Connery honored at Edinburgh festival

EDINBURGH, Scotland, Aug. 20 (UPI) -- Sean Connery was both host and guest of honor at a party Saturday marking the 60th anniversary of the Edinburgh International Film Festival.

The party at the National Gallery included a special showing of "The Bowler and the Bonnet," a black-and-white documentary Connery made in 1969.

Other guests included film director Kevin Smith and actors Charlize Theron, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tilda Swinton, Gabriel Byrne and Scotland's own Robbie Coltrane.

But Connery took center stage throughout the evening. He participated in a discussion on his film career and received a special award for outstanding achievement.

"Anybody in the film world, or who knows anything about movies, is a supporter because it has produced lots and lots of successes, and it will produce even more because we have a plan to develop it even further," Connery said of the festival.

The festival began specifically to showcase documentaries.