52 June 2018
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FILM
photo courtesy of WHEN THEY AWAKE
The makers and some cast members of WHEN THEY AWAKE take the stage at the Calgary International Film Festival in September. From left, producer Pedro Marcellino, director Hermon Farahi, actor Dëneze Nakehk'o and actor Louie Goose.
Films reel in economic benefits Disney, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz shoot in the NWT; Dead North hits a new high by Derek Neary
Northern News Services
NWT
Dedicated territorial government funding for the film industry totalled $260,000 in 2017-18 and the economic benefits that ensued are considered much greater. Under the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment's film industry funding contributions (FIFC) program, $156,000 of the available $160,000 was disbursed in 2017-18 to aid in marketing and promotions activities. The film rebate program represents another $100,000 pot of money and it was fully utilized in 2017-18. The four productions that took advantage of that funding spent almost $700,000 combined, and that doesn't include economic multipliers, according to the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment. The GNWT freed up $120,000 through its Support for Entrepreneurs and Economic Development (SEED) fund to accommodate requests from the Inuvialuit Communications Society, the NWT Professional Media Association, Western Arctic Moving Pictures and the Dead North Film Society. There were many productions and developments in the NWT film industry during a busy 2017-18. RED SNOW BRINGS GREENBACKS Feature-length film Red Snow – the story of a Gwich'in soldier fighting in Afghanistan – was shot in Dettah and Yellowknife in March. Directed
by Marie Clements, the film was on location in the NWT for five days, generating an estimated $350,000 in economic benefits, according to the GNWT. VOLKSWAGEN, MERCEDES-BENZ SHOOT IN THE NORTH Mercedes-Benz sent its employees and some of its vehicles to Inuvik, Tuktoyaktuk and along the Dempster Highway to shoot a commercial in February. Last December, it was Volkswagen – aided by the NWT Film Rebate Program – that made a foray North of 60 to do some filming. DISNEY PAYS A CALL A small crew representing Disney ventured to Yellowknife in January to shoot landscapes for an upcoming science-fiction/ adventure film A Wrinkle in Time. The production will star Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon and Mindy Kaling. WHEN THEY AWAKE SINGS This documentary on Indigenous musicians, including many from the NWT, features footage gathered in Yellowknife, Tuktoyaktuk, Inuvik, Fort Simpson and Nahanni National Park. It was screened at the Calgary International Film Festival in September. The project debuted at the Montreal World Film Festival in August, where it picked up third prize in Documentaries of the World. The filmmakers, who used the NWT Film Rebate Program, also
made their way to Fort Smith, Hay River and Norman Wells to work on a separate production, Way Up North. THE LAST WALK GOES INTERNATIONAL The Beaufort Delta's Jerri Thrasher directed one of the short features in this collaboration, which was jointly funded by ITI's SEED program and the International Sami Film Institute. Thrasher recruited her cast and crew from within the NWT. The Last Walk played during the Berlinale Film Festival's European Film Market in Berlin. COOKING IN THE WILD KITCHEN Wild Kitchen hit the airwaves in January 2017, sharing recipes such as locally-made rose hip barbecue sauce, Northern pike with a juniper twist and fried morels on bannock. The NWT Film Commission lent a hand through the FIFC. END OF THE ICE AGE Peter Clarkson, Shayla Howell, David Stewart and David Hamelin are behind this Beaufort Delta documentary that focuses on the Inuvik-toTuktoyaktuk ice road's final season before being replaced by an all-season route last fall. The film could get wide exposure as an entrant in the Available Light Film Festival in Whitehorse and, if selected, in Toronto's HotDocs Canadian International Documentary Festival, the Dawson City International See next page