the Edinburgh International Film Festival premiere of the new Sam Mendes film Away We Go.

Scottish Hollywood actor Alan Cumming said a typically quirky thank-you to "Queenie" last night for his OBE at the Edinburgh International Film Festival premiere of the new Sam Mendes film Away We Go.

The star, who was last week honoured in The Queen's Birthday Honours for his film, stage work and campaigning on behalf of the gay and lesbian community, said on the red carpet: "It was not just for my work as an actor but as my work as an activist too, in America, and to that I say Good for you Queenie', for recognising the work in the US.

"I have a dual nationality now, both US and Scottish, and someone even called me a Scottish-American. But I will always see myself as a Scottish person first."

Cumming, 44, who was born in Aberfeldy, Perthshire, but is now based in New York, was among several A-listers at the premiere, which kicked off the festival at the city's Cineworld.

He is also on the jury of the EIFF.

He confided that he had been talking to the National Theatre of Scotland about future projects following his starring role in its production of The Bacchae in 2007, and was shortly to visit Thurso to see one of their community plays.

Sir Sean Connery, a patron of the festival, and a glamorous Kerry Fox, whose early film Shallow Grave is being celebrated at this year's festival, were in attendance, as was Mendes.

The Oscar-winning British director said Edinburgh was the "best place" to debut his feature, a comic and romantic road trip across the US, rather than bigger international festivals such as Cannes.

Mendes, whose actress wife Kate Winslet did not join him on the red carpet last night, said he had loved the city since visiting as a student, and added: "I am very proud it is showing in Edinburgh. I did not want to it be at Cannes - I find the scale of those festivals overpowering, there are so very many films showing and it swamps the smaller films.

"When Edinburgh was suggested I thought, that is the best place to be. I love Edinburgh and have come here many times as a student and at the Fringe: I am very happy it is here and won't be on some gigantic red carpet where smaller films are dominated."

The director, who won an Academy Award for American Beauty and whose screen credits include Revolutionary Road and Road to Perdition, said the new film, which he described as a "picaresque, a road movie", could not have happened without Winslet agreeing to look after their young family while it was being made.

"She is busy looking after the kids, she supports me in everything I do and in fact this film could not have been made without her," he said.

"One of us has to look after the children while the other goes out to work. We only managed to make Revolutionary Road together because we made it in the school holidays."

Away We Go stars John Krasinksi, who has become a star in the US for his role in the American version of The Office, in which he plays Jim, a version of the character Tim who was played by Martin Freeman in the UK version.

Mendes said: "When he told me he was going to do The Office in the States I said don't, it will be a disaster, it will be travesty, because I am such a big fan of the original version of The Office, but instead it has found its own voice."

Krasinski said he did not believe he had got the part in the movie when he was told by Mendes. He said: "I really thought it was George Clooney fooling me with a really terrible British accent, but it wasn't, it was real."

One actress from the film has a slightly closer connection to the festival: Carmen Ejogo's mother Elizabeth comes from Cumnock in Ayrshire, and she said she was expecting the Ayrshire side of her family to be in the capital last night.

"I'm a Scots girl," she said, "I am not going to Ayrshire but they are coming to me, the whole family is coming to see me in this movie. My mother was 16 when she left, she headed down to London and decided London was for her, but the rest of the family are still there."

Kerry Fox said she was looking forward to seeing Shallow Grave, the first film by Oscar-winner Danny Boyle, on the big screen again in its 15th birthday celebration.

"I watched it recently and thought it might have dated but it hasn't - and it will be nice to see it in a restored version, looking all crisp," she said.

In all, the festival will showcase 155 features from 33 countries, including seven European premieres and 60 UK premieres.

Other screenings include Steven Soderbergh's drama The Girlfriend Experience, which features a pornographic star, Sasha Grey, in the lead role.

One of the year's most controversial films, Lars Von Trier's Antichrist, was a last-minute addition to the programme. The psychological horror was condemned as misogynist' by an independent jury at Cannes.

The closing film, Adam, starring Hugh Dancy and Rose Byrne, tackles the issue of autism and Asperger's syndrome.

Actresses Tilda Swinton, Emily Blunt and Clare Danes are expected to grace the red carpet at the festival and other guests are said to include Mexican Harry Potter director Alfonso Cuaron, Local Hero director Bill Forsyth, Golden Globe-winning English actress Brenda Blethyn and Hollywood star Robin Wright-Penn.

Cinematographer Seamus McGarvey, who along with Sir Sean is a patron of the festival, is also expected to attend.

The event is being held in June for the second year, rather than the traditional festival month of August.