A Dunedin film had its world premiere in Russia this week.
The Good Company Arts film Ato-Miss screened in Moscow on Tuesday at the "Linoleum" International Festival of Contemporary Animation and Media Art.
"It's really exciting. For a film from Dunedin to have its world premiere in Moscow is pretty cool," Good Company director Daniel Belton said yesterday. He did not attend the premiere.
"It's nice that it's in Russia. It's a new audience for us. It's the only New Zealand film in the festival."
The film was captioned in English, but Mr Belton was unsure if it was being screened with Russian subtitles.
"It has wide appeal, as it's a story about conservation and ecology and looking after the world we live in. It's about a planet that's losing its colours and turning monochrome."
The 21-minute film was completed in Dunedin in January, with support from the Independent Film Makers Fund, Dunedin City Council and Otago Community Trust.
The film features Sir Jon Trimmer, Verity Jacobsen and Richard Huber and was animated by Dunedin digital artist Jac Grenfell.
"We did all the animation in our wee studio in Dunedin, with models and things," Mr Belton said.
"It's not your typical New Zealand film, although we've used New Zealand birds, dolphins and whales on the soundtrack. Any Kiwis in the audience will recognise the sounds of tuis, bellbirds and kokakos."
Ato-Miss will screen in Dunedin at 3.30pm and 5.45pm on August 19 at Rialto in the New Zealand International Film Festival.
