Six days, 70 feature screenings, 120 short screenings, 25 documentary screenings, actors and directors master classes, debates, discussions, public interviews, workshops that run in tandem with a film financing seminar, 565 scheduled meetings, numerous contacts made, business cards exchanged, a European co-production dinner, receptions and launches - The Galway Film Fleadh, which is 20 years old this year, has matured into one of the finest film festivals in the world.

One woman familiar with the fleadh's 'very organic' evolution is its current Artistic Director, Miriam Allen, who was there at the Claddagh Palace at the beginning. The fleadh has since moved to the more salubrious surrounds of the Town Hall Theatre, which has been its home for the past 12 years.

Miriam is enthralled with the many sides of the festival, including the business side, with up to 40 potential investors descending on Galway city to find 'that film'. "We must co-ordinate in and around 600 individual meetings during the course of the week," she says.

The fleadh isn't just big business for the industry; with the entire film industry descending on the city, it creates up to €5.6 million for the local economy.

The Galway Film Fleadh is funded by the "normal" state agencies as well as a number of sponsors. However, it has never had a title sponsor because, Miriam says, fleadh organisers don't want it to impinge on the integrity of the festival itself. "So, it is almost like spreading the risk across the board. As always, the arts council are of great support to us each year," she adds.

Miriam says the different strands within the fleadh are what make it so interesting, with Irish world premiers, a world cinema, documentary and shorts strands.

"The shorts section is so important. Many shorts have actually come back to the fleadh as main features, such as Kirsten Sheridan's 'Patterns', Peter Sheridan's 'Borstal Boy' and Damian O Donnell's 'Booth' - who, of course, went on to do 'East is East and 'Inside I'm Dancing'. It is almost like the Galway Film Fleadh is nurturing the Irish film industry," she says.

However, she says, one of her favourite memories from the various fleadhs over the years was the 40th anniversary of 'The Quiet Man', when Maureen O'Hara attending a special screening.

"When the film began, she received a standing ovation. I was walking her to her seat at that time and I could see to my left that she had a tear on her face. It was just so wonderful to see such an iconic figure in Galway and her receiving such a reaction for the audience," she says.

So how does one go about choosing the line-up for a film fleadh? Miriam says it all starts with attending many other festivals, including Cannes, Toronto, Berlin and Sundance. "There is a huge amount of movies picked before one is actually picked. Galway has such a great reputation in the film industry that we are actually approached now. It is now really difficult to say no to someone in relation to shorts, in particular. The standard is so high but it is just impossible to show everyone.