Brendan Fraser, who stars in the madcap Irish crime comedy, attended the screening at the Waterfront Hall on Sunday evening, alongside George and other leading cast members.

It marked the end of this year's Belfast Film Festival.

Whole Lotta Sole tells the story of hapless young father Jimbo, played by Martin McCann, who is trying to protect his family from the gangster he is in debt to.

He robs the local fish market, which turns out to be a front for the same gangster, and goes on the run by holing up in a local antique shop - where things go from bad to worse.

It's a laugh, lots of laughs and a bit of nostalgia about Belfast and feeling good - it's a Belfast fairytale!

Terry George

George, who picked up an Oscar earlier this year with his live action short The Shore, described his latest movie as a "Belfast fairytale".

"We have a very vibrant film industry here and I think we are going to see a lot more movie starts coming over. It's great to have Brendan's support."

Brendan Fraser, who plays the role of antique store manager Joe Maguire, paid tribute to Belfast-born director George.

"He's one of the kindest, most accomplished, finest directors I have ever had the pleasure of working with," Fraser said.

"I'm humbled to have the stripe of executive producer alongside him because I secretly took it so I could work with him, to learn from someone who truly is a maestro.

"The story itself is eclectic fun, a bit unusual, but it frames Belfast in a way that's new and lets us see the city itself as a character and depicts all the diversity of the place that has been moving forward in spite of all the challenges."