A long-awaited film charting Durham's history will finally open this month at a flagship venue.

Sacred Journey, by Brendan Quayle, tells the story of St Cuthbert and explains the origins of Durham's City of the Coffin title.

It is the second large-format film to have been produced in the North, and is also the second of Mr Quayle's trilogy of north country Dark Age experiences.

The film - funded by the Millennium Commission, the European Regional Development Fund, Durham City Council and English Partnerships - will have its first public screening at the Sacred Journey Visitors' Centre, in Durham's Millennium City complex, on Saturday, March 23.

Visitors will also see a light and sound show, The Sanctuary, which will take them back through the ages to St Cuthbert's time.

To mark the film's launch, there will be a procession from Durham Cathedral to Millennium Square with monks, Vikings, horses and deerhounds.

It will culminate in a re-enactment of a Viking sword fight, medieval side shows, juggling and acrobatics.

For information and tickets, call the Gala box office, on 0191-332 4041.