River Queen invited to screen at Toronto Film Festival

The film River Queen, which was shot in and around Wanganui, will screen at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival in September.

River Queen stars Samantha Morton alongside Kiefer Sutherland, Cliff Curtis, Temuera Morrison and Stephen Rea.

Director Vincent Ward and Kiefer Sutherland will join the producers at Toronto to present the film to audiences.

"I'm pleased that after all the hard work and challenges, the film will premiere at one of the world's leading film festivals" Ward said.

"I'm looking forward to attending it and introducing my film."

The movie is from an original story by Ward who co-wrote the screenplay with fellow New Zealander Toa Fraser.

It is set in 1860s New Zealand.

The making of the film was delayed by bad weather, sickness and injuries on and off the set.

Problems continued when Ward was sacked in October 2004 but was reinstated in December in time to oversee the final scenes and post-production.

The thirtieth annual Toronto International Film Festival will be held from September 8 to 17.

The movie is set to premiere in New Zealand, and details of when and where will be announced shortly, spokeswoman for the film Kathleen Drumm told NZPA.

- NZPA