Since the start of the year, the 275 pupils at Winton Primary School have been involved in filming The Great Sword of Ithsgul by acting or being behind the camera helping with the production.
The idea for the project came from principal Steve Wadsworth who was passionate about movies.
He wrote the script during a sabbatical in 2022 and decided to bring the project to his school.
"Rather than do another stage show, I decided during Covid that we would produce a feature-length film involving every student in the school."
An audition was held with 40 pupils for 10 roles and the movie started to be recorded — with the help of videographer Samantha Robertson — at the start of the year in locations across Fiordland and Southland.
"During their journey through different lands, the main cast meet different kinds of people and creatures, some nice and some not-so nice, who are played by different classrooms.
"I’ve coined our movie the primary school version of The Lord of the Rings."
While the pupils had a lot of fun, they also learned a lot, he said.
Mr Wadsworth wanted the children to do something different and learn there was a lot of hard work involved in making a movie.
"Children are watching TV programmes and movies all the time, but they don’t get to appreciate what goes on behind the scenes to get it to that finished product.
"When they are on location, there is a lot of waiting around, having to be patient, acting when they’re told to, re-setting, bloopers, breaks, etc.
The cast and crew finish filming the project tomorrow and then the film will be edited and finalised.
On November 17, it will be premiered at the Invercargill Christian Centre with a red carpet event.
"It’s been a lot of hard work. It will definitely be a huge sense of achievement for us all, for the children, staff and for the whole community who have been supporting us right through. It’s something we can all celebrate at the end of the year. I just can’t wait," Mr Wadsworth said.
