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Robert Sarkies of Scarfies fame is to direct Aramoana - a film about the town, its people and its horrific ordeal.
Fifteen years ago lone gunman David Gray went on a murderous rampage in the sleepy seaside settlement of Aramoana. Thirteen people died before he was killed in a shoot-out with police.
Sarkies came to prominence in the late 1990s with his critically acclaimed film Scarfies about Otago University students who come across masses of marijuana plants in the basement of their flat.
He says he is looking forward to the challenge that Aramoana will offer.
"This movie is obviously about a massacre... that's the event of the movie, but what it's really about is the way an ordinary New Zealand community of early 1990 responds under crisis," says Sarkies. "It's a story so far that really has only been told in the mainstream news media which has three minutes to tell a tale, well this is a 90 minute one... believe me, it's a two hour one if we wanted!"
The Aramoana community has mixed feelings about the movie and Sarkies says he is aware of how sensitive he will need to be.
"They've shared their story with me, they've shared really personal details of their life, and I don't intend to let them down."
Filming starts in Aramoana early next year. It will take seven weeks and producers hope it will be ready for a premiere in Dunedin at the end of 2006.
