First ever film from New Zealand to be selected to screen in competition at the Cannes Film Festival.
The film was entered into and selected to screen in competition for the prestigious Palme d'Or (The Golden Palm) Award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1984.
The film was nominated for three New Zealand Listener Awards / New Zealand Film & TV Awards during the mid-1980s- Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, and Best Screenplay - Original, but the picture failed to take home a gong in any of these categories.
According to the film's New Zealand Film Study Guide, the picture influenced such subsequent Kiwi movies as Rain (2001), Whale Rider (2002), and The Piano (1993).
Debut dramatic theatrical feature film as both a director and a screen-writer of writer-director Vincent Ward.