A generous helping of government funding, a godlike mentor and the conjunction of two subterranean rivers make Winnipeg the artistic centre of the country, nay the universe.

At least that’s what local filmmaking boosters say. And for a smallish centre in the middle of a sometimes-inhospitable landscape, Winnipeg has more than its share of filmmaking talent.

Noam Gonick, the filmmaker behind Sundance screener and Local Heroes sensation Hey Happy! is a case study of a Winnipeg success story – with no plans to relocate.

‘I am the biggest trumpeter of Winnipeg. I’ve always said that Winnipeg was the centre of the universe,’ he says on the phone from Brooklyn, NY, having just finished a tour of the American east coast in pursuit of footage for a new project, a doc on the Winnipeg punk band Propagandhi.

‘The dominant aesthetic in Winnipeg is experimental,’ he says. ‘It’s all about risk and doing new things. What you find in Winnipeg is a real focus on experimental filmmaking. In Vancouver and Toronto, you have successful filmmakers who have managed to be successful by subscribing to formulas.’

Winnipeg could not nurture the film industry it does without the co-operation of local suppliers. Gonick mentions the MidCan Production Services facility where he edited Hey Happy! ‘I lived there for an entire year and paid less than I would have at a film co-op at Toronto.

‘Even their book rate is 50% of the Toronto rate, and add to that the fact that they give independent low-budget films a deal. I was able to edit my film for an entire year and I’m not even allowed to say how cheap it was. All of the suppliers are willing to go to the wall for filmmakers.’ And most crucially, Winnipeg filmmakers are not as tied to commercial forms of filmmaking as those from larger centres, says Gonick.

‘In Winnipeg, the art option is available. It’s not all about making the money back and being commercially viable. I think it’s one of the last places on earth with that option for pure experimentation and that’s what makes Winnipeg special.’

And apart from the obvious lure of government support – ‘We are the last province to be fully funded on all three levels of government,’ according to Gonick – there’s another reason emergent filmmakers are attracted to Winnipeg – the low cost of living.

‘If I moved to Vancouver or Toronto, I would have to engage in what I call low-level prostitution – the kind of sacrifices or accommodations you have to make to live in a city where the price of living is so high. It all comes down to economics, what you can live on. My rent is less than half what [it would be in Toronto]. I can devote money to traveling to exotic destinations like Brooklyn because my rent’s so minimal.

‘In a way, being in Winnipeg makes me more connected with the rest of the world. Toronto [residents] are trapped in an economic cycle because it’s so expensive to live there.’

Another element that contributes to the community’s bustling creativity, Gonick says, is the sense of isolation that comes from being in the middle of – ahem – nowhere.

‘I think isolation is really good for filmmakers. All there really is is your project; there’s not much else to distract you. All you can do to get rid of the boredom is think up a new project; it’s a motive. You have to make your own fun. It’s very DIY.’

Moreover, what some call ‘Prairie generalism’ comes into play. ‘It’s the frontier mentality that makes things easy to do. Everybody’s a jack-of-all-trades and all have eggs in each other’s baskets and all help each other.’

Gonick also attributes the presence of ‘alpha filmmaker’ Guy Maddin (Twilight of the Ice Nymphs) as setting the tone for a community friendly to experimental film.

‘The filmmaking community is defined by the most successful important figure. When you have one like Guy Maddin…the guy’s the most important experimental figure alive today. He is going to be remembered as the most important experimental filmmaker of the era we live in. Where you have someone like that, it drives everyone into that orbit of experimentation and risk taking. Everyone in the community works under his shadow and it’s a pretty great shadow,’ says Gonick. *