Lights, stars, action: Blenheim premiere

Lights, champagne, action movie stars.

A slice of Hollywood came to Blenheim on Thursday night as the red carpet was rolled out for the world premiere of Northspur, the post-apocalyptic movie largely shot at Marlborough locations.

In suit and bow tie, Blenheim director Aaron Falvey greeted the 400 guests before the screening of his first feature film at the Event Cinemas complex.

‘‘It feels very satisfying being here. Five years is a long time to wait to get to this moment and it’s a little bit surreal . . .’’ Falvey said.

‘‘This is why we make films right, so people can watch it. So to have everybody fill up the theatre from Marlborough, it’s very special.

‘‘Having the premiere in Blenheim means a lot to me, too, because I lived here my whole life – and to be able to make a film here . . . I’m very proud of it.

‘‘It’s very much a community film, we had a lot of people help to make it happen.’’

Among the film’s Kiwi stars on the red carpet were Josh Mckenzie, Delaney Tabron, and Rama Marrow.

Among the audience was Blenheim resident Janne Hickman, a friend of one of the stars of Northspur, Marshall Napier, who died last month.

The Wellington-born actor and playwright died from brain cancer, aged 70.

‘‘I’ve known him for a long time since early 1970 from Wellington. So I’ve followed his career and his films, I’ve seen Bellbird, and I knew he was filming here. So I was very keen to see it.

‘‘His last performance amazing.’’

Picton couple Nyne and Sara Scott own the property where the cabin was built for the set of the action movie. ‘‘It’s great to say hello to all these people, we stayed in contact with some pretty closely,’’ Nyne said. is