NZ scenery set to star in Dutch film
02 Sep 2008
New Zealand’s landscapes will once again star on the big screen, this time in the most expensive Dutch film ever made. The film, Bride Flight, will be released in the Netherlands this October.
Based on a true story, Bride Flight follows the story of three young Dutch women and a young man who settled in New Zealand in 1950s. They arrived on a KLM flight that won the 1953 Air Race from London to Christchurch.
International press named the flight 'Bride Flight' after the 26 female passengers onboard the flight who were all brides-to-be. The women were flying to join their fiancés who had already journeyed ahead to New Zealand.
Directed by Ben Sombogaart, the film centres on the women: Ada, Marjorie and Esther, who reunite 50 years after the flight landed.
Filming in New Zealand
A significant part of Bride Flight filming took place in New Zealand in late 2007 and early 2008. The movie was also filmed in studio and around Luxembourg.
Filming in New Zealand was based in the South Island, in Dunedin, Christchurch, Queenstown and on the West Coast. Scenic hotspots that feature in the movie include the Waimakariri River, which flows from the mountains of the Southern Alps, and Queenstown renowned as a destination for film-makers and tourists alike.
New Zealand’s vineyards play a role in Bride Flight. Chard Farm and Peregrine vineyards in Central Otago were used in filming. The region is the world’s most southerly wine producing region and New Zealand’s highest. Central Otago is renowned for producing world-class pinot noir.
New Zealand made a name for itself in the film industry when Kiwi director Peter Jackson filmed The Lord of the Rings trilogy entirely in New Zealand. Movie watchers were awed by the films’ backdrops as much as they were by the films.
Bestseller book
The film’s main characters are played by Karina Smulders and Pleuni Touw as Ada, Elise Schaap and Petra Laseur as Marjorie, and Anna Drijver and Willeke van Ammelrooy as Esther. Frank is played by Waldemar Torenstra and Rutger Hauer.
Bride Flight is based on bestselling book Bruidsvlucht by Marieke van der Pol, who also wrote the screenplay for the film.
The film premieres in Amsterdam on 13 October 2008, and will be released in cinemas in the Netherlands on 16 October.
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