Musician and poet laurier Kris Demeanor and Stephen Bogaert (American Psycho) are top-lining The Valley Below, a first feature from Alberta director Kyle Thomas and Calgary-based media arts collective North Country Cinema.

The project, with financing from Telefilm Canada’s microbudget program, is based on the earlier short film Not Far From The Abattoir, which played at SXSW and Cannes and elsewhere on the festival circuit.

The Valley Below, set in Alberta’s Badlands, portrays four interweaving stories as it chronicles the life of a small town over the course of one year.

North Country Cinema’s Cameron Macgowan and Alexander Carson are producing.

Production on The Valley Below starts in mid-August and will run to spring 2014.

Image of Alberta’s Badlands via North Country Cinema