Gary Cunningham was killed by Indonesian forces in East Timor in 1975 along with four Australian colleagues.
Dunedin cameraman Paul Donovan recalled, this week, Mr Cunningham working at DNTV2 in Dunedin in the late 1960s.
The two first met in Wellington where Mr Cunningham was working for the National Film Unit.
However, Mr Donovan said Mr Cunningham preferred shooting news.
"He loved it so much he decided to join the NZBC but there was a catch; he was transferred to Dunedin shortly after making the change. He must have found things too quiet here, because it was only a matter of months before he moved on to Australia."
Mr Donovan recalled a "larger-than-life" character who everybody liked.
The film, which, according to the festival programme, explains how Indonesian troops "coldly executed" the five, had its world premier in Melbourne last Friday.
