New Zealand feature film Dean Spanley will be launched on the big screen at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival next month.
The film, starring Oscar winner Peter O'Toole and directed by Toa Fraser, whose first feature No 2 met critical acclaim, will have a red carpet gala screening during the opening weekend in Toronto, on September 6.
Dean Spanley joins a select list of others premiering at Toronto, including new films from critically acclaimed filmmakers Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Mira Nair and Brett Ratner.
The gala programme is described by the festival as a "high profile showcase of films with major impact".
"The gala screening represents a spectacular launching pad for Dean Spanley," Fraser said.
"We put our hearts and souls into making the movie and I can't wait to see it up there on the big screen at one of the world's most prestigious festivals."
Fraser will be in Toronto to introduce the film along with cast members O'Toole, Jeremy Northam, Sam Neill and Bryan Brown.
Set in the early 1900s, Dean Spanley is a whimsical, poignant tale of a father and son, and their encounters with an eccentric stranger.
The movie is the second feature film for Fraser, whose first, No 2, was sold to more than 20 countries and won the audience prize at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival.
Dean Spanley will be released in Australia and New Zealand early 2009, the New Zealand Film Commission said .
NZPA