Screenwriter Henry Feltham, of Broad Bay, is part of team selected as one of 12 finalists in an international competition run by the Venice Film Festival.
The finalists will attend the 2016-17 Biennale College in Venice next month and complete a 10-day workshop.
The workshop will be held in an old monastery on an island.
``I am really excited and a wee bit nervous.''
After the workshop, the team will pitch its film project to festival staff and three teams win 150,000 ($NZ229,000). each to make the film.
The films of the winning teams will be produced to screen at the festival in 2017.
``It's an extraordinary opportunity - it's working at a world-class level. For 10 days we will be given masterclasses from the best of the best from the film world.''
The other team members were producer James Ashcroft, of Kapiti, and director David White, of Wellington.
The team were selected for their film project Killer? -
a black comedy set in rural New Zealand about a man's
life after he is acquitted of murder.
``It's based on the struggle between him and the country cop in charge of the investigation, who can't let it go.''
The New Zealand Film Commission has paid for the team's flights to Italy but Venice is an expensive city so Mr Feltham started a fundraising campaign yesterday to cover other costs.
To give: www.boosted.org.nz/projects/venice-biennale-film-college
