A New Zealander has won best actor at the Moscow International Film Festival this weekend.
A scene from Stray Photo: Supplied / Long Road Films
Kieran Charnock won the award for his role in the independent film Stray.
The New Zealand film was also the first to be nominated for the festival, which has been running since 1935.
The film's director Dustin Feneley said the team was "stoked" at how well it was received at its premiere in Russia.
"You don't really know how it's going to translate or be received by another culture or another language. The response from the critics and the Russian press and also the audience here has been fantastic actually."
"All of us in the team are super proud of our little film, made against quite a bit of odds, to not only be selected for a festival such as Moscow but also to come away with an award for best actor which was a really beautiful surprise."
The team crowdsourced $125,000 to make the film - the largest ever amount raised for a New Zealand movie.
