New Zealand 2005, English, 35mm, 114 min
Director: Vincent Ward
Screenplay: Vincent Ward, Toa Fraser, Kely Lyons
Cinematography: Alun Bollinger
Cast: Samantha Morton, Kiefer Sutherland, Cliff Curtis, Temuera Morrison, Anton Lesser, David Rawiri Pene, Stephen Rea
Print Source: Videovision Entertainment
A woman who has come to a strange new land is torn between the life she knows and the new world of possibilities that confront her in this epic historical drama. Set in New Zealand in 1868 during the war between British colonists and resisting Maori tribes, River Queen tells a very human story at the centre of the conflict.
Sarah, an Irish woman, has become acquainted with the son of one of the Maori leaders, and in time their friendship grows into something deeper and they fall in love. When she discovers she's pregnant with his child, the father has already been called off to fight against the Europeans, and by the time her son is born, his father is dead. At the age of six, the boy is soon kidnapped by his Maori grandfather, and it is years before Sarah finds him again, living with his grandfather's tribe.
As the tribe prepares for battle against the colonisers, Sarah is caught between the two sides. With excellent performances from Samantha Morton, Kiefer Sutherland, Temuera Morrison and Stephen Rea.
The Cape Winelands will again at the 2012 edition of this festival present a series of Masterclasses and workshops. These events are sponsored by the City of Cape Town and Wesgro.
Winner of the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes festival, Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s new film has the magic of a fairy tale and the simplicity of a folk tale. Wonderfully immersive, slow and dreamy, 
