BANGKOK (AP) — Their story gripped the world: determined divers racing against time and water to rescue 12 boys and their soccer coach trapped in a flooded cave in Thailand.

The ordeal last year had barely ended when filmmakers began their own race to get the nail-biting drama onto cinema screens. The first of those projects, director Tom Waller's "The Cave," premieres at the Busan Film Festival in South Korea this weekend.

Waller filmed at the exterior of the actual Tham Luang cave and in water caves around the world.

More than a dozen key rescue personnel play themselves. Waller said they were natural actors, helped by the production's close attention to detail.

He said, "That was really very emotional for some of them because it was absolutely real."