The film’s gala premiere for Dunedin took place at the Regent Theatre last night.
Producer Sandra Kailahi said the crew had an incredible time filming much of it in this city.
She said it was always their intention to do something to celebrate it.
"We’ve been really looking forward to this day, even when we were in Toronto [for the Toronto Film Festival], we were talking about how special Dunedin was," Ms Kailahi said.
"This evening just reaffirms everything we enjoyed about Dunedin."
Starring Julian Dennison, Uproar is a coming-of-age story that chronicles a young man’s journey to find himself during the 1981 Tour and its protests.
"The people and the scenery were stunning," Ms Kailahi said.
"The extras, they just had that energy all day. Even after a long day, they were still keen to do more."
"When you see the protest scenes, you really see the attitude."
Ms Kailahi said the film had a lot to say about people finding their identity.
"It’s really hit a nerve with a lot of viewers, from those in their teens to those in their 60s," she said.
Uproar director Hamish Bennett said he was proud to share the film with cast and crew from Dunedin who had contributed so much to it.
He said the extras set a massive bar for crowd scenes and it would be pretty hard to outdo them.
"So ... you had 300 extras running at each other and not once did their enthusiasm or their energy levels flag."
Mr Bennett said he hoped the success of Uproar would open the doors for more films to be made in Dunedin.
Before the film was screened at the Regent Theatre, Mr Bennett conducted a screenwriting and directing workshop for film-makers in Dunedin.
He said he ultimately wanted to reassure and give confidence to them that the stories coming from Dunedin were just as important as ones coming from bigger centres like Auckland.
"I didn’t grow up in Dunedin but I grew up in a really small community in Northland ... and for me coming from a small community, there’s real strength in that.
"I think what you’ve got is that you’ve got a specific point of view and you’ve a specific life experience which not everyone has and I think that’s a strength when it comes to storytelling."
Mr Bennett said he was a big believer in the idea that the more specific something was the more universal it became.
— Additional reporting Mark John
