Tauranga man Craig Newland is proving there is no limit to his film career, with his self-directed flick picking up more international recognition.

Craig's feature length film ‘3 Mile Limit', which hit the big screen on March 6, has won its fifth Best Feature Film award after taking out the North Hollywood and Charleston International Film Festivals.

Matt Whelan and James Crompton star in 3 Mile Limit.

The film has also won official selection at this year's Seattle International Film Festival – its 13th official selection.

Produced and directed by Craig in association with No.8 Films, ‘3 Mile Limit' also claimed official selection into seven international film festivals in the United States for Best Feature Film in January.

'The film is having an incredible run in the US, and to win another two international film festivals for best feature film is both humbling and exciting for the cast and crew who worked tirelessly to achieve the successes the film has managed to garnish,” says Craig.

'To hear the enthusiasm and support from those attending the screenings during the Q&As was a real buzz and the attention the film has received certainly proves the film has the ability to travel internationally outside of New Zealand.

'That's one of the most important things film makers look for when producing a NZ film is to reach an international audience.”

Star of the film Matt Whelan attended the red carpet awards event in North Hollywood in Los Angeles and to receive the best international feature film award.

Based on the 1960's beginnings of Radio Hauraki on a boat called the TIRI in international waters in the Hauraki Gulf in Auckland, ‘3 Mile Limit' is an iconic true NZ story.

It tells the story of journalist by day Richard Davis, who manages a local band called ‘The Yellow Sprockets' at night.

Richard is determined to break the government's monopoly on state broadcasting and bring rock n' roll and free speech to an oppressed younger generation – and at the same time hold onto the woman he loves.

A power struggle develops between the government and these free spirited individuals who set out to change a system that starved a nation of modern pop music.