THE first of a run of film premieres in this country came on Wednesday night when Cavan write? Shane Connaughton's latest screenplay was shown at Dublin's Savoy cinema.
The Run of the Country is the second film to have been made in Mr Connaughton's hometown of Redhills, so of course everyone wanted, to know whether the place was going to turn into an Irish version of Hollywood.
"Well, I got a call from Mia Farrow saying she wanted to play the part of the mother in my novel A Border Station," said Mr Connaughton, "so it may happen yet."
In keeping with its low key character, The Run of the Country's first run was a relatively relaxed affair, even with a number of high profile Smurfits in the audience - they came along to give support to actress Victoria Smurfit.
However, the row of relatives included neither her father Dermot nor her uncle Michael, who earlier in the day had addressed an Oireachtas committee.
Not that these absentees did any thing to dent the good spirits of 21 year old Ms Smurfit, playing her first film role. She arrived for the premiere accompanied by her advertising executive boyfriend Peter Walsh, with whom she lives in Bristol, and her mother Caroline Smurfit.
Then there was "Auntie Norma" - otherwise known as Norma Smurfit - whose Irish Youth Foundation was a beneficiary from the night, along with the Variety Club of Ireland.
Obviously sharing responsibilities has its advantages, because both Ms Smurfit and the Variety Club's Joanne Byrne looked extremely relaxed throughout the night. Indeed, Ms Byrne was able to take time off from managing the event to greet such old friends as Harry Crosbie (refreshed after a recent skiing holiday in Switzerland), Virginia Fortune, Lainey Keogh and her sister Irene.
Just as full of bonhomie, actor Albert Finney said he was thrilled to be playing his third Irish role in as many years; all of them, curiously enough required him to dress in uniform. Mr Finney is yet one more overseas actor who has been spending increasing amounts of time this country of late.
In his case, the immediate attraction is racing; he has a number of horses with Stephanie Schilcher at her stud at Carrigbeg, outside Gorey, and he is also been working recently with trainer Michael Grassick at the Curragh.
So far, there, haven't been too many winners but as Mr Finney's career demonstrates, he has always been interested in taking a gamble.
Indeed, last week he was encouraging anyone involved in film to back another cast member from The Run of the Country, Dubliner Anthony Brophy. Not that Mr Brophy needs too much help at the moment; on Wednesday, he received confirmation that he has landed a leading role man adaptation of Gerald Seymour's novel Field of Blood.
Also starring former James Bond Timothy Dalton, work on this starts - in Dublin before the end of January.