IT'S BEEN years in the making, and now senior Australian filmmaker R Thomas Bradbury is rolling out the red carpet for his feature film's world premiere.
Abandoned to Die is a 109-minute movie based on a true story on the American frontier shortly after the American Civil War.
Mr Bradbury wrote and directed the feature film. "It involved several years of historical research before the writing of the screenplay because the facts surrounding the events had been nearly lost to history," he said.
"It is as real as we could make it. There are no computer generated effects. These are real men and women. These are expert horsemen."
He said there are no "movie stars" in the epic tale, instead casting real Native Americans and local actors.
Mr Bradbury said the principal cast rehearsed in his own home, every week, for more than a year before production.
The one-off screening will be at the historic Astor Cinema in St Kilda on October 13.
Admission is free and about half of the seats will be allocated to the over-50s, with senior citizens seated first on the night.
Tickets will be issued via email, atdfirstlook@gmail.com on a first-come, first-served basis.