Sylvain Gagné of Christal Films contends that Karla is an important film to share with Canadians as – if nothing else – a cautionary tale, adding that he doesn’t fear a public outcry against the film or its partners.

The controversial U.S. feature about the exploits of convicted murderers Karla Homolka and Paul Bernardo was scheduled to open across Canada through the distrib on Jan. 20.

‘The film will raise some issues and I feel this will be a good thing,’ said Gagné, Christal’s VP, marketing and distribution, shortly before its release. ‘When people see [Karla] I don’t think there will be a backlash. It’s well done and doesn’t take a position, so people will be able to make up their own minds.’

Even so, CHUM and Alliance Atlantis Broadcasting quickly pulled Karla’s television spots, and a spokesperson for CTV says the network is only running Karla trailers after midnight.

According to Sarah Crawford, CHUM’s VP of public affairs, the broadcaster ‘pulled the commercials in light of community sensitivity regarding the subject matter.’

Tim Danson, lawyer for the families of Homolka’ and Bernardo’s victims Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy, threatened to block the film under anti-child pornography laws, but recanted after a preview screening and slight edit. This came after Karla was slated to open the Montreal World Film Festival in August, but was yanked when Air Canada and some other festival sponsors threatened to pull their funding if the film screened.

Karla – once known as Deadly – also met with opposition from Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, who urged a boycott. Jeff Sackman, president and CEO of ThinkFilm, sent an e-mail to the members of the Canadian Association of Film Distributors and Exporters last year urging his peers not to pick up the film. He is more reserved now that Christal has done so.

‘It’s a free country and everyone can make their own choices,’ says Sackman. ‘My choice was to respect the families and not get involved with this film.’

Gagné adds that ‘if the families [of Homolka and Bernardo’s victims] were very against it and wanted to oppose it, we wouldn’t be releasing it.’

The US$5-million Karla is produced by Michael Sellers of L.A.-based Quantum Entertainment, directed by Joel Bender and stars Laura Prepon (That ’70s Show) as Homolka. The film depicts Homolka’s life – from her point of view, during a psychiatric evaluation – and recounts her falling in love with Bernardo (Misha Collins), the murders of the two teens and Karla’s sister, Tammy, and the couple’s subsequent arrests and trials.

Exhibitor Cineplex Entertainment is handling the film delicately, making it available in just 15 theaters, all in major urban markets, including Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Montreal (where a dubbed French version is available) and Halifax. According to Pat Marshall, Cineplex VP communications, it will only run in Ontario in Toronto and Ottawa. The film will not show in St. Catharines, where the crimes took place.

‘Whenever a controversial film exists… we provide access and let the customers decide if they want to see it by purchasing a ticket or not purchasing a ticket,’ says Marshall.

Quebec exhibitor Cinéma Guzzo has taken the film on for further reach in Quebec, with a reported 15 prints, eight of them in French, for its 12 theaters. Across Canada, Empire Cinemas is on board for five screens, and AMC Theatres for four. At press time, Karla was scheduled to open on 82 screens total, including independent bookings across Canada, with more prints available for possible expansion in its sophomore week, if necessary. More than half of the bookings are in Quebec, where the recently released Homolka currently resides. The film is rated 18A in Ontario and Nova Scotia, 16+ in Quebec, and R in Alberta and Manitoba.

Karla – which is repped in Canada by Toronto producer Peter Simpson, who owns the rights to Stephen Williams’ Homolka/Bernardo book Invisible Darkness – does not yet have a distribution deal in the U.S., but has been sold in about a dozen territories worldwide, including Germany, the U.K., the Netherlands, Australia and others. According to producer Sellers, it is being considered by various American distribs, but they are waiting to see how it plays in Canada.

Over time, launching the film in Canada first ‘became increasingly logical,’ says Sellers.

‘Does that mean we’re exploiting the controversy? It is what it is,’ he adds. ‘I have an indie film made for small money that has awareness of somewhere around 98% in Canada. Am I going to ignore that if I have a distributor willing to put their neck out? We’ve tried to go through this whole process for over a year, being cautious and… respectful of the sensitivities and working through the issues with the families to arrive at this point.’

Because of the controversy, neither Sellers nor Gagné will guess what kind of attendance Karla will draw.

‘The film is controversial to the point that if I were a Canadian planning to go see the movie in the theaters, I would wonder if there are going to be news cameras taking my picture as I go in, and wonder if that would bother me or not,’ says Sellers. ‘I have no idea if the Canadian public in significant numbers will go see it… We’ll see.’