Premiere loss a predicament

South Taranaki opened its hearts and homes to the Predicament film last year but the premiere has been lost to Wellington.

The Ronald Hugh Morrieson film that was largely shot in Hawera and Eltham is to open the New Zealand International Film Festival on July 16.

Director Jason Stutter told the Dominion Post he was rapt to have Predicament's first public screening in his favourite city in the world.

In Hawera, district councillor and Hawera Cinema 2 manager Kirsty Bourke said there would be many disappointed people in South Taranaki.

"The general public won't be too happy. I would have loved to have held the premiere here. Ronald Hugh Morrieson lived here and love him or hate him he was a Hawera man. But unfortunately that decision is not ours to have."

Ms Bourke said the movie company would consider having it in Hawera only "if council was prepared to front up with a monetary incentive to cover the costs."

Councillors had asked the council CEO and mayor to negotiate to secure the premiere, she said.

There was still some hope at the council.

Council officer Jan Martin said she understood the film's producer, Sue Rogers, was meeting with distributors yesterday to discuss where the actual premiere will be.

The movie company had not yet confirmed where and when the premiere for the film release would be, she said.

"Whatever the outcome we will definitely put out the red carpet in Hawera and make a real show of it."

Ms Bourke said that even if the film was premiered somewhere else, she planned to start screening it five minutes after.

"If council can't secure the premiere I'll make sure Hawera can see it before the rest of the country, if it's on at 8.30pm there we'll see it at 8.35pm here."

She said the film's general release date kept changing but the latest was August 26.

Mayor Ross Dunlop said that although he had hoped Hawera would screen Predicament for the first time, it was a coup for the film to open such a prestigious event.

"We would have liked to have the premiere where the author was born and lived and where it was filmed. All of the stories around that author came from this community."

- © Fairfax NZ News