Drama The Inland Road had a one-off screening in Queenstown on March 24, but the $1 million film will have its official premiere at the festival in Auckland next month.
Its cast includes Cromwell's Georgia Spillane (8), who was only 5 in 2015 when filming took place at locations in Glenorchy, Lowburn and Queenstown.
Funded by the New Zealand Film Commission and private investors, it had its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival in February, recently screened at the Seattle Film Festival and has been selected for Europe's largest children's festival, the Giffoni International Film Festival, which is held in Italy.
Director Jackie van Beek, of Auckland, said she was thrilled the film was resonating with international audiences.
However, its characters, landscape and tone were "intrinsically Kiwi'', and she was delighted it would be part of the New Zealand International Film Festival.
The festival runs in Dunedin from August 8 to 30.
Other cast members include Queenstown-raised actress Jodie Hillock, Auckland actress Gloria Popata, Scottish actor David Elliot and New Zealander Chelsie Preston Crayford.
