Scenes for new movie to be shot in Wairarapa

Filmmaker, writer and cartoonist Tom Scott says he is "99.9 per cent certain" his new $6m film Separation City will get the green light with filming commencing in Wairarapa - possibly as early as July.
Australian actor David Wenham, most famous for his role as Faramir in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, has been confirmed as the male lead and producers are currently in negotiations with Dutch actress Carice van Houten; Mr Scott said he expects to sign her contract soon, "she loves the script."
Van Houten most recently played opposite Tom Cruise as his wife in the movie Valkyrie, due for release next year.
Separation City will feature two scenes shot in Wairarapa; one a bucolic picnic scene, the other a wedding scene "which we hope to film at one of Wairarapa's wonderful old homesteads".
Mr Scott said scouts were looking at two historic homesteads in South Wairarapa for the wedding scene; Longwood at south Featherston and Rototawai at Kahutara.
"We wanted Wairarapa for its golden lion's hide colour and big skies it's every bit as beautiful as anywhere else in the country.
"We want overseas audiences to be blown away by the landscape of the Wairarapa and by the intimacy of Wellington," he said.
The cameras were scheduled to roll in Wairarapa over summer but due to unconfirmed funding last year filming should now take place in winter, he said.
"We could be filming as early as July because the two leads have a very narrow schedule.
"I wish I had the nerves of Scott Dixon," Mr Scott said alluding to the film's tight timeframe.
Mr Scott wrote Separation City's script and describes it as a "bloke's movie - in some circles that's considered a criticism."
He said initial resistance to the project had evaporated adding that the backing of the New Zealand Film Commission had been invaluable.
He described the women in the movie as "strong and sensible" while the men were "dopey, lost, bewildered and confused just like real life."
"We've also approached the people who did the soundtrack for Eagle vs. Shark to do the music," he said.
As well as Wairarapa and Wellington the international production also takes in Amsterdam and Berlin.
He said the film's producers, including Lord of the Rings' Barry Osborne, recently met in Cannes to finalise funding from UK investors, Mr Scott said.
"The meeting went well and we're tidying up the paper work now.
"The last cheque's in the post and we're 99.9 per cent certain it will come through.
"When you're making a movie it's the first and last five per cent of the money that's hardest to get," he said.
Mr Scott said the movie was a "fun, ensemble comedy of bad manners.
"It's a movie about falling out of love for the very first time and then realising that the person you were falling out of love with is the person you truly love."