THE Pontio Arts Centre in Bangor will be welcoming famed actor and screenwriter Joanna Scanlan from 8.125pm tonight as they show her latest film.

Known for her roles in the likes of 'The Thick of It', 'Getting On' and 'No Offence', Scanlan will be holding a Q&A session after Pontio have screened 'Pin Cushion' - a film by first time director Deborah Haywood.

By now, Scanlan is a very well known BAFTA nominated actress on the small screen and is also a familiar face on the big screen with dramatic appearances in films such as ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ ‘Bridget Jones’s Baby’ and with Ralph Fiennes in the Charles Dickens biopic ‘The Invisible Woman’.

Her roots are very much with North Wales though.

She was brought up in the Vale of Clwyd before moving to Bangor thirty years ago when her parents both enrolled as mature students at Bangor University.

She has lived in Bangor on and off over the intervening years and most of her family are now Anglesey based.

Scanlan called working on Pin Cushion with Deborah Haywood "the most rewarding experience" of her career so far.

The film is a dark fairy tale set in Derbyshire, which tells the story of Lyn (played by Scanlan) and Iona (newcomer Lily Newmark), an equally oddball mother and daughter duo who arrive in a small town to start their lives afresh.

The pair have an extraordinarily close relationship and are excited to be in a new place, and determined to make the best of it, but the harsh realities of high school and adolescent bullying soon start tearing them apart.

Looking forward to Scanlan's appearance at Pontio, cinema co-ordinator Emyr Glyn Williams said:

"It is really wonderful for us to be able to have Joanna present ‘in her home town’ to enjoy a special screening of her brand new film."

Following the screening, Joanna will be present for a question and answer session, which is guaranteed to be one not to be missed.