* Director: Lynne Stopkewich * Producers: Jessica Fraser, Dean English * Cinematographer: Bob Aschmann * Diary by: Dustin Dinoff

The annual Lilith Fair concert tour, which featured such artists as The Dixie Chicks, Sheryl Crow, and perennial headliner Sarah McLachlan, was in danger of ending its run in 1999 with very little documentation to give future generations a look at its historical significance. Now, two years after the final Lilith Fair concert, Vancouver’s Boneyard Film Company is unveiling a 100-minute, $1-million documentary on the tour’s final run at the Toronto International Film Festival.

For Boneyard producers Dean English and Jessica Fraser, Lilith on Top was not only a chance to reteam with Kissed director Lynne Stopkewich, it was also an opportunity to show all angles of the festival – its entertainment, social and cultural significance.

January 1999: Fraser meets with artist Jan Wade and Kathy Barrett of Nettwerk Records, Sarah McLachlan’s management company, to discuss ideas for a film about all aspects of the ’99 Lilith Fair concert tour.

April 1999: Fraser and company meet with Lilith Fair representatives and pitch their ideas. Word from McLachlan’s camp is that the singer is very interested in having Stopkewich direct.

May 1999: An agreement is struck between Boneyard and Lilith Fair Productions, and preparations for the documentary begin under the banner of Lilith Fair Films. The filmmakers move into high gear, with only six weeks before the tour begins, July 7.

June 1999: Lilith Fair puts up a portion of the $1-million budget. A prebuy from WIC Western International Communications and federal and provincial tax cedits also contribute to the film’s financing.

A production team is quickly assembled, including DOP Bob Aschmann and editors Graeme Ball and Peter Roeck.

In the last week of June, the production team is allowed to sit in and film McLachlan’s rehearsals before the show hits the road.

July 7: The tour begins and so does production. Using five digital, hand-held cameras and one DVC Pro for the on-stage performances, Stopkewich covers as many angles of the concerts as possible.

‘The concept was to try and capture all the different angles of Lilith by giving cameras to audience members, crew, ourselves and the performers,’ says Fraser. ‘We were really trying to do a social documentary where it included many perspectives and it wasn’t just the gaze of the filmmakers.’

The tour ends on Aug. 31.

Sept. 1, 1999: Editing of Lilith on Top begins. Editors Ball and Roeck keep two Avids running for reportedly more than a year to process the 400 hours of footage.

June 2000: After viewing a cut of the film, the filmmakers decide it doesn’t have the scope they had hoped for. With an additional 200 hours of recently acquired archival Lilith Fair footage to sift through, the editing process continues.

Winter 2001: Editing is completed in January and B.C. Film comes through with funds for the film’s transfer to 35mm at Vancouver’s Digital Film Group.

February 2001: The first screening of Lilith on Top is held at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, TX. Reaction to the film is mostly positive, says Fraser.

‘It’s an interesting film because a lot of people have ownership of Lilith Fair and their own experiences, so you get people coming out of it incredibly moved, and you have some people saying, ‘That isn’t the Lilith Fair I went to, ‘ ‘ she says. ‘People have very strong feelings about it and I’m fascinated by that. It’s such a personalized event for so many people.’

August 2001: Sloss & Company agrees to act as the film’s sales agent outside of Canada. Global is the film’s domestic distrib for television and video and Lilith Fair is handling Canadian theatrical and DVD distribution.

September 2001: Lilith on Top makes its Canadian debut in the Perspective Canada program at TIFF.