It’s below zero in Edmonton,

but Local Heroes fest is HOT!

Edmonton: When my editor called to let me know I wouldn’t be hitting the balmy beaches of Santa Monica for the American Film Market, but would be covering the Local Heroes International Film Festival in Edmonton instead, my first reaction was, ‘What did I do wrong?’

Having escaped those vicious Prairie winters almost a decade ago, the offer to return to my frozen grass roots wasn’t greeted with a whole lot of enthusiasm. ‘What do you mean?’ I bleated. ‘It’s February, there’s four feet of snow, it’s 30 below Celsius – and that’s without the windchill.’

At least it was raining when I boarded the plane in Vancouver. I started reading over the promo material. There was festival director Jan Miller touting the Feb. 22-26 event as ‘the warmest spot in a long Canadian winter.’ Sure, I pouted, I’ve lived through those mind-numbing winters.

But Miller was right!

Independent filmmakers out there, if you haven’t been to Local Heroes, pack your jeans and long underwear – no need for flashy schmoozewear here – and book your ticket for next year. This is one of the best festivals, if not the best, in terms of encouraging filmmaking and providing practical hands-on advice. With the mornings spent in trade sessions, afternoons devoted to screening shorts from across the country, and evenings to watching international features, this festival really gets cooking.

The whole focus of the festival, says Miller ‘is to celebrate the films that have gotten made, then bring the filmmakers and their films here so they can see their work in a broader context. What happens so often is that your local community loves you because they know what you’ve gone through to make the film. But what’s even more important is that filmmakers see their work in a different context so that they can really know what they’ve accomplished. Then, ultimately, they can go away inspired, ready and wanting to make their next film.

‘It’s important to me that the festival not just be a `hug-in’ but also very constructive so that the filmmakers go home with some tangible information from industry workshops and discussions.’

Certainly Miller’s intentions were borne out by the fact all industry sessions were sold out with standing room only.

What attracts filmmakers from around the world to a film festival in the middle of nowhere in sub-zero weather?

In the early days of the festival, Miller concedes it was because she begged and pleaded. But with Local Heroes now in its eighth year, Miller says she relies far more on the festival’s growing reputation and word of mouth.

Such was the case for Oscar-winning French director Costa-Gavras (Missing, Z), who opened this year’s celebration with his latest film, La Petite Apocalypse. Even though Costa-Gavras had never heard of Edmonton, Miller says he applauded the festival’s passion to support the independent filmmaker’s voice.

‘Independent movies are so important…much more than these big American films,’ said the director over a glass of wine. ‘It’s crucial that we have independent producers and filmmakers offering different views of our societies. And Edmonton’s appreciation of these filmmakers is very encouraging.’

At a crowded cocktail party following the screening of his film, Costa-Gavras was doing some of his own ‘encouraging’ of local filmmakers. He even went so far as to offer his home phone number and address in Paris to budding director George Zarkadas. Zarkadas and Edward Richards of North Vancouver were one of this year’s National Screen Institute Drama Prize winners for their film project, Kymata.

Donald Brinton, chairman of AltaWest Television (one of the contenders for a new Alberta television service) and a director of CanWest Broadcasting, moderated a panel entitled ‘Do You Take This Province To Be Your Lawful Co-producer?’

Winnipeg-based producer Derek Mazur of Credo Group elicited a rousing round of applause when he quipped that ‘the real advantage of taking a coproducer on is that you get to increase the producer base in your company without having to pay them.’

Mazur is one of the creators of the Prairie Initiative program, which brings together Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta to produce six low-budget television films. He says the biggest problems in interprovincial coproductions stem from the different provincial rules governing them and the issue of who has creative control.

A member of the audience questioned why there was so much talk about coproductions when we still can’t see Canadian films in our own theaters.

Kevin DeWalt, president of Minds Eye Pictures in Regina, who is just completing his term as president of the Canadian Film and Television Production Association, responded by saying that in meetings held between the new federal Liberal government and the cftpa, Heritage Canada Minister Michel Dupuy said he is committed to seeing the percentage of screens showing Canadian films increase to 10%.

A lot of hope was also expressed about what the new specialty channels will mean to production. Andy Thomson of Great North Communications in Edmonton said the anticipated production increase will help establish an infrastructure for companies in Western Canada to be ‘in business’ as opposed to working on one or two projects every few years.

Addressing the issue of dwindling public funding for the film and tv industry, John Taylor, director of operations for Telefilm Canada’s Western office, suggested a ‘Western axis’ that would involve all the Western provinces working together as a block to become more competitive.

Brinton grabbed the last laugh when Gerri Cook, the former executive director of Saskfilm who’s now working as a producer in Alberta, asked for tips on how new producers can get started in the province. The soon-to-be-unemployed producers from Access Television in the audience had their ears cocked and pens ready for Brinton’s advice: ‘Well, one tip for sure, don’t go into educational production.’

Local Heroes first-timer Jeff Hellyer of Chicago-based distributor Picture Start, which has specialized in short films for the past 25 years, was particularly impressed with the quality of the films screened at the event. ‘I had never heard of this festival before they invited me, and I didn’t see one single film here that didn’t deserve to be screened,’ said Hellyer, who was speaking to a number filmmakers about potential American distribution deals. He says his company acquires the rights to between 800 and 1,000 new titles every year.

Overheard…

director/writer Virginia Rankin, whose film Mary was screened in the Declaration of Independents series, offered this piece of sage advice to filmmakers thinking of casting kids: ‘Audition the parents as well.’

– Director Chris Philpott of Windsor, Ont., who directed the phenomenal sci-fi horror movie Silent dna, and who says his hobby is to write feature film scripts and watch them die a slow developmental death, insists that ‘more extras will show up if you offer them beer instead of coffee after filming a skating party.’

– From Edmonton producer Norm Fassbender pondering the merits of Local Heroes versus the afm: ‘Well it might be frozen here, but at least it’s solid.’

– A rather bleak but true joke from Brinton: ‘How do you get to be a million-dollar broadcaster? Start with a billion dollars and buy a chain of radio stations.’

– Apparently producer Arvi Liimatainen, who made his directorial debut on the recent film Strange and Rich (formerly entitled Rich and Strange), says the inverted name change came as a result of conflict with the estate of Alfred Hitchcock, which had already laid claim to the great title: ‘I decided it was easier to switch than fight.’

– According to director William Hornecker (Two Brothers A Girl and A Gun), currently at the Canadian Film Centre in Toronto, there’s a new genre of film known as the ‘Canadian Agency Film.’ It must be set in the fifties or sixties, be a coming-of-age film and must have a Christmas scene, preferably with a Santa Claus. To which I add, and it must also have a scene with a bright red truck or car set against a big blue sky.

The last word…

the big challenge these days for the nsi, organizer of the festival, is how to retain that intimate quality unique to Local Heroes while it continues to grow.

‘We don’t want the programming to expand because there is a benefit to keeping it small,’ says Miller. ‘We don’t want to see what I heard happened to the Sundance (Film Festival) this year where all the Hollywood execs showed up with their cell phones.

‘I make sure I’m at every event so that I can read what’s happening and make changes immediately. My goal isn’t to have it bigger, just constantly improving quality. We want to be known as a great place to discover new talent.’