It's official. Wanganui will host the world premiere of River Queen at its Embassy 3 Cinema on January 24 next year.
The film's stars, Samantha Morton and Kiefer Sutherland, would be back for the premiere, producer Don Reynolds said yesterday in confirming the date and venue.
Acclaimed New Zealand director Vincent Ward's
latest feature, River Queen screens this month at Canada's 30th Annual Toronto International Film Festival, but Wanganui has the world premiere.
New Zealand will also become, on January 26, the first country to have the movie for general release.
The production was based in Wanganui and the Whanganui River features heavily among the locations.
"Obviously, the premiere will be quite significant," Mr Reynolds told a press conference in Auckland.
"Kiefer and Samantha and all the cast will come out, and we will make it a very big gala event."
Mr Reynolds described River Queen, which was dogged by problems during filming, as "an absolutely amazing achievement".
"This was probably the hardest film I've had to do, but it is the film that I'm most proud of," he said.
"It has been a very difficult birth, but we have such a wonderful child."
Most of the film was shot on or near the Whanganui River in one of the worst winters the Wanganui-Waimarinio and Rangitikei areas have experienced. Continuous rain in the first week saw river levels rise and temperatures drop, causing sickness among cast.
At least five production office staff left the set soon after filming began.
The severe weather conditions resulted in Samantha Morton having to be hospitalised and she was off the set for some weeks.
Ms Morton clashed with Mr Ward and in October he was sacked but reinstated in December, in time to oversee the final scenes and post-production.
Director of photography Alun Bollinger had to stand down because of a back injury but then became Mr Ward's replacement.
At the conference Mr Ward was philosophical about being axed from the movie during its final filming and said getting a movie made well was the main thing.
He noted that, following his dismissal from River Queen, every producer he had worked with called to give him support.
As to whether he would work with Ms Morton again, he said: "I'd think long and carefully about it."
The main thing for him, Mr Ward said, was that Ms Morton "is very excited about the movie.''
Best known for The Navigator and the Academy Award-nominated What Dreams May Come, Ward was also dismissive of the troubles that plagued production.
"That's part of the legacy of Apocalypse Now and that's part of the legacy of this film.''
River Queen, which also stars Temuera Morrison, was not completed in time for the Cannes festival in May but still made its mark there.
"We had a promo there, which attracted an enormous amount of attention, so we have a lot of people waiting to see the finished film," Mr Reynolds said.
Based on an original story by Mr Ward, who wrote the screenplay with Toa Fraser, River Queen is the fictional story of a woman's search for her lost son.
It is set on a mist-shrouded, brooding and seemingly endless river in the 1860s, when Maori and British forces were at war.
River Queen premiere on January 24
Mary Bryan
Whanganui Chronicle·
3 mins to read
It's official. Wanganui will host the world premiere of River Queen at its Embassy 3 Cinema on January 24 next year.
The film's stars, Samantha Morton and Kiefer Sutherland, would be back for the premiere, producer Don Reynolds said yesterday in confirming the date and venue.
Acclaimed New Zealand director Vincent Ward's
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