Bradford's 11th Film Festival finished on a high note at the weekend with the premier of a British film starring a Bradford actress.

Dina Mousawi, from Shipley, joined fellow cast members including Kes star Dai Bradley and Fuman Dar, director Nigel Roffe-Barker and co-producer Melloney Roffe at the festival's closing gala on Saturday for the premier of Asylum.

The film follows the plight of three young Kurds who flee persecution and torture in Northern Iraq and smuggle themselves into Britain only to end up hiding in a church where they are offered help from a Catholic priest played by Dai Bradley.

Dina, who plays an asylum seeker who has been granted asylum and has been living in England for several years, said she was delighted the film was premiered in her home town.

The 26-year-old former Salts Grammar School pupil cut her teeth in the performing arts at the Stage 84 stage school in Idle before moving to London.

"I couldn't believe it when I heard the film was being premiered in Bradford," said Dina. "And being shown on closing gala night made it even more special. One of the best things about living in Bradford was coming to the Pictureville. I love the film culture in Bradford."

Dina was born in Bradford Royal Infirmary but went back to Baghdad, Iraq, where her parents are from, when she was six weeks old before returning to the UK when she was eight.

She said that relating to her character had not been difficult.

"It was easier for me in away because I knew the full story of what Saddam Hussein did to the Kurds," she said.

Producer and director Nigel Roffe-Barker said Yorkshire was the natural place to premier Asylum.

"It seemed the Bradford Film Festival would be one of the right places to send the film to because two of the cast members, Dina and Dai, are from Yorkshire," he said. "Bradford is a wonderful opportunity for us to get exposure."

The 11th Bradford Film festival has been one of the most successful in recent years after organisers spent the summer pondering how to top last year's tenth anniversary milestone.

Festival director Tony Earnshaw said: "We embraced independent film-making in a big way rather than going for big studio productions and it's worked for us. It's meant more young film makers have had their films screened and that's really important to them.

"Visitor numbers and revenue numbers have been up and have been the biggest for about four or five years.