The final day of Wild Geese’s 22-day shoot takes place against a stunning Alberta valley backdrop. This day, two scenes, both exteriors, are to be shot.

Set in the early 1920s, Wild Geese’s plot involves in part a returned wwi soldier (Sam Shepard) coming to work the land on a farm in Alberta and developing a relationship with a local schoolteacher (Liane Balaban).

According to the movie’s director, Jeremy Podeswa, both scenes are pivotal moments in the relationship: the first being ‘where they become intimate with each other for the first time,’ the second, a rupture in the relationship. ‘He has to push her away for reasons he can’t explain to her and she’s very upset and she leaves.’

With only six hours filming, the day is a short one – what Podeswa calls an ‘insurance day’ – to take care of some neg damage sustained on film dating from day one of the shoot.

Wild Geese is an mow with many exteriors: apart from using the Lonesome Dove set already in place on the ranch that serves as the production’s principal location and many visuals of barley fields, the production crew went so far as to actually build a farmhouse, a barn, a schoolhouse and other structures to contain the action. And apart from such things as plumbing and electricity, these structures are as good as the real thing, says Podeswa.

‘We built them from scratch – they’re really solid structures, not the typical shell of a thing; the house is a very substantial and beautiful structure you could easily live in. It’s very early 1920s.’

It was in part the Western ambiance that drew Podeswa to the project. ‘There was a whole bunch of things [that interested me]: the project sounded unlike anything I’d ever done. I loved that it was period and rural – so much else of what I’ve done has been contemporary and urban. And Suzanne Couture wrote it – she’s a very good writer with a fine reputation. I also wanted the chance to work with Western producers. The whole package was quite appealing – being in Alberta for the summer and shooting exteriors.’

The final shoot day features typical Alberta weather. As the saying goes: If you don’t like the weather here, wait five minutes and it will change. The day that started with rain and then cleared up in time for shooting – albeit with an overcast sky – will cloud over ‘in the most dramatic way’ after filming has ceased, culminating in lightning and golf-ball-sized hail that sends the cast and crew of more than 50 scurrying to shelter.

Executive producer Pierre Sarrazin, on set for the shoot, says the television movie, based on Martha Ostenso’s classic Canadian tale of the same name, was a long time coming.

‘Suzanne brought it to my attention five years ago. By the time we’d tracked it down, Stornoway Productions had the rights and we ended up doing a coproduction.’

Once the decision had been made to move the shoot to Alberta, local producers Doug MacLeod (a partner with Sarrazin-Couture on The Sheldon Kennedy Story) and Tom Dent-Cox of Alberta Filmworks were brought on board.

‘It’s a Western story with a relationship to the land. We tried to set it up in Ontario many years ago, but it seemed right to do it where it’s set. It’s been a long road to get here.’

Sarrazin says Podeswa was signed up last year on the strength of his film The Five Senses – the spring before he won the Genie for the film – and chosen for his demonstrated abilities. ‘We needed a director with Canadian depth and psychological astuteness.’

Shepard, a key member of the cast, has stuck with the production from the beginning. ‘Suzanne had him in mind when she wrote the first draft. We had it set up with cbs and it fell apart, but Sam came back. He only does the roles he wants.’

The $4.5-million production is being distributed by Pearson International, which is set to take the film to natpe in January 2001.

Funding has come from Telefilm Canada, the Alberta Film Development Program, ctv and Alberta tv stations cfcn and cfrn.

Wild Geese, which wrapped in late September, will post in Toronto for a December delivery date. It is set to air in January on ctv. *