A Kiwi teenager is making her big screen debut alongside New Zealand movie royalty when the film adaption of Margaret Mahy's novel The Changeover premieres in Christchurch.
The film has been shot entirely in quake-hit Christchurch - centred around a deserted red zone neighbourhood and the broken CBD.
Erana James, now 18-years-old, was just a 17-year-old high school student when she landed the prize role - staring alongside a star-studded international cast including Lucy Lawless, Melanie Lynsky and Timothy Spall.
"He's such a supportive and generous actor, he's there to make beautiful stuff," Ms James says.
Directed by husband and wife duo Stuart McKenzie and Miranda Harcourt, the film is based on Maragret Mahy's 1984 novel where James' character risks her life to save her bewitched brother.
"She was a magical writer and takes real life characters and environments and adds magic on top and so it can be a twisty unexpected journey and that's what we've tried to reflect in the film," Ms Harcourt says.
The Changeover will be in theatres from September 28.
Newshub.
