The new film The Journey to Lan Yuan was created by a team from Toitu Otago Settlers Museum and Dunedin Chinese Garden.
The film traces the journey early Chinese settlers took to establish themselves in Otago.
The documentary was filmed last year in Otago, Southland and Northland and cost $45,000.
The crew also travelled to parts of Australia and China to trace the journey the gold miners made from their home villages in China to Victoria, Australia, and then on to Otago.
Museum curator Sean Brosnahan said the Chinese community began settling in Otago from 1865 after an invitation from the Otago Provincial Government.
By the 1880s, there were more than 5000 Chinese in Otago, making them the most significant ethnic group in the province outside the European mining population.
The periods the film focuses on includes the gold mining era, how the Chinese adapted "after the gold ran out" and then Chinese families arriving in Otago in the 1940s, as refugees.
The film was an interpretation of the work of community historian Dr Jim Ng, Mr Brosnahan said.
About 100 of the film’s stakeholders attended a private screening of a 45-minute "summary" of the documentary at the museum last night.
A 150-minute version of the film would have public screenings at 10.15am and 1pm daily at the museum from today until April, and would then screen at the garden.
An "episodic" version of the film in 13 parts was being translated into Mandarin, to screen at the museum.
