A small matter of $30 million or so lies at the heart of a documentary from Manitoba’s Riverain Productions for cbc’s Witness strand. The film, The Selling of F614, is a classic case of is it or isn’t it? A Van Gogh that is.

The doc, in the final stages of filming, concerns a painting, numbered F614, that has been both declared a Van Gogh and a fraud at various stages.

Shot in Canada, Amsterdam and France, the project is being directed by Riverain president Elise Swerhone and executive coproduced by Andrew Koster.

Filming, which began in July, has been extended to take in a few days in October to accommodate the schedule of an art expert, who will compare the contentious painting with F613, a similar work accepted as a genuine Van Gogh.

The budget, ‘in the late $200,000 range,’ according to Swerhone, was put together from the presale to cbc, monies from the ctf Licence Fee Program, Telefilm Canada and Manitoba Film and Sound Recording Development Corporation. Filmmakers are working to a late November delivery date.

*Wild Geese takes flight

Currently in production in and around Calgary is Wild Geese from Toronto’s Sarrazin-Couture Entertainment, Calgary’s Alberta Filmworks and Toronto-based Stornoway Productions.

Directed by Jeremy Podeswa, the ctv television movie stars Sam Shepard, Alberta Watson, Nadia Litz and Liane Balaban. The project is an Ontario/Alberta coproduction between Pierre Sarrazin of Sarrazin-Couture, Martha Fusca of Stornoway and Doug MacLeod and Tom Dent-Cox of Alberta Filmworks, in association with ctv.

The Canadian classic, set in the Prairies, has been adapted for the screen from the Martha Ostenso book of the same name by Suzette Couture, who has been working on the project for a number of years.

The production, shooting until mid-September and budgeted at $4.5 million, is funded by Telefilm Canada, the ctf Licence Fee Program, the Alberta Film Development Program, the Ontario Film Development Corporation and the Canadian Film or Video Tax Credit.

Distrib is Pearson International.

*On the Edge – Now and Forever

Principal photography is underway on Edge Entertainment’s new feature Now and Forever, using locations around Saskatoon, Vanscoy and the Whitecap Reserve for the shoot. The feature is the second of three films to be shot locally this year by the Saskatoon-based prodco.

Now and Forever is being produced in association with WIC Entertainment and will be distributed worldwide (with the exception of the initial Canadian television licence) by Peace Arch Entertainment Group.

The film chronicles two small-town kids in the throes of a tragic love story spanning several years and stars Mia Kirshner, Adam Beach, Gordon Tootoosis, Gabriel Olds, Callum Keith Rennie and Theresa Russell.

The script was written by onetime Saskatoon resident Bill Boyle and is being directed by Bob Clark (Baby Geniuses, A Christmas Story, Porky’s). David Doerksen is exec producing, with Jan Keisser as dop.

Now and Forever is being produced with the participation of the ctf’s Equity Investment Program and Licence Fee Program, the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit Program and the Saskatchewan Employment Tax Credit. The budget is pegged at around $4 million.

*Illusions of America

Almost America, a feature film coprod between Illusions Entertainment of Calgary and Eagle Pictures srl of Italy, is currently before the cameras in Calgary, with additional scenes to be shot in Alberta locations Edmonton, Drumheller, Canmore and Crow’s Nest Pass.

Produced by Bruce Harvey and Anselmo Parrinello, the drama is set in 1951 and follows an Italian woman who immigrates to Alberta with her two children to be with her husband, but has to make a new life for herself when she finds out he has a wife and child in Canada.

Almost America, Illusions’ eleventh feature and Harvey’s first international coprod, is directed by Andrea and Antonio Frazzi. It stars Sabrina Ferilli, a well-known Italian actress making her North American film debut; Massino Ghini, who may be familiar to North American audiences from his roles in Tea With Mussolini and Up at the Villa; and Gemini-winning Henry Czerny (The Boys of St. Vincent, Clear and Present Danger, Mission Impossible).

Funding has come from Telefilm Canada, the ctf, TMN-The Movie Network, Super Ecran, Showcase (second window) and Superchannel.

A Canadian theatrical release is scheduled for 2001 by Remstar Distribution. The two companies are currently on the hunt for an international distrib.

*Happy Trails

Powwow Trails, a 13 one-hour series from Manitoba’s I.C.E. Productions, has just finished the bulk of shooting with the filming of the Montana Crow Fair powwow, an annual event which this year drew more than 500,000 people.

According to writer/director/producer Jeremy Torrie, the series covers ‘the importance of music, song and dance to Native American people. Within that there’s contemporary and traditional aspects. [We look at] the origins of the powwow and different types of song and how the culture exists today and in what context.’

Production started in May on a budget in ‘the high six figures.’

‘It’s a very lean and mean production,’ says Torrie.

The series goes to air Oct. 2 on the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network.

Filming took place all over North America, from New Mexico to northern Saskatchewan. The shoot used a high-definition and Digibeta camera, for presentation in 16 x 9 letterbox format.

Funding came from Manitoba Film and Sound, federal tax credits, Telefilm Canada, licensing fees and Human Resources Development Canada mentoring dollars for the development of the aboriginal technical crew.

The series is being distributed by V Tape of Toronto and has some broadcast dates on pbs stations in the u.s.

*What could be Better Than Sex?

A Saskatchewan production, helmed by a Moose Jaw-based filmmaker, was among the films that premiered at the recent Montreal World Film Festival and will also screen at the Toronto International Film Festival. The $1.9-million budgeted feature Borderline Normal from Regina-headquartered Heartland Motion Pictures – a coming-of-age story about a 16-year-old caught in the middle of a custody battle – was directed by Jeff Beesley.

The 26-year-old Beesley is currently engaged in development on another script, Better Than Sex, also to be produced by Heartland, which has secured development financing from Superchannel.

Borderline Normal was licensed in Canada by TMN-The Movie Network, Superchannel and cbc, with world territories picked up by l.a.-based distrib World International Network.

Funding came from licensing fees, a presale to wtn and Saskfilm. *