Following years of research on her docudrama Kitchen Goddess, Halifax filmmaker Donna Davies has very few questions about what her future holds.

Over the course of five years, Davies talked to 175 fortune-tellers, psychics and witches for her one-hour film, and while her research took her from Atlantic Canada to Europe, Kitchen Goddess focuses on women on the East Coast, which she says has a history rich in fortune-tellers and the supernatural.

Davies, who wrote, directed and coproduced with National Film Board producer Kent Martin, has fortune-telling in her blood – her grandmother was a tea cup reader and her cousin is one of the psychics in the film.

The filmmaker says many of the women she contacted refused to be filmed. ‘The media has been so involved in misrepresenting them, that a lot just said no all together.’

During the course of her research, Davies was the subject of countless readings, and most, she says, were accurate and very similar. (For the film, she decided to use a ‘guinea pig’ to be read.)

When it came time to choose who would make it to the final cut, Davies selected those with whom she had good personal contact and who had something special to offer. Eventually, her ‘cast’ was pared down to eight.

In the film, the women talk about their lives and their craft and are shown giving a reading followed by an interview with the person being read.

John Hopkins was the dop.

‘It’s not a hard-core doc,’ says Davies. ‘It’s more of a personal view of the world of psychics and fortune-tellers. The women’s lives and beliefs became the film.’

While the majority of witches, whom she tracked down on the Internet, were somewhat camera shy, she did find one ‘wonderful white witch’ (a good witch) willing to initiate a newcomer for the camera.

The ceremony is an earth-based ritual involving a goat skin that was performed in the dead of night in New Germany, n.s., and is a far cry from the witches we imagine at this time of year chanting around a bubbling cauldron of human blood and wart of toad – one of the misconceptions she addresses in the film.

According to Davies, some of the women she interviewed were definitely unhinged, which made for some very strange occurrences during the shoot, but over the course of five years she managed to convert many crew members into believers.

Davies plans to hit the festival circuit with Kitchen Goddess next year.

Currently she is working on a short film on childhood and magic with fellow Halifax filmmaker Shandi Mitchell, who will direct.

*Women of the world unite

Female filmmakers from around the globe gathered in Newfoundland for the ninth annual St. John’s International Women’s Film & Video Festival Oct. 15-18.

Some 200 projects ranging from one to 90 minutes from Canada, Japan, England and the u.s. were submitted, each with a woman in a key position as either director, producer or writer.

In preparation for its big 1-0, the festival added a Film & Television Forum featuring panels and workshops with filmmakers, producers, funders, broadcasters and programmers.

Thirty-six films unspooled at the four-day event, which kicked off its opening night with three projects by Newfoundland filmmakers: Renee Pilgrim’s A Doll House, Mary Sexton’s Dooley Gardens and Mary Lewis’ When Ponds Freeze Over.

Among the highlights were Marjorie Beaucage’s ntapueu, Cigarette from Monique LeBlanc and High Art by Lisa Cholodenko.

*Daily Bread for CBC

First-time Halifax producers Kerri Henneberry and Kim Boyd recently wrapped shooting on Our Daily Bread, a half-hour comedy/drama for cbc.

Christian Murray wrote and directed the story, which was shot around Halifax and in studio for under $100,000. David Albestin was the dop.

Mary Walsh, Richard Donat, Mary-Colin Chisolm, Faith Ward and Walter Borden star in this ‘dog meets dogma’ story about what happens when the town busy-body Edna Barkhouse (Walsh) squeals to Father Frank McGregor (Donat) that Phyllis Woodman (Ward) gave her dog Cookie Holy Communion.

The script was workshopped at the Atlantic Film Festival several years ago and is the first project to come out of the workshop program and go into production. It will air on cbc next fall.

*Lumiere makes Magic in Halifax

L.A.-based Lumiere Films is in Halifax lensing the feature film The Magic of Marciano.

Shooting got underway Oct. 10 and continues to Nov. 25 on the story about a nine-year-old boy who uses his imagination to escape his troubles at home.

The film will be shot mostly on location around Halifax and by the ocean as the script calls for a boat and lots of water.

Lila Cazes (Leaving Las Vegas) is the producer, director Tony Barbieri wrote the script and Matthew Irving is the dop. Natassja Kinski, Robert Forster, Cody Morgan and Jason Cairns star.

*Moncton player toons up

Just over a year after opening up shop, Moncton, n.b.-based The Romulin Group, a software and Internet development company, has started up a graphics arm with plans to move into animation.

The new entity, Particle Works, opened its doors this summer, and while the short-term goal is to develop interactive projects and design for the Internet, the long-range plan is to develop animation for broadcast, create their own content and team up on coproductions.

Heading up at the new shop is vp, head animator Ken Mayfield, who says he has turned down offers for work in the u.s. to stay in the Maritimes and produce Canadian content.

Mayfield has three projects on the go. One, still in the early stages of development, is a series about a wizard and a dragon which he plans to pitch to Teletoon. The series will combine 3D animation and puppets, with lush backgrounds.

Particle Works is equipped with Adobe After Effects and Light Wave 3D and Mayfield says he is looking at purchasing a Maya.