"I didn't think anyone outside of Ireland would buy Kissesbecause it's a small film," says Lance Daly. "That's why I never made an effort to make it accessible in terms of the accents. I just told the cast to say things as they would normally."

Then the invitations came pouring in from high-profile international film festivals. The first stop after the movie's Galway premiere was the Locarno festival in Switzerland, where the accents would not be a problem because the movie was sub-titled in French.

"The Locarno screenings were in a 3,000-seat theatre, and it got this huge standing ovation," Daly recalls. "As soon as the credits ended, I heard this big roar and I thought some movie star had come out for the next film. I was told to go back in and the audience was still there, standing and cheering our film."

In September, Kissesmade its US debut at Telluride in Colorado, which attracts the key wheelers and dealers of the industry, and is one of the most exclusive and prestigious festivals on the international calendar.

"I didn't realise that until we were there," says Daly. "It's a great festival, very cool. We were getting all the talk until Danny Boyle showed up with Slumdog Millionaire, and then it was all about his film.

"The audience didn't understand some of the dialogue at Telluride, so when we went to Toronto, I put in an English-subtitled first reel to help them tune into the accents. That worked very well. The Toronto audience reaction was brilliant. They were mad for it. The two kids came to Toronto and they got into a fight during the QA after a screening. They were both screaming at each other. The audience loved it."

Last month, when Kisseswas shown at the London Film Festival, Daly included the English-subtitled first reel.

"I think the London audience were a bit offended by that. But we brought Shane and he really came out of his shell. He was very funny during the QA. It was great to see him finding his confidence."

Daly continued on his travels this week, to Los Angeles where Kissesis screening during the American Film Institute festival in Hollywood tomorrow night.