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When Kiwi director Vincent Ward's latest film screened at this year's New Horizons Film Festival in Poland, audiences chose it over 360 other films to take the Grand Prix.
The director was also honoured with a retrospective, with 19 of his films screened during the festival.
But then, Ward already knew he had made a good film. At a New Zealand preview of Rain of the Children - screened for the Tuhoe community depicted in it - it was given the thumbs-up from members of the iwi who could have been its harshest critics.
"I came to the film with my mother and her two friends and by the end my mother was shaking, she was so moved," said audience member Dan Taipua.
"In the credits, when Tuhoe stood up for the haka, she was sobbing. It was a beautiful experience."
A week before its national release, the film described by movie bible Hollywood Reporter as "masterful" is to have special previews in Gisborne, Wairoa and surrounding districts.
It was a way, said Ward, of ensuring it was seen in the provinces before theatres in the larger centres monopolise all the available prints.
If that happened, he said, it could mean the film would not reach theatres in smaller centres for three or four months.
"This was a special window for us to share it with those audiences," Ward said.
Rain of the Children will premiere in Gisborne and Rotorua on Wednesday and Wairoa, Whakatane, Kerikeri and Wanganui on Thursday.