Ben Affleck stood on the red carpet with a smile on his face spreading from ear to ear last night as his new film, Argo, was given it’s premiere in Los Angeles to a rapturous reception.

The film, for which Affleck stars and directs, follows a true story of how a CIA 'exfiltration' specialist comes up with a daring rescue mission to free six Americans who have found shelter at the home of the Canadian ambassador during the Iranian revolution in 1979. Affleck stars as CIA operate Tony Mendez (the real Mendez even attended the premiere), who comes up with the idea of posing as a Hollywood producer on a location scout in Iran in order to safely extract the hostages from the country. With a strong acting ensemble including Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin and John Goodman in tow, the film received a standing ovation after it aired at the Toronto Film Festival last month and is already being tipped for an Oscar nomination or two.

The film marks not only Affleck’s return behind the camera, but also Affleck leaving behind Boston to film in somewhere completely new. Speaking to reporters on the red carpet before the film, he said, “I was really worried if I did one more of those [Boston-set film], I'd kind of be stuck there. I have other stories I want to tell. I went from Boston to Tehran."

Argo will be released nationwide across America on October 12th and in Britain and most of the rest of Europe on the 7th of November.