It was revealed in October 2011 that director George Sluizer had held onto the footage , fearing it would be destroyed , and that he had reedited the material and believed that with some adjustments a completed film could be released in 2012 . In 1999 the insurance company that owned the negatives wanted to stop paying storage costs , so they considered having the film destroyed . Sluizer entered the storage area holding the negative and removed the negative . It was speculated that Sluizer would ask Phoenix 's younger brother Joaquin Phoenix to dub River 's voice . The Phoenix family made it clear that they would not participate in the project , saying in a statement , " In regard to releasing River 's last film , Joaquin Phoenix and his family have not been in communication with the director nor will they participate in any way . ” On May 18 , 2012 , a trailer for the film and an interview with Sluizer were released on YouTube . The film premiered to an invited audience on September 27 , 2012 , at the Netherlands Film Festival in Utrecht , Netherlands . It had its international premiere out of competition at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival
63rd Berlin International Film Festival
63rd Berlin International Film Festival
Dark Blood