The last time the Penistone Paramount made the headlines, the story was whether it should be allowed to stop films halfway through to serve patrons a pint. But last night a splash of Hollywood glamour was added to the cinema when it screened the world premiere of Heartlands.

The red carpet was rolled out in the town, in the heart of what used to be the South Yorkshire coalfield, thrusting the provincial cinema from relative obscurity into, well, slightly less obscurity.

But for the 350-seat picture house it was somewhat of a coup. Heartlands, described as a British road movie, is the latest film from East is East director Damien O'Donnell. He said he had chosen the cinema because the film is low key and he wanted the premiere to reflect that - and also be in an area where they completed much of the filming.

Joining the director and the mayor of Penistone were the cast of the film, including Michael Sheen, who plays nerdy darts fan Colin, and Jane Robbins, who plays his wife Sandra.

O'Donnell made the film for £2.5m and calls it his B-road movie.

The idea for the premiere venue came from Kate Rusby, 29, a Yorkshire-born singer and musician who cowrote the soundtrack with her husband, John McCusker.

She said she remembered growing up in Penistone and seeing such films as Star Wars and Superman at the cinema, and had thought it would be a good idea to have a showing of Heartlands there as well as in the West End - but was delighted when the film-makers decided to hold premiere there.

Last night there was no word from the cinema on whether it had stopped the film halfway through to open the bar, or whether the premiere was offering traditional refreshments.